February brings many interesting and unique experiences for dancers to explore! Here are ten that might catch your attention.
Courtesy of The Wonderful World of Dance
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Masterclass
Kicking off the first day in February is a masterclass held by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre from Taiwan! The intermediate-level masterclass allows participants to explore Cloud Gate’s dance practice and methodology, which doesn’t only cover Modern Dance and Classical Ballet, but Tai Chi Dao Yin, Meditation and Internal Martial Arts — fusing the dynamics of western dance with eastern movement’s subtlety. The class will also emphasise pushing physical boundaries for dancers to create their styles of movement.
Courtesy of Cloud Gate
Unlike regular masterclasses, however, participants have to pre-register and meet one of these criteria: be a practising professional in Ballet/Contemporary/Chinese dance, be a full-time dance student of at least 15 years or be a dancer with a minimum 4 years of experience in Ballet/Contemporary/Chinese dance with training of at least thrice every week. Dancers who qualify will then be notified to purchase a slot for the masterclass. It will be held by Huang Li-Chieh and Fan Chia-Hsuan, both Taipei-born professionals.
Courtesy of Esplanade
Huang Li-Chieh learned Capoeira and Kendo from a young age and joined Cloud Gate in 2014 and Fan Chia-Hsuan in 2013 after graduating from the Taipei National University of Art. Both of them performed at Cloud Gate in the works of Songs of the Wanderers, Moon Water, Smoke, Pine Smoke, Dust, Formosa, 12, 13 Tongues, Sounding Light and Send in a Cloud. Li-Chieh’s fighting duet in Formosa and Chia-Hsuan’s agile solo in White Water are acclaimed for astonishing a worldwide audience and being impressively eye-catching.
Registration is now open here!
Dancing in Spring
Courtesy of Esplanade
The Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre (SCDT) comes to Esplanade to present a series of captivating Chinese dance performances, especially for this Lunar New Year! The array of performances includes a variety of traditional and folk dances to immerse the audience in Chinese culture this festive season.
Get your tickets here to catch them on 3 February at 7.30 pm and 9 pm at Esplanade!
13 Tongues
Courtesy of Cloud Gate
Following their intermediate masterclass, Cloud Gate will also be performing their work, 13 Tongues, on 3 and 4 February at Esplanade. The piece is Artistic Director Cheng Tsung-Lung’s dance love letter to Bangka, Taipei’s oldest district.
As a child in the 1980s, Tsung-Lung sold slippers with his father on the streets of Bangka — known for its bustling streets that embraced individuals from all walks of life. In particular, he was mesmerised by his mother’s recollection of Thirteen Tongues, a legendary 1960s street artist and storyteller, who effortlessly created tales and the inhabitants of Bangka in all their shapes and forms. This sourced the inspiration for 13 Tongues, for which he transformed his childhood memories of Bangka into dance.
Courtesy of Cloud Gate
Memories combined with fantasies, the performance brings audiences on a fascinating journey just like the stories told by Thirteen Tongues. As you journey through Bangka, what separates deities, spirits and humans slowly fades away. Don’t miss out on the extraordinary work that The Times described as “a sensationally big, indulgent and visually arresting expression of cultural memory”.
Tickets are now available here.
Bachata Corazon Festival 2023
Bachata is a music genre and style of dance that originated in the Dominican Republic. The fifties style started as an only closed-position dance, like the Bolero. The Bachata’s basic steps, moving within a small square, are also inspired by the Bolero but danced slightly differently with syncopations — steps in between the beats.
Courtesy of Dance En Motion
The Bachata is now danced all over the Caribbean, in accordance with faster music, more footwork, turns/figures, rhythmic freestyle moves and an alternate between close and open positions. This style is danced with soft hip movements and a tap with a small hip “pop” with the hip on the 4th beat. It was created for social dancing and is still evolving.
Courtesy of Dance En Motion
Embracing the style in Singapore, the Bachata Corazon Festival 2023 is taking place from 10 to 12 February at *Scape! There will be over 30 hours of workshops held by world-renowned artists, Bachata parties, and the ultimate championship competition.
Be part of the celebration and get your tickets here!
RawGround: Pacing
Courtesy of RawGround
RawGround: Pacing is a hybrid presentation of twelve films and workshops that venture the journey of widening our perception of daily life. It features original research, performances and recordings by eight artists.
Over the past two years, we have adapted to multiple new “normals”. As the familiar starts to evolve at a dizzying pace, we constantly reconfigure our internal rhythms to cope. We may choose to move along as rapidly or decide instead to slow down and give ourselves time for introspection. The films highlight ways of addressing, recording, and contemplating this process of regulating the intensity with which we interact with the world around us. These works feature artistic interpretations that chart the flow of time and one’s experiences with both the momentous and mundane.
Courtesy of RawGround
With the film premiere and artist sharing happening on the 10 February, and 5 workshops being held over 11 and 12 February, that would be three full days to experience openness in movement.
You can get tickets here so as to not miss out on the different takes of adapting to change.
Danz People Open House
Courtesy of Danz People (@danzpeople)
As we welcome the new year, studios often revamp their class schedules to introduce new instructors, classes and courses! What better way to kick start the new year and to welcome the new faculty with an open house?
On 11 and 12 February, Danz People will be holding an Adults Open House where dancers can attend open classes at a promotional price. This is a good way for dancers to explore the styles of instructors they haven’t learned from and for instructors to conduct a class with more freedom and less pressure. Overall, it is a good way to bring the community together in the spirit of dance. At only $10 per class and $25 for three classes, there is no reason to pass on the opportunity!
Online booking opens on 1 February at noon here.
SHIFT Auditions
Courtesy of SHIFT
As we have previously introduced, SHIFT is a progressive young dance artist development program catered to youths of ages 14 to 25 over three years. The program is directed by Luqman and his goal is for the young dancers to develop the physical and mental capabilities needed to sustain themselves as an artist in Singapore.
Should you be interested in how the program runs and what you stand to learn from it, this is your chance to be a SHIFTer yourself! Auditions for the new batch of dancers will be held from 18 and 19 February, with an audition fee of $10. The basic commitment would be every Saturday from 3 pm to 7 pm with additional training for productions or events.
In our interview with Luqman, he emphasises that the process is pretty personalised and your desire to commit is a key factor. So bring your best self and register by 10 February here!
Gerak
Courtesy of NUS Centre for the Arts
Moving towards tradition, Gerak is taking place on 18 and 19 February at NUS’ Stephen Riady Centre. Gerak, which translates to ‘to move’, began from the NUS Centre for the Arts (CFA)’s interest to foster a deeper culture of learning and documentation of the arts in Singapore. It is also part of a thread that Ilsa Tari has established over the years in encouraging more dialogue concerning the role of Malay dance in society.
Courtesy of NUS Ilsa Tari (@nusilsatari)
Presented by CFA and Ilsa Tari, The Gerak Symposium intends to provide a space for discussions and explorations on the evolving role of Malay dance in Singapore today. The first day will focus on the subject matter and the type of content being expressed through Malay dance performances in Singapore, while the second will look at the potential use of Malay dance in other sectors such as social services, healthcare, and wellness.
To be part of the dialogue, reserve your spot here for free!
RawGround 2023/24
Courtesy of RAW Moves (@rawmovessg)
Established in 2011, RAW Moves is a contemporary dance company that focuses its establishment, connection, and direction of work on the spirit of inquiry. They hold an annual hybrid presentation, namely RawGround (RG). RG presents a curated mini-showcase that nurtures dialogue through the process of widening our perception of daily life. The short films are conducted by artists and practitioners of diverse disciplines, each reinstating the scope of aesthetics of the everyday.
Courtesy of RAW Moves (@rawmovessg)
RG is having an open call, where they are inviting you to journey with them by sharing your film proposal, using the theme “Breathing – The Movement of Space”. The proposal should include a description of the conceptual idea, how the idea relates back to the theme and why you think your topic is important. The submission should also include your CV and headshot to be submitted via email by 20 February 2023.
Do note that only shortlisted applicants will be notified and all selected creators will be offered artistic and venue support from RAW Moves.
Body Rock Asia 2023
Moving beyond Singapore, another notable event returning in February is Body Rock Asia 2023! The Body Rock 2023 series of events began back in 2022 with registrations for Body Rock Asia opening in September and a fundraiser workshop happening in October. With the crew line-up released just over a week ago, the competitors have just a month to prepare for the qualifiers in Manila. The top three winners of Body Rock Asia will be seeded into Body Rock 2023 in San Diego.
Courtesy of Body Rock Asia (@officialbodyrock_asia)
The judges have been announced to be Just Jerk’s S.ONE from South Korea, Finale A’linfini from Thailand, and Faris Azim from Malaysia! Alongside this news, tickets for the event have also been released here if you plan on attending the event physically. Of course, we are rooting for our friends in Lion City Lite and Style Groovaz Crew who are representing Singapore.
Since it’s been three years since the last Body Rock competition, here’s a recap of how the competition runs!
Which of these experiences will you partake in?
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