From our President
World Dance Alliance, Singapore (WDAS) is into yet another year of celebration with Singapore Dance Week 2011 (SDW2011). For those who are not aware, SDW started as International Dance Day in 2008, a local adaptation of the global International Dance Day. We took up the challenge to celebrate the rich diversity of genres in our local dance scene, from ethnic to modern and classical. Singapore Dance Day then became a week-long affair, culminating in the birth of Singapore Dance Week.
Singapore Dance Week is for us, a platform for all to come together, to be connected in dance, experience dance in its simplicity and to share the love and joy of movement in our everyday living.
This year, we have once again the support of Fullerton Heritage as venue sponsor for the Opening event. We welcome ION Orchard on board for providing us the space for the Closing event. It is of utmost importance that the venues be where the people are and we are ever thankful for their generosity.
While welcoming back Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society and Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, we are pleased to have with us this year The Human Expression Dance Company. In the spirit of sharing dance with all, they will put together free workshops and/or open house/rehearsal as Satellite Events under the umbrella of SDW – please check out the details within this booklet.
This year, we not only see more young children, such as those from Evergreen Primary, joining us in this celebration, we also have the children of St. Andrew’s Autism School (SAAS) connecting with children of Griffiths Primary School at a dance camp on the St. Andrew’s Autism Centre grounds during Singapore Dance Week.
Three local prominent dance artistes, Mr Osman Abdul Hamid, Mdm Lim Moi Kim and Ms Nirmala Seshadri, will come together for a lecture demonstration workshop at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). We invite you – young or old – to come and experience the energies and styles of these masters at work.
We continue the Singapore Dance Legacy initiated at our first SDW, by honouring our dance pioneers who have contributed to our dance community in their own special ways. This year we are privileged to have two dance pioneers grace the Opening at One Fullerton: Mrs Rose Eberwein and Mdm Lee Shu Fen. They have both been pillars of the dance community and we are grateful for the trail that they have created.
We are also honoured to have Mr Viswa Sadasivan, Nominated Member of Parliament, to officiate at the Opening of Singapore Dance Week 2011.
Last but not least, our heartfelt thanks to National Arts Council for their unstinting support of WDAS and our efforts to encourage all to embrace and enjoy dance and to celebrate the International Dance Day with all around the globe.
Many have lent their hands to make this celebration a reality, too many to mention here but they have warmed our hearts with their uncomplaining and faithful service and I would like to record my heartfelt thanks to them. On this occasion I also owe my thanks to the chairperson of Creation & Presentation, Ms Nirmala Seshadri and her team, for their good work.
Enjoy dance!
Teresa Pee
“Dance is the hidden language of the soul”. This is what she understood about the art form that she loved and breathed in the 97 years she lived. Martha Graham, the legendary pioneer of modern dance who left us in 1991 with a legacy rich in passion as it is in imagination.
Indeed, if dance is the hidden language of the soul, then each one of us is a rightful owner and practitioner of it – an inalienable right, so to speak.
So, while we seek to train in the finest aspects of the various manifestations of dance, the art form, in its purest sense, is essentially an extension of each one of us. This means, we must allow for as much of a free expression of dance as we encourage disciplined, structured training to perform according to the defines of each form of dance. The universality of dance as a natural, almost primordial form of expression must remain sacrosanct.
Yes, it is unrealistic to expect universal access to formal dance training because of commercial imperatives, but we must provide (and certainly not restrict!) opportunities for people to simply dance the way their souls sing.
A confident society, ready for greatness, will go the extra mile to CREATE opportunities for people to simply dance. It is a lovely, non-threatening freedom of expression when sensibilities can converge alongside senses.
The Singapore Dance Week is a brilliant illustration of a society’s readiness and desire to democratise expression through dance. The idea was seeded in 2008 in Singapore through the celebration of the International Dance Day. In May 2009, we had the International Dance Week here. Last year, it became Singapore Dance Week. The plan is to have the Singapore Dance Week become an annual event.
What is delightful is that even though the National Arts Council has been supportive of the event, this has been essentially a ground-up initiative spearheaded by the World Dance Alliance Singapore (WDAS) with active, enthusiastic participation from several dance groups. This sends the right signal – that dance belongs to us, the people.
My heartfelt thanks to WDAS and all the other lovely souls who have worked hard at making this event come alive, and for giving a “closet-dancer” such as me a chance to participate.
So, Let’s “Connect, Share and Experience…” through Dance!
Viswa Sadasivan
“…it is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open…You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open….” Martha Graham (1894 – 1991)
From our Chairperson
22nd May 2010… Opening of Singapore Dance Week 2010 at Merlion Park. The dancers arrived from schools colleges, dance studios, institutions. They danced with passion, energy and dedication. And as the Sun began to set behind them providing the most beautiful backdrop, I was filled with elation and pride along with the realisation that Dance brings joy and connects people in ways that nothing else can.
2011…Long meetings (at Kopi Tiam, Bencoolen Street), late hours on the email, discussions, arguments, problems, solutions. Team Singapore Dance Week 2011 has worked tirelessly for months in preparation for this week of celebration of an aspect of life that each one of us feels deeply passionate about. It is a celebration of the capacity of this art form to connect people in beautiful ways. It is a space in which the professional dancer acknowledges and dances with the amateur, the old with the young, as the traditional Indian dancer and the Hip Hop dancer move to the same beat and tune. It is a moment that taps into the fundamental urge of every human being – to move, to dance. It is this natural impulse that Dance Week embraces and celebrates.
I am convinced that Singapore Dance Week has a life of its own, and that it will continue to evolve as the years go by, taking us closer and closer to the realisation of the larger ideal, that of taking Dance right into the hearts and souls of the people of Singapore. The growing support of the wider community offers us tremendous motivation and confidence as we journey towards our goal. Fullerton Heritage once again stepping in as our Opening event partner is not just encouraging, the message is loud and clear – Singapore Dance Week matters. Dance matters. This year, ION Orchard has stepped in as our partner for the Closing event. So many individuals and institutions have come forward to offer us their valuable support and partnership. On behalf of Team SDW 2011, I thank each one of them. My heartfelt appreciation to our Guest of Honour NMP Viswa Sadasivan for so kindly agreeing to officially launch the event.
“Connect… Share… Experience” is really the essence of Singapore Dance Week. SDW encapsulates what it means to be living in Singapore - to celebrate the rich diversity of cultures and dance forms and yet to experience and enjoy the myriad ways in which they come together on a single platform. There are bonds waiting to be forged, exciting points of connection on the brink of being explored. I wish all our participants at the Opening, Closing and Satellite Events an enjoyable and meaningful week ahead.
We invite everyone to join us in celebrating Dance!
Nirmala Seshadri
