Monday 31 May 2010

Where to find me!

It has been pretty quiet around here because i have a bunch of projects these school holidays.

One of them is my next show! I am dancing for Ricky Sim in It Appears That... in the Esplanade Studio Series on 9-10 July. Click here for details.

I have also been swallowed by the Singapore Arts Festival, as audience and blogger! You can see my ramblings about the Festival Opening, Wind Shadow, In the Mood and a few more at the Singapore Arts Festival blog.

Saturday 29 May 2010

Dancing in the Shadows

Wind shadow was stunning.

But wouldn’t it have been more accurately billed as “Cai Guo-Qiang feat. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre”?

Read more of my review on the Singapore Arts Fest Blog

Thursday 6 May 2010

Velocity - Needs some revving up

Note to self- need to break that bad habit of thinking of all Taiwanese choreography in the same box as Cloud Gate. There is other stuff out there, and young choreographers especially need support for doing something different.

So I tried to prod myself not to be annoyed when the all-male cast of Horse spent the first five minutes of their act falling over in half-hearted contact improv and very casually scrunching paper into hats, vests, musical instuments, fishing rods.... I love a good po-mo moment but it didn't seem to come to much. There were several entertaining moments of accordion-laced slapstick worthy of a saccharine prime time tv comedy, a rousing parody of military-parade gun tricks done with floppy paper rifles, a surprisingly effortless trio where a chain of guys took turns to hoist each other overhead and fold between the legs of their partners. Finally, three impressive solos hinting of martial arts, release technique and stylised contact improv. The lanky guy whose solo ended the piece repeated an astoundingly soundless flip from his shoulders to his feet.

Sadly, it came across as a sophmorish improvisation class. None of vignettes seemed to have been thoughfully strung together and the transitions from were abrupt. The manila-paper cupboards and eight monitor screens projecting grass and static didn't do much for the production either.

It may be worth checking back on these boys in about five years. But for now they need some time to grow.

Velocity by Horse at the Esplanade Theatre Studio on 1st May 2010
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