What's On / Performing Arts

JUNE 2009

The Substation & Deborah Kelly Present :
Tank Man Tango

tmttmt

The Tank Man Tango!
Collective public performance and exhibition happening at The Substation
Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protests

Thursday 4 June, 6:30 to 8pm, The Substation Theatre: Collective performance of the Tank Man Tango

Friday 5 June, from 12 to 8pm, The Substation Gallery: Public installation of paper Goddess of Democracy statues and screening of documentaries

To view the video of the Tank Man Tango steps and an introductory video, please visit www.forget2forget.net

From mid-April to earl June 1989, the world witnessed a massive civic movement in China. It began with students mourning in Tiananmen Square for the death of Hu Yaobang. Hu was the politician who was removed from the position of Communist Party general secretary in 1987 and who espoused democratic and anti-corruption values. Within a week, the number of people gathered had increased to 100,000. On May 13 hundreds of students started a hunger strike in the Square. Collectively, all those gathered were protesting the corruption and income inequality that was getting progressively worse, and demanded democratic political reform. On the evening of 3rd of June, tanks rolled through Beijing with soldiers firing at civilians who blocked their path. The tanks reached Tiananmen Square and soldiers fanned out and fired into the air. By the dawn of 4 June, the students and workers were allowed safe passage out of the Square after Zhou Duo, a writer and Taiwanese rock star Hou Dejian led successful negotiations with the army. The Chinese government states that hundreds were killed. Student associations and the Chinese Red Cross say the figure is in the thousands.

Soldiers continued firing for the next two days although the protests were quelled, and still, tanks rolled toward Tiananmen Square. On 5 June, one man armed with nothing more than shopping bags astonishingly stopped a column of tanks. As they ground to a halt before him, he seemed to be waving them away with bags in hand. When the front tank tried to drive around this lone figure, he repeatedly stepped left and right in the tank’s way, refusing to let it pass him. Following the shock and horror generated by the crushing violence in the killings, in the silence of the aftermath, this lone man’s courageous actions spoke for the people who had been forcibly oppressed. The incident was reported by the international media around the world and this unidentified figure was christened Tank Man.

Twenty years have passed since the protests. That same year, the world witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since then the Soviet bloc has collapsed and China has developed in ways that might not have been predicted in 1989. In the world’s rush for progress, the memory of Tiananmen Square fades. The 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests presents a timely opportunity to reflect on the steps to approach and sustain democracy.

Tank Man Tango by Australian artist Deborah Kelly, in consultation with ex-Beijing designer Wei Lan, serves as a momentary monument to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protesters. In collaboration with The Substation, Tank Man Tango is a public project to be performed across the cities of Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Weimar, Germany. It involves the recreation of the steps of Tank Man, in the form of a dance, which will be recorded on video and distributed online via YouTube.

On Thursday 4 June 2009 from 6:30 to 9pm, members of the public are invited to gather and perform the Tank Man Tango together at The Substation Theatre. The performance will be documented and uploaded on the memorial website (www.forget2forget.net) which will function as an archive against amnesia of this important event, bringing the memory of Tank Man out of the shadows and restoring him to public consciousness.

Tank Man Tango will be accompanied by an exhibition in The Substation Gallery on Friday 5 June. Visitors will be asked to construct small replicas of the Goddess of Democracy in the gallery, from a supplied DIY kit. The Goddess of Democracy was a 10m papier-mâché statue made by students of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. It was erected in Tiananmen Square on 30 May 1989, despite attempts by the government to prevent its presence. According to the students who created the statue, “We need a powerful cementing force to strengthen our resolve: That is the Goddess of Democracy. Democracy…You are the symbol of every student in the Square, of the hearts of millions of people. …Today, here in the People’s Square, the people’s Goddess stands tall and announces to the whole world: A consciousness of democracy has awakened among the Chinese people! The new era has begun! … Erect the statue of the Goddess of Democracy in your millions of hearts! Long live the people! Long live freedom! Long live democracy!" The Goddess of Democracy was toppled by tanks sent into Tiananmen Square on 4 June. She was quickly reduced to rubble and cleared by the army, as protesters shouted “Down with Fascism!”

Tank Man Tango intends to ‘mark time’, to actively remember those moments in Beijing two decades ago and to provide an opportunity for people across the globe to make a memorial.

APRIL 2009

The Substation Performance Lab Presents :
Contemporary Dance Classes by Ming Poon

MingPoon

OPEN CONTEMPORARY DANCE CLASSES BY MING POON
For dance practitioners and students
6 Classes in total, see the dates below

Ming Poon will be a Performer-in-Residence at The Substation in 2009. In addition to researching and developing new work, he will also be giving open contemporary classes. These classes are not of a commercial nature, and are open only to dance practitioners and students. The classes are offered as professional development for contemporary dancers and the costs are subsidized by The Substation to make them affordable to practitioners. These classes are not openly publicized so as to keep the classes specifically within the dance community. This selectiveness is to ensure that the classes are kept at a professional level where dancers can be challenged and stimulated to their maximum!

We strongly believe that there is a need for constant training and sharpening of one's skill as a dancer, something which is markedly lacking in Singapore at present. This first series of classes is a try-out for future series (possibly in July and September, the 2nd and 3rd phases of Ming's residency) to find a suitable model to work with. We hope to offer dancers some kind of continuity in training. While the conditions may not be ideal, we are trying to make it more conducive for dancers, and we hope that interested dance professionals and students will respond with equal enthusiasm and seriousness! 

Dates:15th, 18th, 20th, 22nd, 25th and 27th April (Wed-Sat-Mon)
Time: 6 - 7.30 pm
Venue: Dance Studio, The Substation
Cost: $8 per class
Special 1: S$42 for 6-classes package
Special 2: S$36 for 6-classes package, if you are students at NAFA or Lasalle, or a member of a dance company. 

Registration at The Substation Box Office (call 63377800, opening hours 12 - 8.30 pm from Mon-Fri). see the dates

For further inquiries please contact Audrey Wong at: audrey@substation.org. Tel. 63377535.

April 2009

The Substation Performance Lab Presents :
Performer in Residence: Ming Poon

mingpoon

Performer-in-Residence: Ming Poon

Europe-based Singapore dancer Ming Poon, will be in residence this year at The Substation. During his residency, spread over the months of April, July, and September 2009, he will be continuing his research on a work whose first draft was presented at the Esplanade's Sparks programme in 2008. A work-in-progress will be shown at the end of the residency. Ming will also offer regular open classes for practising contemporary dancers. This residency follows on from last year's Dance_Space forum convened at The Substation by daniel k, in the spirit of encouraging continuing professional development for Singapore artists.

Those who are interested in taking the Open classes, please contact Audrey at: audrey@substation.org for more details.

Ming Poon has been living and working in Europe since 1992. He has danced with various companies and independent choreographers in Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Singapore. He splits his time between Singapore and Italy where he works as a resident dancer, teacher and assistant for the Compagnia Zappala Danza. He began making his own choreographic works in 2004.

March 2009

Sonicbrat (processed piano and sound art) + Lim Chin Huat (movement) + Lim Woan Wen (light) :
QUIESCE - in search of liminal space (SINGAPORE PREMIERE!)

quiesceartists

A music and sound performance presented by sonicbrat (Darren Ng), supported by organic movement interpretation by dancer Lim Chin Huat and emotive ambient light show by lighting designer Lim Woan Wen. Three national award winning artists from Singapore get together to explore the ideology of “liminality” as they present to you their personal take on space, time and emptiness. A minimalist performance that fuses Asian aesthetics and philosophies with multi-disciplinary art forms, QUIESCE is a diegetic performance that questions the rift between personal and cultural dissociations.

Europe Premiere: Vienna 23 & 24 May 2009

Vienna - Weiner Festwochen 2009 (Asian Village)

http://www.festwochen.at/

Project Summary:

“Liminality is a psychological, neurological, or metaphysical subjective, conscious state of being on the “threshold” of or between two different existential planes. Those who remain in a state between two other states may become permanently liminal.”

QUIESCE is an exploration into “liminality” through multi-disciplinary expressions. Expositing gaps, silences and spaces as thresholds between what is before and what comes after, immersing in the state of betwixt and between.

A quiet collaboration of sound/music, movement and light, three artists gather to explore the notion of space, silence, emptiness and inactivity; of displacements, juxtapositions and ambiguity… in search of a liminal space.

Presented by sonicbrat; co-presented by The Substation & ECNAD.
Supported by ECNAD (click here for more info), The Substation & JUICE magazine (click here for more info)

February 2009

The Substation Performance Lab Presents :
Imprimatura - Solos

imprimatura

In 2004, The Substation presented a well-received series of monologues written by Verena Tay, called "3 Men Meet 3 Women". They led to further editions of intimate, chamber-style monologue presentations by young theatre practitioners in 2006 and 2007. For any performer and writer, presenting a solo work is both a challenge and an opportunity: it's a chance to explore material close to one's heart, yet it is also a risk as the performer is laid bare onstage, without the aid of cast members and special stage effects. The project will also include a new solo performance by one of the alumni, Jocelyn Chua as well as a performance by writer-musician Bani Haykal.

The Unpressionist by Bani Haykal

6 & 7 February, 8pm

The Unpressionist is a composer thinking up his greatest work for his late father's birthday. In context, is his head. The Unpressionist absurdly experiments musical compositions through thought experiments, continuously giving form to a song that has no clear indication to where it's headed. The piece questions choice, and the significance of choices as an entity of insignificance.

Love Song for an Island by Jocelyn Chua

12 & 13 February, 8pm : Please note that this performance is only for people 16 years and above due to the mature content and strong language used.

"Have you ever gotten into one of those really intense relationships where you love someone to death one moment and then feel like blowing their head off the next? I think I know how it feels." Love Song for an Island grapples with issues of self-identity through a montage-style narrative of autobiographical stories, dance movement choreography, voice-over text and satirical renditions that seek to uncover the ambiguities behind our human perceptions.


Love Song for an Island by Jocelyn Chua (longer description)

"Have you ever gotten into one of those really intense relationships where you love someone to death one moment and then feel like blowing their head off the next? I think I know how it feels." Love Song for an Island grapples with issues of self-identity through an intensely wrought montage-style narrative of autobiographical stories, dance movement choreography, voice-over text and satirical renditions that seek to uncover the ambiguities behind our human perceptions.

As a performer who also writes for the stage, I constantly ask, "How can one fully articulate spoken text in performance?" What dramatic vocabulary can I employ to convey a more keenly felt performance onstage? In Love Song for an Island, I employ sequences from a dance piece 'WHIPLASH' as a movement score to further express the textual narrative of my performance – my body is seen at times to cooperate with the play's spoken text and at others, to struggle against its own expression. (WHIPLASH was developed under Ecnad Education's recent student showcase entitled ‘Part Time Day Dreaming’ held at the Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre in December 2008. WHIPLASH explores the idea of tension, release and suspension by attempting to push the performer's body to its physical expressive limits. The featured self-choreographed movements were originally improvised along the concept of gravity, falling and the surprise element in solo performance, thus resulting in the medical title of the piece: Whiplash is a condition that occurs when the soft tissue in the spine - often the neck - is stretched and strained after the body is thrown into a sudden, forceful jerk.) Exploring the demands of a solo performance, I employ autobiographical stories together with voice-over text and movement choreography to maximise all storytelling possibilities on hand.

Finally, in the aftermath of my return from studying overseas in the UK, I found myself feeling a sense of loss as to where I stand in a rapidly advancing Singapore. I get a sense that we're busy forging ahead both economically and culturally but where are we headed? Are we changing much faster than we can actually manage to sustain these changes? Love Song for an Island is, in part, a response to the raging ambivalence I often experience as a citizen living under the fast-paced social atmosphere of Singapore.

Please visit http://www.jocelynchua.com for examples of Jocelyn’s past works.

February 2007

Magdalena (Singapore) & The Substation Present :
Wine, Women & Words II

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Illusration (right) by Anjeli Narandran.

Making Song & Dance for a Good Cause

By popular demand, Magdalena (Singapore) is bringing back Wine, Women & Words—a celebration of women, wine, food and the spoken word! Come join us for an intimate evening of good wine paired with local food and be feted with a spellbinding story, a delightful play, inspiring songs and dance, belly-aching comedy, a poignant short film and a passionate talk about wine.
Your ticket price includes tasting of 3 types of Portuguese wine, finger food, and various performances. Proceeds from Wine, Women & Words II will go towards supporting Magdalena (Singapore)’s upcoming theatre and literary projects. For more info on Magdalena (Singapore) please visit www.magdalenasingapore.com

PROGRAMME AND ARTISTS’ DETAILS

Songs of Separation Performed by Felisa Batacan

Three songs - one in Felisa’s native language, Tagalog, and two in English. The songs will speak of separation, love and the difficult choices women must make as they live their lives. Felisa Batacan is a Filipino journalist, writer and musician based in Singapore. An award-winning crime fiction writer in her country, she was the Philippines’ representative to the Singapore Writers’ Festival in 2005. She has been playing the guitar since she was 8, studied classical guitar at the University of the Philippines College of Music and was a former member of the UP Guitar Ensemble. She also sings and writes music.

Finger Food – a short play by Dean Lundquist

Dean Lundquist is an award-winning playwright/director whose plays have been staged on three continents. His full-length drama, Jennifers, recently won the 2008 NaPlWrMo Competition and was selected for development by ACTION! Theatre. The playwright/director is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national labor union. He thanks his wife, Angelin for all her support. www.deanlundquist.com

And Whose Heart is not a Hungry Fish? – Solo performance by Jocelyn Chua

From a self-devised solo performance, this piece features semi-autobiographical text and movement choreography inspired by the poetry of local writer Cyril Wong. Jocelyn Chua is a published playwright and solo performer currently based in Singapore. A recent graduate of the MA in Performance Making at Goldsmiths College, University of London, her works have been presented both locally and overseas, where she constantly engages with aspects of physical theatre and the choreography of movement with text.

Story telling by Verena Tay – “The Water Animals”

Find out how the frog, the minnow and the shrimp acquired their shape and became creatures of water in this folktale from Naga, India. Verena Tay is a long-time theatre practitioner, writer, performer, storyteller, voice and speech teacher, an Associate Artist of The Substation, President of Magdalena (Singapore), amidst many other things.

“Laugh in the Time of Recession with Loke Loo Pin"

Loke Loo Pin is a well-known tv and theatre thespian. She was in four seasons of Triple Nine and also appeared in Growing Up, Under One Roof, War Diary and First Touch. Her latest TV project was a guest on The Yang Sisters opposite Cheng Pei Pei. Loo Pin’s stage credits include October (The Necessary Stage), Diary of a Mad Woman (Theatreworks), Breast Issues (Singapore Repertory Theatre), Ah Kong’s Birthday Party (Singapore Repertory Theatre), Viva Viagra (Action Theatre), Mee Pok Man - The Play (Fiction Farm).

In 2001, she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Mee Pok Man by the DBS Life! Theatre Awards. In 1996, she appeared in an Australian movie, Midnight Orchid, which was shown on HBO. In 2007, she played the leading role in a short film “Blood Ties” which won 3rd prize in that year’s National HD short film competition.

Eight years ago, Loo Pin ventured into stand-up comedy at the Action Theatre’s Festival 42. She was a double award winner for the most Promising New Stand-Up Comedian Award.

Her last play in 2008 was The Vagina Monologues which was well received by critics and audiences alike.

 

Short film “Homemaker” by Wee Li Lin

The 2002 film won “Special Jury prize, Best Comedy” at the Georgetown Independent Film Festival, 2003. A lonely “tai-tai” (wealthy lady of leisure) writes to an overseas pen pal about her life in hopes of enticing the friend to come and visit her.

Wee Li Lin is known to be the most prolific female filmmaker in Singapore, having made several award winning short films. Her acclaimed debut feature “Gone Shopping” (2007) is still travelling the film festival circuit. She is currently pursuing a MFA in Dramatic Writing at TISCH-Asia and is working on her next feature film.

Li Lin’s short films are available on DVD at Objectifs films. Interested parties can contact yuni.hadi@objectifsfilms.com

 

“Passion! Talking about Portuguese wines” – wine appreciation talk by Joao Santos Lucas

Discover wines from the romantic slopes of Rivers Douro and Dãoor from the flat southern Alentejo, land of cork oaks and rice fields. The beloved reds, rosés, whites, Ports or Madeira wines are a mainstay of celebrations with family and friends, always filling with joy and pleasure the hearts and souls of millions around the globe.

Joao Santos Lucas is the grandson of a Portuguese wine trader and the son of an industrialist. From his grandfather he learned the intricacies of the wine culture which became an interesting part of his upbringing. He has promoted Portuguese wine in Singapore since 2004, introducing it at Food Hotel Asia and at Wine for Asia, supporting the presence of a Portuguese enologist and a Portuguese Chef for some weeks at the Intercontinental Hotel and bringing some of the best Portuguese red, white and rosé wines and Ports into the local market.

He taught at postgraduate level in Portugal for more than 30 years, was a policy advisor to some ministers of the Portuguese Government, and was a temporary adviser to the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union.

He is now an international consultant in Singapore, where he promotes economic and scientific relations between Portugal and Asian countries. He is also a columnist, writing every fortnight in Diário Económico, the most important Portuguese economic newspaper.

Joao is married to a distinguished Singaporean consultant, has three daughters: a hotel general manager, a lawyer and a journalist.

 

EVENT SPECIALS – exclusive offers to audiences at Wine, Women and Words II

1. "The Idea Book" (sold more than 200,000 copies around the world and has been published in 9 languages)

Retail price: $48

Magdalena offer: $38, with profits going to Magdalena

By kind courtesy of author Fredrik Haren, Sweden's most popular creativity lecturer

Reserve your copy when you book your tickets. Only 20 copies available.

One autographed copy, donated by the author, will be put up for auction.

2. Silver Lining February issue

Retail price: $7.00

Magdalena offer: $4, with all proceeds going to Magdalena

By kind courtesy of publisher Words Worth Media Management Pte Ltd

In addition, those who subscribe on the night will receive a 20% discount ($34 instead of newsstand price of $42) plus a promotional gift

3. Portuguese wines

35% off retail price

Magdalena offer, by kind courtesy of Linden Resources Pte Ltd

 

The event is presented with kind support from:

Linden Resources Pte Ltd

Words Worth Media Management Pte Ltd

Objectifs Films

January 2009

A Performance Course :
The Living River Body - a body & voice workshop by Yap Sun Sun

THE LIVING RIVER BODY

a body and voice workshop led by Yap Sun Sun

The body

“One could say that human nature is the same everywhere despite the cultural differentiation of people. A sociologist might think this theory about human nature an entire backward view, but to dismiss it completely would seem racist to me.(…) When we talk about sources, one might say: man precedes difference.”

Jerzy Grotowski 1987

When I follow an impulse from my body, I am following the impulse and I am observing what my body is doing, I also criticise what I am doing as it could be a habitual impulse, a true impulse, a true impulse becoming a form, a form finding life etc etc. I have to decide, if I continue with this “impulse” or not. And there is nobody else I have to answer to, not the teacher who is giving the workshop, not the other people in the workshop, just to be true to myself.

The other bodies

How do we relate to the other bodies in the same space? Do we mirror, do we do the contrast, do we acknowledge or do we ignore? How not to destroy but to support a partner in his/her process and yet staying aware of oneself. To give up the individual and to become one, to take opportunity to lead where it is needed and to let go and pass it on when the time comes.

The spaces/places

“Just sky, flat earth, and the line of the horizon in every direction. I began to feel lost in the immensity of the world around me. I started experimenting, trying to find a way of placing my body so that I could exist in this vast emptiness. Standing was no good. It didn’t feel right. Then I tried lying down on the surface of the plain which was covered by tiny pebbles, and looked up at the sky. Lying like this, I felt as if I had become part of the desert soil, absorbed into the earth like a dead man. I had no individual existence. Finally, I tried sitting on the ground with a straight back, and concentrated my energy into my hara. At that moment I suddenly felt as if I had a new kind of existence, suspended between heaven and earth, connecting heaven and earth like a bridge. By trial and error I had found the position that enabled me to exist fully in that particular space.”

The Invisible Actor - Yoshi Oida and Lorna Marshall

Every space has its own life and history and when we enter into it, alone or with others, we should consider the effect it has upon us and our “existence”. It is not about a plain 2 or 3 dimensional distribution of people or objects although we are certainly creating a landscape in this landscape. We should realize the energy concentration and the dynamic flow in the particular place. Our actions in this space also creates a story which has to deal with the story that has happened there before.

The workshop

There will be different focus for each period of the Living River Body workshop. We shall start with one’s own body, one’s own wishes and then physical training with others in a structured way. Songs and vocal improvisation will also be used. The techniques are compilation from sources such as the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards, dance, theatre, singing traditions and Asiatic movements.

For me physical training is not a means to an end. It should be useful for the person doing it, it should bring me to an alertness, to strengthen my body in order that the actions that is to be taken can be executed. Sometimes, we think that it is impossible to do something, most of the time it is our fear and our lack of a structure or skills to overcome.

It is the awareness to my body, to the other bodies, to the space vertical and horizontal, to see what one see and to hear what one hears. To break my limitations, my inner limitations.

Biography

Yap Sun Sun began her journey at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski & Thomas Richards in Italy from 2000-2002 and since then she has been actively performing and directing with dance, theatre and research centers in Europe and has also performed in numerous theater festivals for example, Wiener Festwochen with the Schauspielhaus Wien, International Experimental Theatre Festival in Cairo, Singapore Arts Festival, Tunisia Festival etc etc. She has been teaching and leading workshops at the Academy of the Impossible in Linz (Cultural City of Europe 2009) as a part of Linz 09 and various workshops for the Vienna State Library, Austrian Schools and also schools with children of special needs.

December 2008

U60 - Celebration of Human Rights :
Short Film Showcase: Right Through The Lens

Right Through The Lens is a part of the U60 festival of events to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights launched in 1948. Through short films with a local or regional focus, Right through the lens will examine the question of human rights in contexts relevant to us in Singapore.

There will be discussion time after the screenings, which should make the event even more interesting and enlightening.

U60 would like to thank all the film-makers for kindly agreeing to loan us their films and generously waiving screening fees, as well the Asian Film Archive for their assistance. We would also like to thank The Substation for hosting the screening.

PART 1: Poverty and the human rights consequences of poverty
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1.  Innocence for Sale, Chua Puay Hoe, 2006, 26 min.
    About teenage girls "sold" by their families into the sex trade in Batam, an industry whose demand comes from Singaporean men.
2.  The Call Home, Han Yew Kwang, 2002. 30 min.
    An Indian worker, newly arrived to work here, makes his first phone call to his family.
3.  Our Daily Bread. Khavn de la Cruz, 2006, 5 min.
 
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BREAK
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PART 2: The right NOT to be treated as merely another digit
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4.  Kassim, Danial Haris, 2005, 14 min.
5.  Crammed, Ellery Ngiam, 2003, 11 min.
6.  Lata at Tsinelas, Khavn de la Cruz, 2005, 2 min.

Please note that the films are subject to clearance and rating by MDA.

November 2008

Angni Kootthu (Theatre of Fire) Presents :
ALAMAK!

alamak

One night, the Police Coast Guard detects an unknown person swimming towards the direction of the Singapore coastline with the aid of an inflatable trash bag. They fish him out of the sea. He has no valid travel document and is placed under arrest for attempting to enter the country illegally. It is explained to him that he will be charged with unlawful entry into Singapore and if convicted, he will face jail up to six months and liable for not less than three strokes of the cane on his ‘royal arse’, or fined up to $6,000. During the interrogation, he confesses that he is actually the mythical figure Sang Nila Utama, the founder of Singapore in the 11th century AD. He further claims that he was returning from the Riau archipelago after visiting his subjects and had unfortunately entered a vortex at sea and was subsequently teleported into modern Singapore. The powers-that-be identify him as a potential global branding image for the Foreign Talent scheme and offer him immediate citizenship. But he demands that he be released first to understand his subjects better before accepting the citizenship. The authorities release him and give him free access to meet-the-people of modern Singapore. Sang Nila Utama meets characters from all walks of city-life and unravels the discrepancies and incongruence that exist between the dominant official viewpoint and the articulations of the disenfranchised subalterns. Nila Utama has mixed feelings about acquiring citizenship but is surprised when he is accorded the highest honour and given an official position. He reiterates what he had uttered centuries ago: “If the animals here are as fine and as fierce as lions, this would be a good place to start a new kingdom.” The play is a satire on the materialistic and hypocritical existence in our global city.

november 2008

The Substation's Performance Lab Programme Presents :
Coming to Sleep : A Talk by Sam Trubridge

A talk for those interested in interdisciplinary performance, and for
artists interested in working with scientific concepts.

We spend one third of our lives asleep, but we still know very little
about it. The world of sleeping and dreaming has been examined by
scientists and artists alike, yet for both it remains a mystery. In
2008 performance designer Sam Trubridge and sleep scientist Professor
Philippa Gander collaborated on a 'live art' performance 'Sleep/Wake':
aiming to understand this field through the intersecting practises of
scientific sleep study and the media of live performance, dance, and
theatre.

In this talk Trubridge discusses the resulting performance experience,
using images and drawings that were used in the collaborative process:
as well as photographs and video from its first public season in
Wellington, New Zealand (2008). His account of the concepts behind
'Sleep/Wake' takes the audience through the journey of the
performance: illuminating scientific phenomena that have been observed
in the sleeping body whilst also discussing their broader metaphorical
and political resonances.

'Sleep/Wake', an acclaimed science/art crossover, opened in Wellington
in early 2008, and will be presented in the 2009 Auckland Festival,
before travelling to overseas destinations.

The talk is presented under The Substation?s Performance Lab programme.

About Sam Trubridge:
British born New Zealander Sam Trubridge was trained at Elam School of
Fine Arts (NZ), Slade School of Fine Arts (UK), and completed his
Master's in Design at Massey University (NZ). Working as a performance
designer, he has conceived, directed, and designed theatre, film, and
installation art internationally for the past 10 years. He is now
artistic director of the international multi-disciplinary performance
platform: The Playground, which was founded in 2004 with the
presentation of 'The Restaurant of Many Orders' at London's Sadler's
Wells Theatre. As an international work in progress this
'dance-theatre' production has also been shown in Wellington,
Auckland, Prague, Florence, Prato, and Rome: each time adapting to new
historical contexts, cultures, and architectural specifics. Prior to
this he directed film and theatre in London and Auckland, such as the
short film 'Mobiles' (Raindance 2002), 'The Harvest' (Hiroshima Short
Film Festival 2004), 'Henry V' (Auckland's 36th Summer Shakespeare),
and 'The Tempest' in Auckland's YMCA Tepid Baths. 'Sleep/Wake' was
developed in collaboration with Massey University's Sleep/Wake
Research Centre. This acclaimed science/art crossover opened in
Wellington in early 2008, and will be presented in the 2009 Auckland
Festival, before travelling to overseas destinations.

october 2008

The Substation's Performance Lab Presents :
DANCE_SPACE_2008

danielk

DANCE_SPACE, previously a fixture of The Substation’s annual programming (till 2002), makes a return under the Performance Lab Programme.

While DANCE_SPACE previously was a platform for the showcase of small-scale dance productions, this time around, it will take the format of a forum that emphasizes critical and creative dialogue amongst dance practitioners in Singapore.

Of late, we are aware of a small but bustling dance scene that sees a number of independent dance productions fast gaining a key role in the overall artistic milieu in Singapore. Some of the artists involved have also gained momentum in establishing relationships with the regional or international dance fraternity.

Given the developments, what should follow is increased dialogue amongst practitioners of dance, so that by fostering critique, conversations about dance in the public sphere will increase in rigor; a collective learning curve for dance steepened. It is hoped that dance can increasingly better engage the Singaporean public not just in scope but also in depth.

DANCE_SPACE_2008 takes a first step in this direction of critical dialogue. It brings together seven local dance artists: Aaron Khek, Joavien Ng, Ming Poon, Ricky Sim, Daniel K, Zhuo Zihao and Lee Mun Wai (from T.H.E. Dance Company). Each is given an hour-long slot where they will present their artistic strategies, directions and problems faced, followed by a Q&A with peers and the audience. A panel discussion will act as the finale for the forum, with several other key agents of local dance in attendance to generate a lively commentary based on the artists’ presentations.

The list of the choreographers for this session of DANCE_SPACE is by no means exhaustive. There are other dance artists in Singapore, some of whom more experienced. Nevertheless, the six choreographers presented in DANCE_SPACE_2008 have been invited due to their individually expressed desire for increased critique and are presently openly inviting local dance enthusiasts to engage in lively dialogue with them.

All dance and performing arts audiences, dance students and dancers, are welcome to join us at DANCE_SPACE_2008.

Programme (subject to change):

0930 – 1000 Morning tea
1000 – 1045  Aaron Khek
1045 – 1130  Joavien Ng
1130 –  1200 Tea  break
1200 – 1245  Zhuo Zihao and Lee Mun Wai
1245 – 1330  Ricky Sim
1330 –  1430 Lunch
1430 – 1515  Ming Poon
1515 – 1600  daniel k (diskodanny.com <http://diskodanny.com> )
1600 – 1615 Tea  break
1615 – 1730 Plenary session/panel discussion-
                        - Tang Fukuen (Independent dramaturge) [Chair] 
                        - Tara Tan (ST Journalist)
                        - Audrey Wong (The Substation)

Enquiries: Audrey Wong, email audrey@substation.org or call 6337 7535

JULY 2007

An in-conjunction event of ISEA 2008 :
n.E.W.S.

news

n.e.w.s. is a horizontally-organised, cumulative knowledge-based website for contemporary art and new media framed by curatorial contributions from around the globe, bringing together voices and images from North, East, West and South. n.e.w.s. reflects geographic
diversity and facilitates a framework for collaboration, content and visions of change outside the normal parameters of the established art world networks.

Launch at ISEA 2008

With the support of ISEA and Substation, n.e.w.s. will be spotlighted with a symposium/event in which members of n.e.w.s. and curators will attend in order to discuss and give feedback during this time. Contributing curators and n.e.w.s. representatives will talk about building the platform, the way content is determined through curatorial positionings, and further collaborative tactics.

Contributors: Ade Darmawan/Ruangrupa, Ingrid Commandeur, Thomas Berghuis, Inti Guerrero, Mia Jankowicz, Rich Streitmatter-Tran, Mustafa Maluka, Stephen Wright, Yuliya Sorokina, and Branka Ćurčić/Kuda.

Moderators: Lee Weng Choy/The Substation, Renée Ridgway/n.e.w.s.

Comments and user feedback welcome! Please add your events to our calendar or subscribe to our mailing for further projects and announcements.

For more information please contact admin@substation.org

n.e.w.s. foundation: Sannetje van Haarst, Renée Ridgway, Tiong Ang

n.e.w.s. is supported by the following institutions:
ISEA, The Substation, Mondriaan Foundation

Please click here to go to the n.e.w.s. website

Please clcik here to go to the ISEA 2008 website

AUGUST 2008

Magdalena (Singapore & Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) Present :
Writing Your Story, Staging Your Story - workshop / Play Watching

Calling all aspiring writers, playwrights and theatre enthusiasts! Learn how to write for stage, create characters and settings, craft engaging dialogue, and get tips on how to get your work staged…

A 3-part programme in conjunction with Magdalena (Singapore)’s production of Blood Binds during August 2008:

Date: Sat 16 Aug 2008, 2–6pm (held at SCWO centre)

- Sun 24 Aug, 3 pm: Sperm / The Lunar Interviews

what they saw and the process of writing and staging plays.
Date: Sat 30 Aug 2008: 11am–1pm (held at SCWO centre)

This workshop is suitable for:

Take away: Participants will have written at least one scene by the end of the workshop.

Workshop Facilitators: Ng Swee San and Tan Suet Lee

FEES (for all 3 programmes including the play)

$70 per person for members & students

$80 per person for non-members

Minimum 20 participants

Maximum 40 participants

DATES

Bond-age & Just Late: Thu 21 Aug 8pm, Fri 22 Aug 8pm, Sat 23 Aug 3pm

Sperm & The Lunar Interviews: Sat 23 Aug 8pm, Sun 24 Aug 3pm & 8pm

VENUE

Drama Centre Black Box, 100 Victoria St, 5th fl, National Library

Workshop and Discussion to be held at SCWO Centre, Training Room 2

Registration deadline: 6 August 2008

July 2008

The Substation's Performance Lab Presents :
TEST TUBE

nelson chia

Performances & readings of works-in-progress by young artists.

Submissions are welcome from artists below 30 years of age, or with fewer than 5 years of professional practice. Are you working on a script or production? Working on a performance art piece? A monologue? A physical theatre piece? Or perhaps you've already staged a work and are thinking of re-working or re-staging it? This is a chance for you to test your work - particularly new or experimental work - and ideas before an audience.

The objective of Test Tube is to provide a developmental platform for young practitioners who are working independently and with limited resources. It's a space where they can meet like-minded young artists and receive peer-to-peer feedback as well as feedback from invited established artists. It's a space for them to reflect critically on their practice and work, and to aid their professional development. The emphasis is on developing the content of the artistic works. Test Tube will run a couple of times a year at The Substation, with each session showing a maximum of 4 works or readings.

Submissions are now invited for the first session of Test Tube on 5 July. Closing date for submissions is 2 June 2008. Works proposed should be no longer than 40 minutes.

There is no remuneration for the event. Participants are expected to cover the costs of their own props/materials and bring in their own stage crew and operators if needed. They can provide their own lighting designer/stage manager. Please keep your set-ups as simple as possible. Each group/artist will have a 4-hour set-up slot on 2 or 3 July. Final rehearsals are from 9 am - 5 pm on 5 July and the performance is on 5 July at 8 pm. A technical co-ordinator from The Substation will provide advice and supporting expertise, and The Substation's technical staff will rig the lights and be present in the theatre at all times.

Guidelines for submission:
- A proposal /concept paper no longer than 2 A4 pages, describing the work, your motivation, and biodata
- Full names, IC numbers, and dates of birth for all performers (for MDA arts licensing purposes)
- A list of your expected technical needs (eg. video projector, standing microphones)
- if you already have a script or a draft of a script, please send it in

Artists whose proposals are selected will be notified by 8 June 2008. Please send to our Artistic Co-Directors Audrey and Weng Choy via email: audrey@substation.org and wengchoy@mac.com

For more information please call The Substation on 6337 7535 during office hours.

JULY 2008

The Substation's Performance Lab Presents :
Workshops by Nelson Chia & Elizabeth de Roza

nelson chia

The Dramaturgy of an Actor
A workshop by Elizabeth de Roza
2 sessions: 19 and 26 July, 9 am - 12 noon
The Substation Dance Studio
Fees: $75. Student rates: $25 for students booking in groups of 2 or more persons
Maximum of 15 participants

"Exploring with the physical, intertwining and manifesting the layers of a character".This workshop will explore two streams of training, and look at developing a "physical score" of the actor. In both streams, the emphasis is on the actors’ craft and the techniques used in order to bring various characters alive on stage and to devise materials for a performance.

The first stream looks at a structured actors' training process. The focus is on the body and crafting different possible physical gestures and rhythms for characterization. This provides the participants with the techniques needed to devise materials for a performance and to create the nuances of a character. The next area of attention is to undertake an exploration of the body in motion.

The second stream of training explores an extended architecture of the body and spatial awareness, as a means of manifesting the "inner landscapes" of the actor and extending the actor's physical range.

The workshop is useful for actors and performers who want to extend their physical vocabulary and who are interested in devised theatre performance.

 

Approaches to Characterisation
A 3 hour workshop by Nelson Chia
30 July, 2 to 5pm
The Substation Dance Studio
Fees: $50. Student rates: $15 for students booking in groups of 2 or more persons
Maximum of 20 participants

So, you are being given a role in the play but what does it take to “characterize” it? Through exercises and discussions, the participants of this workshop will be introduced to ideas such as:

a) The background of a character and how it translates into performance
b) The physicality and speech pattern of a character
c) The base rhythm of a character
d) Character relationship

 

Directing a Scene
A 3 hour workshop by Nelson Chia
6 August, 2 to 5pm
The Substation Dance Studio
Fees: $50. Student rates: $15 for students booking in groups of 2 or more persons
Maximum of 20 participants

What are the things that a director actually does when he is said to be "directing a scene"?Participants of this workshop will be introduced to basic practical techniques that will let you put together a scene from page to stage.

To make a reservation, please contact our Box Office Manager, Chris, on 6337 7800 or email chris@substation.org

May 2008

The Substation's Performance Lab, Law Soo Leng & Richard Philip Present :
PRAY

pray 1

A movement theatre piece and a work-in-progress showing.

First performed in 2007, final version to be shown at The Substation's SeptFest 2008.

Children as young as 8 years old are told to perform oral sex and have sexual intercourse with men old enough to be their fathers. These pimps use simple childlike terms to teach the ideas of oral sex and intercourse to these children. “Boom boom” means intercourse; “yum yum” means oral sex. These and other horrendous real-life accounts were what the directors discovered when researching material for this movement theatre piece. Please visit this youtube site: http://youtube.com/watch?v=4SxNsSkkem8 and see for yourself (note from the editor: this is a confronting video that shows young children who are being “offered” in brothels) If this link does not work, just enter a search for: “child prostitution in Cambodia” and you will find a series of documentaries that will change the way you look at this world. According to a recent global estimate by the International Labour Organization, around 50 percent of the 1.39 million people involved in the forced sex trade are children.

Someone once said that we can tell how civilised a community is by the way it treats its children and its old folks. If we go by this rule, then looking at today’s world, where child prostitution is a burgeoning business and where thousands of children are forced into subjecting their bodies to the grossest form of commercial sex abuse, we must concede that our world is in an utterly depraved state. This crime against our children is a dark stain upon the fabric that we call human progress.

PRAY presents a group of people who use artistic expressions to gain and understanding of the contexts and situations that contribute to child prostitution. PRAY is a non-linear story made up of movements, images and sounds that will provide an artistic perspective to the deeply entrenched moral, sociological and cultural problem of child prostitution.

Directed by Law Soo Leng and Richard Philip

Music by Philip Tan and Richard Philip

Performed by Susan Yeung, Chermaine Soon, Kon Su Sam, Paulina Castillo, Esteban Chaparro, Ng Peiru, Ng Peiyi, Law Soo Leng and Richard Philip

Stage managed by Yap Seok Hui

Text by Richard Philip

Choreography by Law Soo Leng

APRIL 2008

The Substation, Raka Maitra & Jayanthi Siva Present :
GREY Festival 2008: A Celebration of Indian Contemporary Dance

grey festival

This is a four-day festival where local and international dance and theatre practitioners will present and share ideas in workshops, discussions, video screenings and nightly performances.
Features international guests, Navtej S. Johar, Ramli Ibrahim, Maya Rao and Madhu Nataraj, as well as many local artists. For more info on festival passes and discounts, please contact Jayanthi on 8172 6800 or jayanthi@hotmail.com or Raka on 9129 5110 or rakamaitra@hotmail.com. For enquiries on workshops, please contact Raka.

Thursday 24 April: 8pm: Performance: "Smoking Incense " - re-worked by Haymini Muthusamy (India) & "Sheer Fall" - Navtej S. Johar (India)

Friday 25 April: 8pm: Performance: "Traces" - Elizabeth De Roza, Lewis Jamie Marie & Khairiyah Bte Ramli (Singapore) & "Khol Do" - Maya K. Rao (India)

Saturday 26 April: 11am to 1pm: Workshop on Indian dance from Contemporary to Modernity.

Saturday 26 April: 2pm: Screening of "Nachni – The Dancing Women of Rural Bengal” which is about music and dance folk performers who have kept alive many of India’s traditional dance traditions, followed by a post screening talk by Dr Urmimala Sarkar Munsi (India)

Saturday 26 April: 8pm: Performance: "Habitat" - Meera Gurumurthy & a contemporary approach to Odissi by Ramli Ibrahim and his troupe (Malaysia)

Sunday 27 April: 11am: Workshop on the Element of Motion in Dance by Raka Maitra

Sunday 27 April: 11am: Two Workshops: Bharatnatyam and Movement by Navtej S Johar & Kathak as a Springboard for Choreography by Madhu Nataraj

Sunday 27 April: 3pm: Forum on Contemporary Asian Dance, Negotiating the Past, free admission

Sunday 27 April: 8pm: Performance: "Parallel" - Kiran Kumar, Archana Kumar and Neisha Sundram (India), "Yashodhara" - Madhu Nataraj (India) & "Vajra" - Madhu Nataraj (India)

 

About the artists:

 

 

October 2007

Buds Theatre Company presents:
Essential Framing

Buds Theatre Company presents two plays by budding NUS writers. This double bill promises to be a night of unforgettable bittersweet musings about the absurd confines of relationships. With a dynamic cast including award-winning actress Claire Devine, and popular actor Andy Tear, the entertainment intends to tickle the sides of sanity and take reality by the reins.

February 2007

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