Singapore Dance Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Singapore Dance Theatre is Singapore
's national dance company
, founded in 1988 by the late Anthony Then and Goh Soo Khim
. It made its debut in June 1988 at the Singapore Festival of The Arts and received its first arts patronage by the then-Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Ong Teng Cheong
.
Its humble beginnings started with a group of seven ballet dancers in a modest dance studio on the second storey of a creaky colonial bungalow on Killiney Road. This studio space was shared by the Singapore Ballet Academy and the Theatre's dancers could only train in between the Academy's rehearsal schedules on normal days. The building's condition was poor and, often, dancers had to be careful with their dance movements lest the floorboards gave way. On rainy days, the studio would experience leaking roofs and had to put buckets at the corner of the studio, to collect rainwater.
The Theatre is now based at Fort Canning Centre and consists of 32 dancers predominantly from the Asia-Pacific
region. It receives its funding from both public and private sources such as the National Arts Council, and corporate and private donations.
It has six seasons in a year, including performances at the Esplanade
theatre and the Fort Canning Green, where its hugely-popular Ballet Under The Stars (BUTS) series of outdoor performances are staged. BUTS has, to date, attracted over 180,000 spectators from all walks of life and have become dance aficionados.
to contemporary ballet
, from renowned choreographers like Goh Choo San, George Balanchine
, Jean Paul Comelin, Nacho Duato
, Jiri Kylian
, Ohad Naharin, Edwaard Liang, Graham Lustig, Boi Sakti, Stanton Welch
, Edmund Stripe and Marie-Claude Pietragalla. The company also takes on the works by contemporary choreographers Kuik Swee Boon, David Dawson
, Jorma Elo
Xing Liang and Adrian Burnett. They also have done several full length ballets in their history with Nutcracker, Coppelia, Cinderella, Giselle, Madame Butterfly, La Sylphide, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and the contemporary work Reminiscing the Moon commissioned for the opening of the Esplanade in 2002.
In 2010 the company performed Giselle in Victoria Theatre and presented a new staging of Sleeping Beauty in December at the Esplanade. SDT added five new works in the season coming from choreographers Adrian Burnett, Molly Lynch, Edwaard Liang, Xiang Liang plus the children's ballet Peter and Blue's Forest Adventure created especially for young audiences by the company's Artistic Director, Janek Schergen. In June, 2010 SDT presented a company premiere of George Balanchine's ballet, Serenade.
The 2011 season's began with Goh Choo San's Romeo and Juliet performed at The Esplanade in March. June programme is composed of Stanon Welch's Maninyas, Nils Christie's Fearful Symmetries and a new work made for SDT by Edwaard Laing titled The Winds of Zephyrus. In July Ballet Under the Stars has a Tchaikovsky Festival with Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, Serenade and Swan Lake Act II. Ballet Manila also appears in the same performances. Nutcracker ends the season with a new Nutcracker for the company.
Currently, SDT dancers train under Artistic Director Janek Schergen, who was also the ballet master for Goh Choo San from Washington Ballet. He has staged Mr. Goh's works for the repertoire through the years. In the company's history SDT has also groomed notable dancers and choreographers such as Kuik Swee Boon and Jeffery Tan, a Young Artist Award for Dance recipient in 2000.
On July 16, 2008, Goh Soo Khim formally announced that she would step down from her position as Artistic Director
of the Singapore Dance Theatre, effective from July 19, 2008, as the company celebrated its 20th anniversary celebrations with a gala performance at Victoria Theatre
. The gala performance presented a repertoire of dance excerpts of the SDT's landmark performances over the last two decades starting with three Singaporean choreographers represented, Goh Choo San's "Beginnings", Living Greens by Mohamed Noor Sarman and Jeffrey Tan's Negro Y Blanco.
From 1 January 2009 the company's Assistant Artistic Director, Janek Schergen, began his tenure as Artistic Director of the company. His involvement has stemmed from the initial SDT performances in 1988 with the staging of Choo San Gohs ballet Beginnings. Over the next 22 years he staged 11 of Goh Choo San Goh's ballets for SDT plus three full length works (Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Giselle). On 6 February 2009 the main rehearsal studio at SDT's home in Fort Canning was dedicated in Ms. Goh's honour as the Goh Soo Khim Founder's Studio with a performance and a celebration for family and friends following.
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
's national dance company
Dance company
A dance troupe or dance company is a group of dancers and associated personnel who work together to perform dances as a spectacle or entertainment.-Members:*Artistic Director*Choreographers*Dancers*Board of Directors*Education administrator...
, founded in 1988 by the late Anthony Then and Goh Soo Khim
Goh Soo Khim
Goh Soo Khim is a Singaporean ballerina and a highly respected doyen in Singapore’s dance scene. She is also the co-founder / Artistic Director of Singapore Dance Theatre, as well as being the elder sister of late ballet maestro Goh Choo San...
. It made its debut in June 1988 at the Singapore Festival of The Arts and received its first arts patronage by the then-Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Ong Teng Cheong
Ong Teng Cheong
Ong Teng Cheong was the first directly elected President of the Republic of Singapore. He was the nation's fifth President, and served a six-year term from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999.-Early life:...
.
Its humble beginnings started with a group of seven ballet dancers in a modest dance studio on the second storey of a creaky colonial bungalow on Killiney Road. This studio space was shared by the Singapore Ballet Academy and the Theatre's dancers could only train in between the Academy's rehearsal schedules on normal days. The building's condition was poor and, often, dancers had to be careful with their dance movements lest the floorboards gave way. On rainy days, the studio would experience leaking roofs and had to put buckets at the corner of the studio, to collect rainwater.
The Theatre is now based at Fort Canning Centre and consists of 32 dancers predominantly from the Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean...
region. It receives its funding from both public and private sources such as the National Arts Council, and corporate and private donations.
It has six seasons in a year, including performances at the Esplanade
Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is a waterside building located on six hectares of waterfront land alongside Marina Bay near the mouth of the Singapore River, purpose-built to be the centre for performing arts for the island nation of Singapore...
theatre and the Fort Canning Green, where its hugely-popular Ballet Under The Stars (BUTS) series of outdoor performances are staged. BUTS has, to date, attracted over 180,000 spectators from all walks of life and have become dance aficionados.
Repertoire
The company’s repertoire ranges from classicalClassical ballet
Classical Ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles, it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, British ballet and Italian ballet...
to contemporary ballet
Contemporary ballet
Contemporary ballet is a form of dance which incorporates elements of both classical ballet and modern dance. It takes its technique and use of pointework from classical ballet, although it permits a greater range of movement that may not adhere to the strict body lines set forth by schools of...
, from renowned choreographers like Goh Choo San, George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
, Jean Paul Comelin, Nacho Duato
Nacho Duato
Juan Ignacio Duato Bárcia, also known as Nacho Duato is a Spanish modern ballet dancer and choreographer. After a long and successful career, he was selected by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Education as the artistic director of the National Spanish Dance Company in June 1990...
, Jiri Kylian
Jiří Kylián
Jiří Kylián is a Czech dance choreographer.Kylián studied in Prague and, at the age of 20, won a scholarship at the Royal Ballet School in London. He joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 1968 and worked under John Cranko, where he began to choreograph. Kylián became Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans...
, Ohad Naharin, Edwaard Liang, Graham Lustig, Boi Sakti, Stanton Welch
Stanton Welch
-Early Life:Welch was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch, two prominent Australian dancers.-Career:Welch was initially trained at the dance school run by his parents...
, Edmund Stripe and Marie-Claude Pietragalla. The company also takes on the works by contemporary choreographers Kuik Swee Boon, David Dawson
David Dawson (choreographer)
British choreographer and dancer, David Dawson is one of the most respected names amongst the younger generation of choreographers working in the classical ballet idiom today.-Biography:...
, Jorma Elo
Jorma Elo
Jorma Elo is a contemporary choreographer. Elo began studying dance at a young age through classical training at the Finnish National Ballet School and the Kirov Ballet School. He danced with the Finnish Ballet from 1978–1984 and with the Cullberg Ballet from 1984 until 1990...
Xing Liang and Adrian Burnett. They also have done several full length ballets in their history with Nutcracker, Coppelia, Cinderella, Giselle, Madame Butterfly, La Sylphide, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and the contemporary work Reminiscing the Moon commissioned for the opening of the Esplanade in 2002.
In 2010 the company performed Giselle in Victoria Theatre and presented a new staging of Sleeping Beauty in December at the Esplanade. SDT added five new works in the season coming from choreographers Adrian Burnett, Molly Lynch, Edwaard Liang, Xiang Liang plus the children's ballet Peter and Blue's Forest Adventure created especially for young audiences by the company's Artistic Director, Janek Schergen. In June, 2010 SDT presented a company premiere of George Balanchine's ballet, Serenade.
The 2011 season's began with Goh Choo San's Romeo and Juliet performed at The Esplanade in March. June programme is composed of Stanon Welch's Maninyas, Nils Christie's Fearful Symmetries and a new work made for SDT by Edwaard Laing titled The Winds of Zephyrus. In July Ballet Under the Stars has a Tchaikovsky Festival with Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, Serenade and Swan Lake Act II. Ballet Manila also appears in the same performances. Nutcracker ends the season with a new Nutcracker for the company.
Choreography
Besides developing its repertoire, the company is dedicated to nurturing young choreographic talents in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. Its hugely-popular and well-known Ballet Under The Stars seasons at Fort Canning Green have become a viable working space for dance performances. Up-and-coming choreographers now present their creations through the newly developed Passages Choreographic Workshop. In 2010 Passages was presented in a showing at the National Museum in November followed by performances of works made for the company by Jeffrey Tan and Kuik Swee Boon.Currently, SDT dancers train under Artistic Director Janek Schergen, who was also the ballet master for Goh Choo San from Washington Ballet. He has staged Mr. Goh's works for the repertoire through the years. In the company's history SDT has also groomed notable dancers and choreographers such as Kuik Swee Boon and Jeffery Tan, a Young Artist Award for Dance recipient in 2000.
Education
As a major grant recipient from the Singapore Government and, in keeping with SDT’s commitment to bringing the finest in dance to the public audience, on-going Education and Outreach programmes are organised to provide people with opportunities to appreciate dance. The SDT continues to make extensive school visits and offer special courses for non-dancers and adult students. Recently SDT has launched several new initiatives. One @ the Ballet, which are open rehearsals in the company's Founder's studio, is held on Saturdays and dedicated to topics that show the inside working of a dance company. The Ballet Associate Course has been developed to offer master classes for young ballet students in a workshop format though the year. The Scholar's Programme is a pre-professional training outgrowth of Ballet Associates that gives students daily training in development towards careers in dance. SDT has also launched a children's series with ballets made especially for very young audiences accompanied by a narrator. These efforts aim to make dance more accessible to the masses. Singapore Dance Theatre hopes to spread the beauty, passion and discipline of dance to as many people as possible, and place Singapore in the minds of international dance aficionados.On July 16, 2008, Goh Soo Khim formally announced that she would step down from her position as Artistic Director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of the Singapore Dance Theatre, effective from July 19, 2008, as the company celebrated its 20th anniversary celebrations with a gala performance at Victoria Theatre
Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall
The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor and is located in the civic district of Singapore...
. The gala performance presented a repertoire of dance excerpts of the SDT's landmark performances over the last two decades starting with three Singaporean choreographers represented, Goh Choo San's "Beginnings", Living Greens by Mohamed Noor Sarman and Jeffrey Tan's Negro Y Blanco.
From 1 January 2009 the company's Assistant Artistic Director, Janek Schergen, began his tenure as Artistic Director of the company. His involvement has stemmed from the initial SDT performances in 1988 with the staging of Choo San Gohs ballet Beginnings. Over the next 22 years he staged 11 of Goh Choo San Goh's ballets for SDT plus three full length works (Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Giselle). On 6 February 2009 the main rehearsal studio at SDT's home in Fort Canning was dedicated in Ms. Goh's honour as the Goh Soo Khim Founder's Studio with a performance and a celebration for family and friends following.