Contemporary Asian Explorations in Dance_Dr. Caren Carino

The Third Space:
Contemporary Asian Explorations in Dance

Dr. Caren Carino

Contemporary dance in Singapore arrived from the West by way of relocated expatriates as well as locals who have studied and brought with them Western contemporary dance techniques and styles. Like the emergence of contemporary dance in the West, contemporary dance in Asia as well as Singapore is a cultural response to pre-existing social conditions. In Singapore this means establishing an identity following its colonization by the British, occupation by the Japanese and merger with Malaysia. Although contemporary dance as a genre is viewed as a Western construct, its transference to Asia and Singapore sees it transformed into what will be called in this paper contemporary Asian dance.

The varied and complex constructions of contemporary Asian dance, where individual and collective Asian imaginings about ethnicity, community, heritage and culture through artistic agency is represented, simultaneously shape and reflect culture in the Singapore context. This paper looks at examples of contemporary Asian dance forms produced at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). The Department of Dance at NAFA is focused on exploring contemporary dance as a dynamic space where Asian identity takes on multifacited and meaningful representations through the lives and work of contemporary Asian dance artists, i.e. emerging as well as experienced choreographers, located in Singapore. Their dance work reveals that they are influenced by their cultural heritage, sojourns and exposure centering on Asian cultural continuity as well as accepting Western outlooks.

At times contemporary Asian dance embraces a specific Asian culture which is thought to be something inherited and learned. ‘Rhymorphs’ (2008) choreographed by Dr. Siri Rama, an Indian national who resides between India and Singapore, is a “contemporary presentation of the traditional Indian classical dance style of Kuchipudi. The central elements of this style, narration and rhythm are re-interpreted in this group dance performance of three short pieces. The dance movements (in solos, duets, and larger ensembles) continually morph in response to the rhythmic structures, following a non-linear narrative.”   ‘This and That’ (2009) by Nirmala Seshadri, an Indian national/Singapore permanent resident. “In this experiment the classical dance form Bharatanatyam meets with free form movement, music, theatre and video images…The work is centered around the Mandarin poem, Aspiration, by Singaporean poet and Cultural Medallion recipient Dan Ying. The poem is interpreted through free form movement as well as the codified classical movements.”   Both ‘Rhymorphs’ and “This and That’ were produced through Asian Dance Workshop, a module that centers on contemporary Asian explorations conducted by invited contemporary Asian dance choreographers. The intent is to expose students to the various creation approaches employed by different contemporary Asian dance artists. The module is often coupled with Asian Dance Technique where students are introduced to a particular Asian dance form while Asian Dance Workshop allows experimentation with the form.

At other times, contemporary Asian dance is not necessarily about the choreographer’s ethnicity or culture but adopting other Asian or Western cultural influences. Sometimes contemporary Asian dance works center around stories or elements from a choreographer’s Asian cultural heritage told through Western contemporary dance vocabulary. Western contemporary dance is the often medium because either the choreographers and/or their dancers lack in-depth dance training in a particular cultural dance or movement form. Thus, some choreographers merge Asian and Western movement vocabulary such as ‘Ice Nymph’ choreographed by Chinese Singaporean Lim Fei Shen, who brings classical Javanese dance together with Western contemporary dance. Western contemporary dance trained Lim worked with a classical Indonesian dancer for material for this piece. ‘Toccata’ (2009) another intercultural choreography by Lim Fei Shen merges classical Thai dance with Western contemporary dance. ‘Toccata’ is a creative dialogue between music and dance centered on the idea of touch…Inspired by the decorative long finger nail dance movements from the Northern Thai dance Font Leap, Fei Shen explores metaphorically how the donning of long finger nails portrays power and sophistication, yet the sense of touch is hindered, thus blocking a kind of truth.” 

‘In Place’ (2007) by Aaron Ah Hock (Chinese Singaporean) and Ix Thien Pau (Chinese Malaysian) was “inspired by tales of heroism in Chinese cultural tradition…Western contemporary dance movement was “performed with live pipa accompaniment to a famous work of classical Chinese music, In Place presents the poignant struggle of these men and women with richly layered choreography that reflects the face of destruction and the stagnation of humanity and the end of their romance.”  ‘Madhyanam’ (2008) choreographed by Bernd Michael Teichmann (German national residing in Singapore for more than 10 years; former Head of Dance at NAFA) and Jamaludin Jalil (Malay Singaporean permanent resident; Deputy Head at NAFA) was an “inter-cultural experiment …[that transported] Nijinski’s L-apres-midi d’un Faune onto an Asian mythic landscape.”   ‘Batulang’ (2009) choreographed by Chinese Canadian Yvonne Ng was “mythological and [was] inspired by the ancient Chinese tale of the first man, who was conceived out of stone. Batulang [had] visible Asian overtones in terms of movement expression, movement quality, dynamic, gestures, music and shapes….”   ‘Running Style’ (2008) choreographed by Eurasian American Stephanie Tooman “was inspired by 3 calligraphies of Dong Qi Chang, 1555-1636, calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty…Tooman created movement material on these calligraphies, asked the dancers to improvise, and modified and structured all material into an energetic choreography with 10 sections.” 

Advanced Dance composition students are rigorously mentored by Lim Fei Shen, NAFA Senior Fellow Lecturer and Singapore Cultural Medallion recipient. Lim guides students through a search for a personal contemporary Asian expression, primarily through an ethnographic approach. Composition students explore and assert their Asian identity through their dance creations that explore stories and issues as well as forms/elements from their Asian cultural heritage often through Western contemporary dance. Hence, contemporary Asian dance is not necessarily about ethnicity but adopting other Asian or Western cultural influences. For example, ‘Beyond Brushstrokes’ (2010) by Chinese Singaporean dance student Audrey Ng, explores Chinese calligraphy, a form from her Chinese heritage. The dancers’ movement replicate brushstrokes as a calligrapher’s execution is projected live on a screen simultaneously as a backdrop.
‘In the Ashes’ (2008) by Leong Jian Hao, a Chinese Singaporean student, tells a story of polygamy, which is still practiced in some Asian societies. ‘The Shaman’s Cat’ (2008) by Edwin Wee, a Chinese Singaporean student, was inspired by the belief in ‘shamanism’, still practiced in many parts of Asia.

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is focused on exploring contemporary dance as a dynamic space where the Asian identity as viewed through Singapore’s multi-faceted contemporary cultural identity. Each of the contemporary Asian dance artists in this paper were found to interpret Asian identity in their own way in their dance creations that sometimes sees them straddling more than one culture. It is imperative to continue to study contemporary dance as a viable expressive form where a complex and continually evolving Asian identity is both revealed as well as constructed by contemporary Asian dance artists located in Singapore.