The Routledge Companion to Dance in Asia and the Pacific: Platforms for Change documents and celebrates artistic journeys that exist within the framework of rich and complex cultural heritages and traditional dance practices. Selected chapters that first appeared in the Routledge Celebrating Dance in Asia and the Pacific series have been modified and updated – these are central to this book including Australia, Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore and the South Pacific.
We can make the world more beautiful through theatre, says Indumathi Tamilselvan, one of the graduates from LASALLE College of the Arts' Class of 2021. Along with her, more than 800 graduates received their degrees and diplomas this year.
The arts are one of the sectors that was affected by COVID-19. However, Indumathi, who wanted to pursue a career in the arts, was not discouraged. She realised that arts and technology can work together.
The disappointment was palpable in 2020, when the pandemic scuppered plans for LASALLE College of the Arts Diploma in Dance students to perform at Esplanade’s annual dance platform da:ns fest.
Meet the next generation of dance talents from LASALLE College of the Arts as they present this dance film by local choreographers Dapheny Chen, Germaine Cheng, Pat Toh, Yarra Ileto and Melissa Quek. The film reflects LASALLE’s cosmopolitan and cutting-edge approach that produces performers who expand and challenge the boundaries of dance both physically and conceptually.
Alvin Chiam has been involved in Singapore theatre for over 20 years. For six years, he worked for The Theatre Practice, a major bilingual theatre company in Singapore, founded by the late theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun.
After working and understudying with many acclaimed directors in Asia, including Stan Lai (Taiwan), Jim Chim (Hong Kong) and Fredric Mao (Hong Kong), Alvin was awarded the Arts Professional Development Grant from the National Arts Council Singapore in 2007 to further his performance skills in Paris with the great master Philippe Gaulier.
Zahrah Jailani wanted a formal education in the arts in order to strengthen her skills as an educator. Despite already obtaining a degree in English Literature, as well as having prior experience as a teacher, she enrolled into LASALLE's BA(Hons) Musical Theatre programme as a mature student.
Professor Leon Rubin has recently joined LASALLE, coming from East 15 Acting School, the internationally distinguished conservatoire in London, the UK where he was Director of the school for 13 years. He transformed E15 from a small, UK focused institution into an international powerhouse with staff and students from across the globe. In his final year as Director, the school was top of all three major league tables in the UK: The Times and Sunday Times Good University guide, The Guardian University league table and the National Student Survey (NSS).
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara is a dance and theatre practitioner-researcher, educator, performer and dramaturg.
Nora Samosir has been active in theatre since 1979. She has acted with Cake Theatricals, TheatreWorks, Wild Rice, The Necessary Stage, GenerAsia, The Theatre Practice, Teater Ekamatra, Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Repertory Theatre and other theatre companies.
From Malay dance to filmmaking to German opera, fresh BA(Hons) Musical Theatre graduands Md Al-Hafiz Hosni and Nurulhuda Hassan are more than your ordinary theatrical triple threat. In this interview with Berita Harian, they share more about the highs and lows of their journeys, as well as their hopes for the future of the arts in Singapore amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
