Cross-Cultural Dance in Singapore: Multi-culturalism on Stage

This talk explores the concept and practice of multi-culturalism in dance in Singapore and the creative process that transformed the ideas into an identifiable feature. During the anti-colonial movement in the mid-1950s and the years after Singapore was granted self-government in 1959, dance pioneers like K. P. Bhaskar, and Chinese and Malay cultural organisations made great efforts to introduce the cultures of other ethnic groups into their works. Through nation-building and the search for a new cultural identity, these pioneers have moulded a multicultural model in dance presentation that continues to be practised by a new generation of artistes today. Their innovative choreographic ideas have led to the development of a distinctive multi-cultural Singapore dance scene.

Speaker(s) biography:

Dr Chua Soo Pong 
Vice President, The South Seas Society
Artistic Adviser, Chinese Dance Artistes’ Association, Singapore and Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre

Dr Chua is a dance anthropologist and editor of Performing Arts, Singapore’s first arts magazine published by the National Theatre Trust. He is the founding director of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts School of Performing Arts, and the first Senior Specialist (Performing Arts) at SEAMEO Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts. His dance reviews and academic papers on dance have been published in local and overseas newspapers and journals.   

Moderator:

Melissa Quek
Head
School of Dance & Theatre
LASALLE College of the Arts

Pre-registration required.

To attend in-person: https://sccc-lectureseries-13aug2022.peatix.com 

To attend online: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZKcJIB03R4ik2SzVJIeXSw