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Collection showcases the various projects and programmes at 72-13
Jereh Leong / Joanna Dong / Loo Zihan / Sinclair Ang - 50/50
Dance class, Performance
4, 11, 18 December
8pm or 9pm
$30 for 3-Classes
$12 for Single-Class
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Experience a new format of performance in "50/50", conceived by Loo Zihan in collaboration with Jereh Leong, Joanna Dong and Sinclair Ang. This new format comprises a series of three dance classes that 'audiences' must participate in.
Curious?
For $30, you can register for three dance classes which will teach you basic Lindy Hop steps, while exposing you to the background of Lindy Hop, topics such as the performance of gender, race and sexuality in social dance and everyday life.
The classes for each Group (8pm or 9pm slot) spans over three weekends. Do note that when registering you will need to indicate which Group you would like to be in. Once you have made the choice, no changes to Group and dates & times of classes are allowed.
Meanwhile, no dance experience is required!
Open Dance Floor
4, 11, 18, December
10pm-12am
For an entry of $5, join us at 72-13 as we turn it into a dance hall for lindy hoppers to show off your best swing moves. Enjoy a merry night of social dancing to DJ-ed jazz music!
The presentation of 50/50 is part of TheatreWorks' long-established belief in developing and nurturing Singapore artists. It is also part of TheatreWorks' aim to present innovative contemporary experiences and artistic expressions that offer Singapore audiences alternatives.
Its home, 72-13, is an incubator for artistic experiments by both artists and creative, while being a consistent conduit for dialogues between disciplines and cultures.
Joavien Ng - Incarnation of the Beast
Performance
Sunday, 15 – Tuesday, 17 October 2015, 8pm
Tickets at $18
Incarnation of the Beast is a collaboration with nine performers who come from diverse backgrounds and body histories: Ali Anwar, Bjorn Lee Varella, Dana Lam, Deborah Emmanuel, Hamzah Alsagoff, Isaac Lim, Ivan Lim, Riley Huang and Tan Liting. Incarnation of the Beast is a visceral confrontation of one's most intimate demons. Exploring the themes of obsession, ritual and tragedy, Joavien and the nine performers emotes sympathy with pleasure, discomfort with inexplicable excitement. In this work, tragedy is seen as a personal and intimate constant in one's daily living and existence.
Incarnation of the Beast is Joavien Ng's first full-length work in Singapore after a 2-year hiatus.
The rating for the performance is General. This performance is not advisable for children 7 years and below.
Indignation 2015
Sex Ed Workshop
Saturday, 26 September 2015, 2pm – 5 pm
Still recovering from your school's (or family's) poor excuse for "sex ed"? In this peer-led, discussion-based workshop, we take a queer and trans focus to issues of sex and sexuality, giving space for everyone to ask questions, share experiences, and learn from each other. Topics include safer sex, consent, and communication.
Performance
Saturday, 26 September 2015, 7.30pm
In Contradiction Xl: Sexual History, young writers and actors will perform extracts of texts by and about queer Singaporeans, ranging from police reports from the 1850s and agony aunt columns from the 1970s to experimental novels from the 1990s and slam poems from the 2010s.
This is an alternative canon of Singapore literature, celebrating our full ethnic and sexual diversity.
Featuring works by Arthur Yap, Lydia Kwa, Sabariah, Haresh Sharma, Leona Lo, and many, many more.
Rating: R(18) (projected)
IndigNation 2015 is supported as part of 72-13's Open Call programme.
SIFA 2015
72-13 is the Venue and Equipment Partner of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2015. Here are the SIFA 2015 programmes happening only at 72-13.
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Wei-Ying Chuan and Creative Society Theatre Group - Taiwan Dreams Episode 1: Dream Hotel
Performance
Thursday, 10, Saturday - 12 September 2015, 8pm
In this dramatically kaleidoscopic and unsettling production, follow Tunick, our protagonist, through a decaying and labyrinthine hotel, where he encounters a parade of grotesque spectacles as he searches for his loved ones and, ultimately his personal roots and identity. It tells a story of diaspora through the mysterious disappearance of the Western Xia Dynasty in the 11th century.
Dream Hotel is Wei's artistic response to "Xixia Luguan" or "Xixia Hotel", a novel by visionary contemporary Taiwanese author Luo Yi-chun. In 2010, Luo was the first Taiwanese to win the Dream Of The Red Chamber Award: The World's Distinguished Novel In Chinese. The Award's citation states: "Mixing personal humour and melancholy tonality, Mr. Luo depicts modern Chinese experience at its most complex and intriguing... [this is] a major breakthrough in contemporary Chinese fiction."
During the creative proves of Dream Hotel, Wei, a strong proponent of engaging literature with theatre, brought together top talents from divers fields, including theatre, video, photography, music and visual arts, to conduct meaningful conversations across their areas of expertise. Her end product is an unforgettable adventure of trauma and redemption that is both dazzling and emotionally compelling.
Performed in Mandarin with English subtitles.
Rani Nair - Dance Marathon: OPEN WITH A PUNK SPIRIT ! Future Memory
Wednesday, 2 September 2015, 8pm
What does it mean to inherit a dance? German choreographer Kurt Jooss created his last piece, "Dixit Dominus", in 1975 as a gift for Swedish-based Indian dancer Lilavati Hager, who in turn gave it to Rani Nair to reconstruct in 2003. "Future Memory" (2012) returns to "dixit", this time focusing not on the choreography, but on the stories around it.
Both gentle and challenging, Future Memory embraces the possibility of an alternative history, one in which a 'minor' dance takes ten years of another artist's life, and wherein the concepts of 'insider' and 'outsider' are more complicated than we might think. Nair's one-hour solo utilises dance, spoken text, film and singing in more and less spectacular ways.
Mandeep Raikhy - Dance Marathon: OPEN WITH A PUNK SPIRIT ! A Male Ant Has Straight Antennae
Performance
Wednesday, 26 & Thursday, 27 August 2015, 8pm
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"A Male Ant Has Straight Antennae" is an ensemble dance piece that explores notions of masculinity through stereotypes, games, touch and relationships. Playing out the polarities of masculinity on a stage that resembles an arena, this piece challenges singular perspectives on the male body and its moorings.
Having begun as an observation of men on the streets, the piece has since evolved to address the ideas of masculinity as they reside in the real moments of contact between people. The choreographer sees an urgent need to view masculinity through multiple lenses, especially in the specific context of the Indian subcontinent where various kinds of gendered violence are increasingly being reported.
William Kentridge - 10 Drawings for Projection (1989 - 2011)
Video Screening
Tuesday, 18 August 2015, 7.30pm
Free admission
In "10 Drawings for Projection" (1989 – 2011). William Kentridge's unscripted drawings for projection are short animated films, each lasting no more than ten minutes. Together, they tell the story of the battle between his alter egos — romantic artist Felix Teitelbaum and heartless capitalist Soho Eckstein. Set in the devastated landscape of Kentridge's hometown of Johannesburg, these short films exempt Ifit Kentridge's signature animated drawing technique, which entirely reinvents the typically seamless, slick animation genre.
Since the 1990s, William Kennidge's work has been featured in exhibits, museums and galleries around the world, including Documenta in Kassel, Germany (1997, 2003, 2012) and the Museum of Modem Art in New York (1998, 2010). Born in South Africa in 1955, Kentridge worked as a set designer for film productions and taught design printing before moving to Paris in 1981 to study drama at the Boole Jacques LeCoq. During the 1980s, Kentridge worked as the art director for several television series and feature films. From 1989, he began creating his own hand-drawn animated films, which culminated in the 10 Drawings For Projections. Chronicling South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy, 10 Drawings For Projection encompass arguably some of the most important artworks to come out from South Africa during this period.
Padmini Chettur - Dance Marathon: OPEN WITH A PUNK SPIRIT ! Wall Dancing
Performance
Saturday, 15 August 2015, 7pm – Monday, 17 August 2015, 9pm
Ticket permits unlimited return visits, valid through 17 August 2014.
Advisory: Mature Theme (for 18 years and above)
In a powerful 50-hour performance specially commissioned by SIFA, performance artist Nikhil Chopra transforms a white canvas into breathtaking landscapes of black ink, in a vivid expression of India’s bloody fight for freedom against colonial rule.
1943: India in the midst of a war to free itself from 200 years of British rule. The charismatic leader Subhas Chandra Bose sounds a rallying cry — “give me your blood, and I will give you freedom.” A group of women answer the call, forming the all-female combat army, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. This is the backdrop of Give Me Your Blood and I Will Give You Freedom.
At a time when World War II was ripping the world apart, Bose emerged as a controversial figure, photographed shaking hands with Hitler and giving allegiance to the Imperial Japanese Army as it made its way into Singapore, Indonesia and Burma.
Performance artist Nikhil Chopra fleshes out the ominous passage of a bloody battle across 50 continuous hours. He assumes the character of a female warrior, Jhansi. In order to seek her freedom, she must be prepared to transform, shed her skin and ‘spill’ her blood. A masterful blend of theatre and visual art, Give Me Your Blood creates a live painting — a menacing metaphorical battleground — right before the audience’s eyes. In the climactic finale, Chopra emerges as a black monster, a queen, proclaiming her victory with her blood over a darkened stage.
The audience can come and go throughout this durational performance. A live installation, the work is best re-visited over the 50 hours to enjoy its progress in relation to time.
Daphne Ong / Chan Li-Shan / Eliete Vivino / Faizal Abdullah / Gabriel Lim / Helmi Yusof / Irfan Kasban / Liow De Jun / Mayura Baweja / Rachel Poh / Samantha Chia / Serene Tan / Siti Zuraida / Thomas Lim / Yazid Jalil - Writings from the Heart
Public Readings
Friday., 10 July 2015, 8 – 10pm
11 July 2015, 12pm – 10pm
Free admission
TheatreWorks Writing & Community presents Writings from the Heart. We are dedicated to nurturing and developing new writing form the community. Our script development focuses on exploration and creative dialogue between artists, away from the pressures of performance outcomes. The above named eight writers first joined a playwriting workshop by Tony Perez, an internationally renowned playwright and artist. Following the workshop, between June 2014 and March 2015, Perez provided dramaturgical mentorship to these eight writers.
The eight writers will hear their play read by actors and receive feedback from the director and actors during the rehearsals. Making this a perfect opportunity to test a first draft or just a few scenes and interrogate the main landscape of the play with a team of experienced director(s) and actors.
Following this phase, will be the public readings on 10 & 11 July. It is not intended that the writers will produce a performance-ready script by the end of the entire process; nor to conclude the process with the public reading in July. It is more to get feedback and responses from an interested audience to help contribute to the development of these newly written scripts.
These eight passionate writers from diverse backgrounds, who are inspired by Singapore playwrights and are motivated to give voice to countless stories and issues found in the community that we live in.
Readings
10 July, 8pm – 10pm
We Fell In a Marathon by Gabriel Lim
My Father Wears Bras by Helmi Yusof
Audience Responses
11 July, 12pm – 2pm
Paper Thin by Mayura Baweja
Hazy Pre-Nuptials by Serene Tan
2pm – 4pm
Intermission & Audience Responses
4pm – 6pm
Conversations with my Father by Chan Li-Shan
A Feathery Effect by Eliete Vivino
My Promise to My Animal Tamer by Liow De Jun
6pm – 8pm
Intermission & Audience Responses
8pm – 10pm
No Regrets by Samantha Chia
My Mother Buys Condoms by Helmi Yusof
Audience Responses
Writing From The Heart is directed by Irfan Kasban and performed by Daphne Ong, Faizal Abdullah, Rachel Poh, Siti Zuraida, Thomas Lim and Yazid Jalil.
Bilqis Hijjas / Cristian Duarte / Donna Miranda / Ening Nurjanah / Florian Malzacher / Jayachandran Palazhy / Leonardo Carino / Lin Htet / Marco Layera / Melati Suryodarmo / Muto Daisuke / Nanako Nakajima / Navtej Johar / Noor Effendy / Ong Keng Sen / Pawit Mahasarinand / Pushpamala N. / Rolf Abderhalden / Sasapin Siriwanij / Suon Bun Rith / Tang Fu Kuen / Teatro La Re-Sentida / Yola Yulfianti / - SIFA 2015 / The O.P.E.N.
The O.P.E.N. - the pre-festival ideas from the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2015 will be happening at 72-13. 72-13 is the Venue and Equipment Partner of SIFA 2015. Here are the O.P.E.N. 2015 programmes happening only at 72-13.
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Navtej Johar - Frenemies
Performance
Thursday, 2 – Saturday, 4 July 2015, 8pm
A passionate dance duet filled with liquid movement, performed by Navtej Johar and Lokesh Bharadwaj, "Frenemies" is about the search for song, and the tug-of-war between love and hate, within the confines of the physical body. Unlike the overt virtuosic physicalisation of Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance, Frenemies focuses on the internal landscape of the body.
The work is created and performed through exploring the context of Bharatanatyam amongst temple dancers or devadasis in South India, and courtesans or tawaifs in North India, This sensuous performance is based loosely on the sinister plot of French dramatist Jean Genet's "The Maids", in which two domestic servants conduct sadomasochistic role-playing rituals while their mistress is away. Through the dialectic between the harsh realities of the housemaids' world and the no-holds-barred love narratives of Johar's "pleasure women", this production seeks to arrive ultimately at a state of emptiness in the material body, embedded as it is with emotional triggers. Frenemies is about a lick, a bite, a jab, a sting, a sigh and a song, all rolled into one!
Jayachandran Palazhy - NAGARIKA
Exhibition
Opening Wednesday, 1 July 2015, 7pm – 10pm
Thursday, 2 – Saturday, 4 July 2015, 12pm – 10pm
Free admission with O.P.E.N. Pass ($45 for all concerts, salons, films and exhibitions, $25 concession), with limited single entry tickets available at the door.
Over centuries, Indian Movement Arts have been transmitted exclusively from teachers to disciples through years of training. How can we harness technological developments in this digital age to advance our methods of disseminating knowledge In this field? How do we marry innovation with tradition, augmented reality with classical Indian dance, in a way that also respects the strength and beauty of customs?
These are just some of the questions that drive the work of dancer and choreographer Jayachandran Palazhy. Palazhy is the pioneering artistic director of the Bangalore-based Attakkalari Centre of Movement Arts, an institution at the forefront of the contemporary Indian dance scene. Attakkalari's tenets of 'traditional physical wisdom, innovation and technology' reflect Palazhy's personal belief in the potential of technology to exponentially expand one's artistic horizons.
In this highly informative and interactive exhibition, Palazhy presents his groundbreaking research project, NAGARIKA. Derived from the Sanskrit word for 'a civilizational dimension', NAGARIKA documents — on an integrated information platform — the concepts of body and the movement principles of classical Indian dance Bharatanatyam and Indian martial art Kalaripayattu. Through NAGARIKA, Palazhy has developed a springboard for young professionals to create new movement ideas, a historic first in an arena which had hitherto relied solely on long apprenticeships for skills transmission.
Muto Daisuke / Nanako Nakajima - Dance Marathon: OPEN WITH A PUNK SPIRIT!
Talk
Monday, 29 June 2015 (Muto Daisuke)
Tuesday, 30 June 2015 (Nanako Nakaima), 7.30pm
Free admission with O.P.E.N. Pass, with limited single entry tickets available at the door.
Join two experts in the field of Japanese dance as they examine the thinking and methods behind Dance Marathon — OPEN WITH A PUNK SPIRIT!, the thrilling 16-day dance festival within Singapore International Festival of Arts 2015. A unique feature of this festival is the creation by seven renowned contemporary Japanese dance-makers of an archive box — a collection of the key elements that went into the choreography of their individual dances. These archival boxes will be passed on to seven dance-makers from the Asia Pacific, who will create new presentations inspired by the contents of these ordinary, yet mysterious, boxes.
Using video footage, dance critic Muto Daisuke will examine the principles and historical influences underpinning the work of the seven astounding Japanese dance-makers whose careers he has been following for 20 years. Dance researcher Nanako Nakajima will ask questions posed by the use of archive boxes as a creative tool. What are some of the contemporary dialogues pioneered between these seven dance-makers and their ever-hungry audiences? What information must one possess to respond to a dance? As contemporary art practitioners in a culture of traditional familial succession, to what extent can Japanese dance-creators produce archive boxes that are accessible to all?
Bilqis Hijjas / Donna Miranda / Ening Nurjanah / Florian Malzacher / Leonardo Carino / Lin Htet / Melati Suryodarmo / Noor Effendy / Ong Keng Sen / Pawit Mahasarinand / Rolf Abderhalden / Sasapin Siriwanij / Suon Bun Rith / Tang Fu Kuen / Yola Yulfianti – Show Me The World
Image courtesy of Mapa Teatro’s Archive
Symposium
Friday, 26 – Saturday, 27 June 2015
Free admission with O.P.E.N. Pass, with limited single entry tickets available at the door.
The development of curatorial concepts and practices in the performance arts have so far been embryonic, especially when compared to the intensive debates of such ideas within the visual arts world. "Show Me The World", organized by Goethe Institute and Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), seeks to address this deficit in Southeast Asia through a series of informative talks, Iively panel discussions and eye-opening presentations by seasoned curators from diverse corners of the world, including Rolf Abderhalden, Artistic Director of Mapa Teatro in Colombia; Florian Malzacher, Artistic Director of Impulse Theater Biennale In Germany; and Ong Keng Sen, SIFA Festival Director.
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Joined by young curators working in specific contexts in Southeast Asia, the conversation will attempt to locate the curating of performance arts in a post-global world, where locality and historical differences have become urgent and necessary. To what extent do colonial attitudes pervade curatorial practices in Southeast Asia, and do curators have to 'decolonise' themselves of influences that they have imbibed unconsciously?
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Complexities will be collaboratively unpacked through imagined scenarios, negotiations of difference and debates about the position of audiences in curatorial practice. Some issues that could arise include 'the exotic spectacle', 'hierarchies of power', 'fashion and ethics' and 'the essence vs the individual'.
Programme
Rolf Abderhalden presents
Friday, 26 June 2015
7.30pm – 9.30pm
Presentations from Southeast Asia
Saturday, 27 June 2015
9.30am – 2.30pm
Florian Malzacher presents
Saturday, 27 June 2015
2.30pm – 4.30pm
Marco Layera / Teatro La Re-Sentida - The Imagination Of The Future
Image courtesy of Pablo de la Fuente
Performance
Thursday, 25 – Saturday, 27 June 2015, 8pm
Advisory 16 (Some Course Language)
Performed in Spanish with English surtitles.
On 11 September 1973, Salvador Allende delivered his last public speech as President of Chile. A few minutes later, he killed himself to avoid surrendering to the forces of Augusto Pinochet, who subsequently established a dictatorship that lasted 17 brutal years.
But wait — what if we could turn back time? Would Allende have played his cards differently if he had had a group of gifted communicators and spin-doctors? Could Chile have avoided the harsh dictatorship of Pinochet that still haunts its citizens today?
Follow Teatro La Re-Sentida on a highly imaginative and outrageous journey as it explores the different paths the march of history could have taken. Filled with dark humour and cruel irony, The Imagination Of The Future, directed by Marco Layera, contemplates with intelligence, nuance and compassion the past, present and future of Chile.
Pushpamala N. - The Arrival of Vasco da Gama
Image courtesy of Clay Kelton and Pushpamala N.
Exhibition
Opening Wednesday, 24 June 2015
7pm – 10pm
Thursday, 25 June – 4 July 2015
Tuesday – Saturday
12pm – 10pm
Sunday
12pm – 6pm
Monday: Closed
Free admission with O.P.E.N. Pass, with limited single entry tickets available at the door.
"The Arrival of Vasco da Gama" (2014) is a photographic recreation that deconstructs an 1898 orientalist painting by Portuguese painter Jose Veloso Salgado — "Vasco da Gama perante o Samodm" — which depicts da Gama's first meeting with the Zamorin of Calicut. Having discovered a direct sea route to India from Europe, da Gama disembarked on the shores of Calicut in May 1498. His meeting with the Zamorin to wrestle trading privileges was unsuccessful, as the ruler, unimpressed by the goods da Gama had brought, refused to conclude a trading pact with him.
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Salgado imagines da Gama addressing the Zamorin's court a nobly attired European visitor surrounded by the imagined decadence of an oriental court. The colonial painting reflects a time when non-European societies were seen as savage hordes who were ruled by despotic kings and awaiting Europe's civilizing touch. Contemporary artist Pushpamala N.'s photographic tableau recreates Salgado's painting with a significant twist in the tale — she plays the role of the celebrated explorer, her first male role amongst all her photo-performances. Turning Salgado's conception on its head, Pushpamala returns what is effectively a work of imagination — one that had gained a degree of historical legitimacy overtime — to the space of fiction and masquerade.
Pushpamala N. - Avega, The Passion
Image courtesy of Clay Kelton and Pushpamala N.
Talk
Wednesday, 24 June 2015, 7.30pm
Free admission with O.P.E.N. Pass, with limited single entry tickets available at the door.
"In Avega, The Passion" — a series of highly dramatic photo and video performances — Pushpamala N. explores the archetypes of three female characters in the Indian epic "Ramayana", which recounts the trials and triumphs of Prince Rama, a mortal incarnation of the god Vishnu.
Within a fantastical world conjured out of special effects, elaborate costumes and exquisitely detailed set, Pushpamala deconstructs and recreates several scenes reminiscent of early Indian cinema, In Chala (Intrigue), Rama's stepmother gives in to her insecurities and banishes him from the kingdom, Indrajaala (Seduction) centres on the punishment of the demoness who attempts to seduce Rama and his brother Lakshamana. Princess Sita, Rama's wife, is chased and kidnapped by powerful demon king Ravana in Apaharana (Abduction) and Moigayati (The Hunt), which results in the great war at the heart of the "Ramayana". In all the scenes, Pushpamala plays the lead female characters, exploring and examining their roles beyond patriarchal constructs. Join Pushpamala, a sculptor turned intriguing visual artist, for a fascinating discussion about Avega, The Passion, accompanied by slides and video footage. It will reveal insights into the way her captivating world of photo-performance relates to the "Ramayana" and the idealized rule of Rama, both revered by Hindu nationalists.
What was the artistic process behind the creation of the fresh and sensual imagery of Avega, The Passion? How does Pushpamala hope to comment on — or alter — familiar historical narratives and world mythologies by positioning herself as their chief protagonist? Finally, how can photo-performance provoke pertinent debates about the societies in which we live?
Cristian Duarte - BIOMASHUP
Image courtesy of Haroldo Saboia
Performance
Friday, 19 & Saturday, 20 June 2015, 8pm
Saturday, 20 June, 3pm
"BIOMASHUP" is an energetic tale of movement told through a dance concert performed by six dancers and one musician. Choreographed by Cristian Duarte, this mesmerising work draws on the idea of a "mashup" — a new creation that exists only by bringing together elements and ideas of the past. Experimenting with their bodies as algorithms that organise movement, the performers delve into their personal histories of dance, and even explore the possibility of passing on their knowledge of movement to the audience. The dancers move in tune to a remarkable soundtrack composed and performed live by Tem Monteiro on the theremin — one of the first electronic instruments ever invented, and probably the only instrument that can be played without physical contact.
Bernice Lee / Eng Kai Er / Jereh Leong - INDULGENCE
Performance
Wednesday, 20 – Saturday, 23 May 2015, 8pm
Rated R18 (Some Mature Content and Nudity)
INDULGENCE is the initial presentation of a new work by bold and sassy Kai Er, working in close collaboration with Bernice Lee and Jereh Leong.
Using the architecture of Space 3 at 72-13 as a playground, the piece fits itself into a sequence that has its own internal logic and rhythm, revolving around the assembly and disassembly of images across space and time. Where will the audience stand? Where will their gaze fall? How will we gain or lose their attention? How will time pass, or change, or disappear?
The artists ask themselves these questions as they arrange their tableaus and actions, text and songs, across the canvas of the performance. In doing so they also create the artists' own committed universe of private, quiet indulgences. Grungy on the outside and tender on the inside, the concealed heart of the performance is slowly revealed to those who care: the fact that love and intimacy are indulgences that money cannot buy, and the truth that life itself is indulgence.
The presentation of INDULGENCE is part of TheatreWorks' long-established belief in developing and nurturing Singapore artists. It is also part of TheatreWorks' aim to present innovative contemporary performances and artistic expressions that offer Singapore audiences alternatives.
Its home, 72-13, is an incubator for artistic experiments by both artists and creatives, while being a consistent conduit for dialogues between disciplines and cultures.