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Previous FrontPage Edition 30 Apr
2005
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Singapore Arts
Festival 2005 |
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Other
interesting and innovative works include The Al-Hamlet Summit
by The Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre Company, The Busker's
Opera by Robert Lepage and Ex Machina, Bang on a Can
All-Stars, Goran Bregovic and his Band, and
Gumbo Jumbo
by The Gogmagogs. Look out also for
the Singapore-Korea collaboration,
12 SMS Across the Mountains
by Arts Fission Company and Dance
Theatre CcadoO, as well as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra with
celebrated pianist Stephen Hough.
Outreach Programme
Making the Festival a national celebration of the
arts, an extensive Outreach programme will offer free arts
everywhere. Regular features such as KIDSFEST, Special
Events, Weekend Highlights, Arts on the Move, Late Shows and
Closing Celebrations return with even bigger, interactive
programmes.
A key highlight is a new Asian Showcase which
focuses on traditional and contemporary Asian art forms. A series
of three free shows will bring back the experience of street
performances by Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnic groups.
Pasar Theatre
presents Chinese storytelling (jianggu)
with other street performances like Chinese opera, acrobats, folk
singing and cross-talk. Teater Rakyat showcases traditional
Malay Theatre with contemporary elements while
Therukkoothu Mahotsavam
will showcase traditional Indian folk
theatre with an interesting mix of comedy, music and dance. There
will also be other performances presented by the Singapore Indian
Fine Arts Society with the Singapore Indian Orchestra and Choir,
Temple of Fine Arts, People’s Association MESRA, Chinese Opera
Institute, Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre Foundation, Chinese Theatre
Circle and the Malay Heritage Centre.
Large-scale events that encourage interaction with
audiences are another feature of the Outreach programmes.
Mirando Al Cielo is an interactive dance performance staged on
a transparent dance floor that will present audiences an
alternative perspective to enjoy fancy footwork – from beneath the
stage. Audiences are invited to stretch their vocal cords and sing
to evergreen Mandarin pop tunes in
Sing-a-long: A Night of Thousand
Voices, while Kids
Feststretch, will provide workshops and activities for
children.
Heart-thumping, percussion performances are also
strongly featured in
Drumming Explosion,
Community Drumming Festival and Rock on Singapore which
is a showcase of Singapore’s best bands. The Closing Celebrations
performed by The Stroj
from Slovenia will end the
Festival on a high note with a spectacular foot-stomping session
of percussion and pyrotechnics.
Visual Arts Showcase
The Festival will also have a visual arts showcase
of three exhibitions. The
Art of Collaboration: Masterpieces of Modern Tapestry
(Australia/Singapore) at the Singapore
Tyler Print Institute is a showcase of tapestries created at the
Victorian Tapestry Workshop in Melbourne, the world's pre-eminent
centre for the production of contemporary tapestry. Sculpture
Square will present Don't Let Sleeping Androids Lie, an
electronic art work that seeks to engage the public to interact
with art more actively.
Design Exposure at the Arts House is a series
of three exhibitions that focuses on the art of design in glass
art and fashion: Contemporary Australian Studio Glass, Dinosaur
Designs and Printemps et Ete.
International Meetings
In the midst of the Festival buzz, a series of
international network meetings will be held in Singapore. The
Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals (AAPAF) will hold
its first Annual General Meeting on 6 and 7 June at The Arts
House. The Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres (AAPPAC)
will have its 8th Annual Conference, 13th Exco Meeting and
Programmers Group Meeting on 5 and 6 June at The Esplanade. The
Informal European Theatre Meetings (IETM) Asia and Europe
Performing Arts Colloquium will meet on 6 and 7 June at The Arts
House. The Asian Arts Market hosted by The Esplanade is from 3 to
5 June. Some 100 international delegates are expected to meet and
network at these events in Singapore.
With the range of stellar brand name artists and
arts companies to gritty, innovative line-ups, whether you are
sitting inclined beneath a stage, under a circus tent or in plush
theatre seats, you will be treated to a massive array of shows
that will captivate both arts aficionados and casual browsers of
the arts. Don’t miss the dazzle that will light up this
Season of Brilliance!
Source:
National Arts Council Press
Release 4 Apr 2005 |
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