M1 CONTACT 2018 Festival Booklet

CONTEMPORARY DANCE FESTIVAL9 JUNE - 5 AUGUST 2018Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay& Goodman Arts Centre

KUIK SWEE BOON -FESTIVAL DIRECTOR’SMESSAGE 谢谢大家对去年的 M1触•现代舞蹈节的肯定！上座率 93% 绝对是一个积极的讯息，今年的策划也因此会建立 在去年调整过的方向和基础上。 今年，本地女性新锐编导蒋佩杉和刘汶钧将发表《我应该自杀还是喝杯咖啡》，作品启发是诺贝尔文学奖得 主艾伯特•加缪的荒诞哲学。加缪思想的核心是二元对立中体现人的尊严与人道主义，拭目以待这个舞蹈节 全力支援的本地独立编导创作。 另一位独立编导华维安则被选中参加新加坡韩国驻村交流。他的伙伴是两位同具街舞背景的南韩编导，Kim Ho-yeon 和 Lim Jung-ha。国际合作总是充满沟通的难度，挑战个人艺术理念和国际视野是否兼具开放及互 相学习精神，就像现今的国际关系一般复杂。和维安同台的还有同样来自南韩获选 2015 “Who’s Next” Kim Bora，新西兰后起之秀 Natalie Maria Clark，她们将和舞人二团合作两个全新作品，关心本地半专业训练和独 立艺术家的朋友请留意。 去年已介绍过的 Humanhood 目前在英国和欧洲正受注目；这次我们选择 “土” 这个自然元素为题目，让他们 和舞人驻团编导金在德一起发表双舞作。期待他们欧陆风格的纯肢体和专业的舞人一团擦出的火花！ 除了六个新创作今年我们也将重点介绍多过十个国内外重演作品，包括去年刚得到日本“土方巽大奖”的Ruri Mito 和西班牙 MASDANZA 最佳表演得主 Chey Jurado。本地知名编导张咏翔，新生代的傅明文，吴守益和洪 国峰等也有完成或进行中作品发表。 去年广受好评的“舞在黄昏”滨海室外 免费演出今年将会由余绍芬和我一同 策画，希望更多人了解现代舞强调的 多元开放自由精神与特色，如果有人 因此开始喜欢上当代舞而走进剧场， 我们将会更开心，亦是对我们过去八 年辛勤工作的进一步肯定。 期待大家来参与第九届的的 M1触•现 代舞蹈节！ 郭瑞文 艺术总监2

To our friends, supporters and returning audience, thank you for making last year’s M1 CONTACTContemporary Dance Festival a resounding triumph! A record 93% filled seats is a true affirmation of theimportance of the Festival and the hard work that we put in. The programming for 2018 has thus beenmapped upon the directional shifts that surfaced in 2017, as well its core successes.This year, two of the most interesting female Also being closely observed in the UK and Europevoices emerging from Singapore’s arts scene dance scene is the choreography duo known byare commissioned to create a new work: Chiew the name Humanhood. Having performed at lastPeishan and Liu Wen-Chun’s Should I Kill Myself year’s Festival, Humanhood will create a newOr Have A Cup Of Coffee draws inspiration from work for T.H.E Dance Company in a double billthe Absurdist philosophical discourse by Nobel that also features T.H.E resident choreographerPrize winner Albert Camus, who is famed for his Kim Jae Duk, both works centred on the thematicthinking on the opposing binaries that surround element “Earth”. It’ll be refreshing to see how ourhuman dignity and humanitarianism. Bolstered professional main company dancers synergise withby our Festival’s resources, I can’t wait to see Humanhood’s European style of pure physicality!the exciting work that these two independentchoreographers will produce! In addition to these 6 new creations, the Festival is proud to present more than 10 restagedAnother familiar face is independent artist works, including award-winning ones that haveHwa Wei-An, selected to participate in the 2018 premiered in Singapore and on internationalchapter of our long-running Singapore-South stages. These include works by Odoru Akita’sKorea collaborative exchange. He partners street Tatsumi Hijikata Memorial Award winner Ruridance-trained South Korean duo Kim Ho-yeon Mito (Japan), MAZDANZA’s Best Performer Awardand Lim Jung-ha. Just as how modern politics winner Chey Jurado (Spain), established localhas shown cultural diplomacy to be a complex, choreographer Albert Tiong as well as emergingmessy affair, such cross-cultural collaborations Singaporean artists Marcus Foo, Goh Shou Yi, andare rife with linguistic challenges, and are the Hong Guofeng - amongst a diverse array of finishedultimate litmus test to find out if one’s artistic works and works-in-progress.convictions and cosmopolitan worldview possessthe vital qualities of openness and generosity Dance at Dusk, a well-received free outdoornecessary to a mutually beneficial collaboration. showcase by the Festival that made its debutSharing the stage with Wei-An are two new in 2017 at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, isworks by choreographers Kim Bora from South co-curated by myself and Anthea Seah thisKorea, a recipient of the prestigious “Who’s year. My wish is for more people to embrace theNext” award in 2015, as well as up-and-coming emblematic spirit of inclusivity and freedom thatNew Zealand artist Natalie Maria Clark, both of contemporary dance celebrates! It would an addedwhom will work with T.H.E Second Company. For bonus and a further validation of our efforts inthose keeping an eye on our local talent pool of promoting contemporary dance over these pastsemi-professional and young leading lights of the 8 years if the programme gets people interestedfuture, this showcase is a must-watch! enough to venture into a ticketed theatre show!I look forward to seeing all of you at the 9th editionof M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival! 3

EARTH Price: $36 / $20* A double bill by T.H.E Dance Company featuring Filled with sadness, the old body attacks by Kim 15 June 2018, 8PM^ Jae Duk and EARTH by Humanhood. 16 June 2018, 3PM & 8PM Unleashing the unique worldviews of two choreographers 1 hour 15 minutes with performers from T.H.E Dance Company, this double (with intermission) bill takes audiences on a sensorial trip from secretive inner worlds to the forceful sway of nature’s elements. Esplanade Theatre Studio Billed as “ingenious and fresh” (The Business Times), award-winning South Korean artist and T.H.E’s resident choreographer, Kim Jae Duk flips the switch on his trademark style and reimagines the body driven to its edge by the raw, primal force of emotion. Set to a heart- pounding music score created by Kim and featuring a ‘live’ performance by local tenor Leslie Tay, Filled with sadness, the old body attacks captures the heightened tragicomedy of life. EARTH draws from the fluid potency of this most grounded element in nature. Tethered to a powerful core, bodies flow and shift effortlessly in a mesmerising interplay of delicacy and dynamism. Crafted by Rudi Cole and Júlia Robert Parés - collectively known as Humanhood - EARTH is the first in a commissioned series exploring the elements, developed as part of a wider artistic vision involving collaborations within different fields. Having captivated last year’s Festival audiences with their exquisite duet, the world created for T.H.E’s dance artists in this work reflects Cole and Robert’s fascination with fusing Eastern mysticism and Western physics.4

DANCE Price:AT DUSK FREEReturning after its popular debut last year, Dance 22 June 2018, 7PM & 8:30PMat Dusk resurrects two standout works adapted 23 June 2018, 7PM & 8:30PMfrom T.H.E’s main and second companies’ 24 June 2018, 7PM & 8:30PMrepertoires, Organised Chaos by Kuik SweeBoon and Kim Jae Duk, and She’s Chinese And 45 minutesI’m Twenty-Five by Lee Ren Xin. Performedover three nights with six shows by the two Esplanade Outdoor Theatrecompanies, this event at the Esplanade OutdoorTheatre is specially curated to showcasecontemporary dance in its most charismaticform. Both young and old will enjoy the relaxedatmosphere at this free-and-easy event, makingit effortless to experience quality contemporarydance in bite-sized, interactive segments. 5

OFF STAGEOff Stage celebrates and supports Nine distinctive voices make their Off Stage debutyoung Singaporean and Southeast in 2018 including local dance-makers Chan WeiAsian choreographers. This mixed bill Chee, Chua Chiok Woon and Hong Guofeng fromis a rare opportunity for the public to SIGMA Contemporary Dance Collective, LASALLEsee new works-in-progress from each arts graduates Neo Jialing and Aricia Ng, overseas-choreographer and learn about their trained dancers Amelia Chong (Universitycreation process in an intimate of Auckland) and Shermaine Heng (Victorian Collegestudio setting. of the Arts, Melbourne), independent Vietnamese artist Thanh Chung Nguyen who was recently featured at the Tokyo Performing Arts Market 2018, and last but not least, South Korean artist Jun Boram who won the choreography award at the 9th Seoul Dance Collection in 2015. Price: $5 17 July 2018, 8PM^ 18 July 2018, 8PM^ 1 hour 15 minutes (with intermission) T.H.E Dance Company’s Studio @ Goodman Arts Centre BONUS PROGRAMME: SCOPE FREE Fuel your interest in choreography by attending a non-curated weekend of presentations by independent dance artists, held by one of our programme collaborators, Dance Nucleus. For more information, visit www.dancenucleus.com. 21 & 22 July 2018 Dance Nucleus6

M1 OPEN STAGE + DIVERCITYM1 Open Stage + DiverCity has been hailed Price:for its “open, diverse and accessible” curation, $25 / $15 *where up-and-coming choreographers evokethe “power, potential and universality 19 July 2018, 8PMof contemporary dance for all audiences” (Programme A)(The Straits Times). 20 July 2018, 8PMM1 OPEN STAGE (Programme B)This year, with an increased number of international 2 hours (with intermission)programme collaborators, M1 Open Stage features innovativeand exhilarating works by a diverse range of dance artists over Esplanade Theatre Studiotwo nights.PROGRAMME A: Annamaria Ajmone (Italy), Marcus Foo andGoh Shou Yi (Singapore), Mai Kubota (Japan), Ryu Jinyook andKim Hyeayoon (South Korea), and Gil Kerer and Korina Fraiman(Israel). PROGRAMME B: Albert Tiong (Singapore), Chey Jurado(Spain), Ruri Mito (Japan), Tom Tsai (USA/Taiwan), and JungLogyee (South Korea).DIVERCITYAre we all living to die? Influenced byAlbert Camus’ philosophy of “the Absurd”,Singapore-based choreographers ChiewPeishan and Liu Wen-Chun explore theabsurdity that every living being faces deatheventually in a new work for DiverCity.Created in collaboration with Taiwanese filmartist Chen Yan-Hong and local dramaturgNeo Kim Seng, Should I Kill Myself Or HaveA Cup Of Coffee? visualises thechoreographers’ personal musingson this absurdity.Should I kill myself or have a cup of coffee? 7

ASIAN FESTIVALS EXCHANGE (AFX) In this innovative platform, choreographers Price: across our partner festivals gather to present $28 / $20* award-winning works and new creations. 31 July 2018, 8PM South Koreans Kim Ho-yeon and Lim Jung-ha 1 hour 40 minutes present their award-winning work from the 11th (with intermission) Seoul Dance Collection, First Abundance Society. Intrigued by the idea that preparing for the Esplanade Theatre Studio future doesn’t guarantee a better quality of life, they imagine paradise to be the society of the hunter-gatherer according to Marshall Sahlin’s “original affluent society” theory. The pair’s visual wit is a perfect match with collaborator Hwa Wei-An (Singapore/Malaysia) in a new creation that will be performed by the trio as a work-in-progress at the end of AFX. Selected from the Yokohama Dance Collection, Kenji Shinohe’s K(-A-)O examines the phenomenon of emoticons and how the spectrum of human emotional expression has become oversimplified in the information age. Capping off the night is a twin bill by T.H.E Second Company created by bold, assured female choreographers, Natalie Clark and Kim Bora. The New Zealander multi-hyphenate Natalie Clark has taken on hot-button issues with humour, from the dark side of millennial existentialism to divine and occult feminine symbolism. Since being talent spotted at “Who’s Next” at SIDance, South Korea’s Kim Bora’s experimental cross-disciplinary and diverse tastes promises a creation that is visually striking and highly sensorial.8

BINARY – INTERNATIONALARTISTS SHOWCASEThis double bill from selected international Price:artists is a tour-de-force of works that evoke $36 / $20*the gravity of the body. 3 August 2018, 8PM^Shamel Pitts is a performance artist, dancer 4 August 2018, 8PMand spoken word artist from Brooklyn, who 1 hour 15 minutesspent seven years in Tel Aviv’s Batsheva Dance (with intermission)Company. His multidisciplinary work, BlackVelvet, created together with co-performer Esplanade Theatre StudioMirelle Martins and lighting and projectiondesigner, Lucca del Carlo, is “a heart-piercingexploration of gender, race, identity, love andfriendship” (Time Out Israel). Vestige, on the other hand, is an intense “pure movement performance that fascinates from the beginning” (Theaterkrant, Netherlands). Created by Astrid Boons (Belgium/ Netherlands), a rising choreographer who has worked with renowned dance-makers such as Ohad Naharin and Jirí Kylián, this duet is an intriguing physical journey that attempts to empty the body of its humanness. Vestige was shortlisted in the top five performances of 2017 in an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper, Het Parool. 9

CALENDAR Shows: $0 - $36* Technique Class: $25 / $18* Workshop: $60 / $48*J 9th SAT 10th SUN 11th MON 12th TUE 15th FRI 16th SAT 17th SUNU Natalie Maria Rudi Cole & Júlia Rudi Cole & Júlia Kim Jae Duk (P) Earth (8.00pm)^ Workshop: Workshop:N Clark (B/I) Robert Parés (I/A) Robert Parés (P) (10.00am - 11.15am) Humanhood Humanhood (9.30am - 11.00am) (10.00am - 11.15am) Practice by Rudi Practice by Rudi (9.30am - 11.00am) Cole & Júlia Cole & Júlia Robert Kim Jae Duk Workshop: 23rd SAT 24th SUN 28th THU Robert Parés (I/A) Parés (I/A) (B/I/A) The Power in (9.30am - 12.30pm) (9.30am - 12.30pm) (11.30am - 1.00pm) 22nd FRI Fluidity by Kim Jackie Ong (B/I) Goh Shou Yi (B/I) Anthea Seah (P) Earth (3.00pm & Jae Duk (P) (9.30am - 11.00am) (9.30am - 11.00am) (10.00am - 11.15am) 8.00pm) (12.00pm - 3.00pm) Workshop: Workshop: Dance at Dusk Hollow Body and Hollow Body and (7.00pm & 8.30pm) T.H.E Repertoire by T.H.E Repertoire by 29th FRI Kuik Swee Boon Kuik Swee Boon Billy Keohavong (B/I/A) (B/I/A) (P) (12.00pm - 3.00pm) (12.00pm - 3.00pm) (10.00am - 11.15am) Dance at Dusk Dance at Dusk (7.00pm & 8.30pm) (7.00pm & 8.30pm)J 14th SAT 15th SUN 17th TUE 18th WED 19th THUR 20th FRI 21st SAT Tom Tsai (B/I)U Kim Bora (B/I) Mai Kubota (B/I) Off Stage Off Stage M1 Open Stage + Annamaria (9.30am - 11.00am) (8.00pm)^ (8.00pm)^ DiverCity Ajmone (P)L (9.30am - 11.00am) (9.30am - 11.00am) (10.00am - 11.15am) Chey Jurado (I/A) (Programme A) (8.00pm) Kim Bora (I/A) 28th SAT 29th SUN 31st TUE M1 Open Stage + (11.30am - 1.00pm) (11.30am - 1.00pm) DiverCity Kim Ho-yeon (B/I) Lim Jung-ha (B/I) Astrid Boons (P) Ruri Mito (I/A) 22nd SUN (9.30am - 11.00am) (9.30am - 11.00am) (10.00am - 11.15am) (Programme B) (2.00pm - 3.30pm) (8.00pm) Tom Tsai (I/A) (11:30am - 1.00pm) Lim Jung-ha (I/A) Kim Ho-yeon (I/A) Asian Festivals (11.30am - 1.00pm) (11.30am - 1.00pm) Exchange (AFX) (8.00pm)

A 1st WED 3rd FRI 4th SATU Astrid Boons (P) Binary - Shamel Pitts & (10.00am - 11.15am)G International Artists Mirelle Martins Showcase (8.00pm)^ (I/A) (11.30am - 1.00pm) 5th SUN Legend Astrid Boons (I/A) Workshop: An B: Beginner (2.00pm - 3.30pm) Insight into Astrid’s I: Intermediate A: Advance Binary - Choreographic P: Professional International Practice by Astrid Artists Showcase Boons (I/A) (8.00pm) (9.30am - 12.30pm)SPECIAL DEALS TICKETING M1 OPEN STAGE CLASS PACKAGE DISCOUNTS TWIN DEAL SHOW PASS + 20% 15% 10% $100* for 4 shows $38* to watch both (Usual Price: $125) programmes of Buy 5 technique M1 Customers Early Bird OCBC Credit M1 Open Stage + classes and get 1 free! T.H.E Friends (till 1 May 2018) Cardmembers Select from: DiverCity (with valid code) • Earth (Usual Price: $50) Email PAssion Card Esplanade&Me • Binary - International Artists [email protected] Members Cardholders A &B Showcase to redeem your free class. OCBC Arts • Asian Festivals Exchange (AFX) Pay less to Platinum • M1 Open Stage + DiverCity experience more Limited spaces available. Cardmembers in this twin deal! 11 [Programme A or B] Limited concession tickets for students, NSFs and senior citizens. Concession tickets are not eligible for any further discount. * Ticket prices are not inclusive of booking fee. ^ There will be a post-show dialogue after these performances.

For all ticketed shows at Esplanade, For Off Stage, Technique Classes & Workshops,buy your tickets through buy your tickets throughwww.sistic.com.sg www.peatix.comSISTIC Mobile App Peatix Mobile AppSISTIC Hotline +65 6348 5555SISTIC Authorised AgentsAll secondary schools, JCs, CIs and ITEs mayuse the Tote Board Arts Grant to subsidise upto 50% of selected performance ticket costs.Festival Presenter: Festival Title Sponsor: In Collaboration with:Festival Partner:Programme Collaborators:Supported by: JCCI Singapore FoundationOfficial Outdoor Media Partner: Patron Hotel 2018: HOTEL GOfficial Privilege Card: SINGAPOREOfficial Dance Wear: Official Credit Card: OCBC Arts Platinum Credit Card Official Secretarial Services:www.the-contact.org Photo Credits (in order of appearance): Tommer Halperin,@TheHumanExpression.Contact Bernie Ng, Robin P.E. Chee, Shaun Ho, Kuang Jingkai, ONE@M1CONTACTFestival DANCE WEEK, Chung Tou Suk, Robert Benschop, Elías Aguirre.T.H.E Dance Company Ltd, 90 Goodman Road,Goodman Arts Centre, Block M, #01-51 T.H.E Dance Company is supported by theSingapore 439053 National Arts Council under the Major Company Scheme for the period from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020.+65 6345 8454 UEN: 200818017E