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In 1988 Anthony Then and Goh Soo Khim founded the Singapore Dance Theatre with the aims of building a company that would be versatile in both classical and contemporary techniques and of playing a role in establishing an appreciation and understanding of dance for the Singaporean nation. It

began with just seven dancers, but now boasts thirty-two company members plus apprentices and trainees from nine different nations. A quarter of the dancers proudly originate from Singapore. Goh Soo Khim is the sister of the late Choo San Goh, possibly the first Singaporean to reach international status and who became resident choreographer at The Washington Ballet under the

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30th Anniversary Gala

ALISON KENT travels to Singapore to see a milestone gala

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Dance Europe - October 2018 43

44 Dance Europe - October 2018

direction of Mary Day from 1976 until his death in 1987. Originating from Sweden, Janek Schergen took over as artistic director of the Singapore Dance Theatre in 2008 and has also been the artistic director and a board member of the Choo San Goh & H. Robert Magee Foundation since it was founded. He has staged more than 140 productions of Choo San Goh's works worldwide, including no less than eleven for the Singapore company. To celebrate

this thirty-year milestone, four works were selected, two by Choo San Goh, a world premiere by Australian choreographer Timothy Harbour and a company premiere by Nils Christe, demonstrating the diversity of this established yet young company.

Double Contrasts, first created for The Washington Ballet, with its first performance given in April 1978, is an elegant classical work set to Francis Poulenc's wonderfully exuberant Concerto

in D minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra. Goh's choreography illustrates the disparity implied in the composer's score, one group in white depicting fiery youthful enthusiasm, the other in black reflecting a more demure, sophisticated approach. Highly technical and very symmetrical, it possesses many technical challenges, rapid footwork and intricate partnering with explosive moments, especially in the larger ensemble movements. Goh's prolific body of work has a definite Balanchine feel to it; the neoclassical influence of the period with an added whisper of Asian mystique contributes to Double Contrasts’ uplifting and enchanting aura. It finishes as it begins, in perfect harmony.

Principal dancers Chihiro Uchida and Kenya Nakamura performed the pas de deux from Configurations, a piece Goh created for American Ballet Theatre, specifically for Mikhail Baryshnikov, in October 1981. It explores the relationship between two people whose paths cross unexpectedly yet their intention centres on maintaining their individual goals and direction. Set to Samuel Barber's Concerto for Piano & Orchestra, opus 38, the choreography, like the music, flows effortlessly, highlighting the elegant line emanating from both dancers, their obvious rapport revealing an understated delicate sensitivity and highly charged sensuality.

Timothy Harbour performed with The Australian Ballet from 1995 until 2007 before changing direction, creating five works for the company to date, becoming a resident choreographer in 2014.

He has also worked nationally and internationally, Linea Adora being his second production for Singapore Dance Theatre and, as the Latin title suggests, it is a celebration of line in every configuration, pattern and sense of the word, with all thirty-two members of the ensemble engaged in producing a formidable display of design and structure. It looks very academic, with a strong classical vocabulary executed

Singapore Dance Theatre in Timothy Harbour's Linea Adora. © Bernie Ng

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with razor-sharp precision in uniform dress for both male and female, but Harbour adds quirky head and arm movements when least expected, or moments when a line of girls take up their positions at the edge of the stage only to disappear back into the wings almost immediately. He avoids high lifts, but the duets have interesting twists and turns attacked with energetic verve, set to Four Movements for Two Pianos composed by Philip Glass. Each movement has its own dynamic and the mood changes are reflected well by Harbour, who shows a great understanding of the music, creating a lyrical composition that suited the dancers perfectly.

SYNC by Dutch choreographer Nils Christe rounded off the gala evening. A company premiere for the Singapore ensemble, originally created for The Washington Ballet, synchronisation, syncopation, not least synchronicity describe fully Christe's intention. Advocating the symphonic ballet, SYNC brings almost the entire company on stage once more, the piece easing through lyrical, dynamic and enigmatic moments of pure beauty, the women executing simple sustained walks pushing beautifully through the foot as well as exquisite bourrées cutting swathes across a dimly lit stage while the men demonstrate complete control and strength working a lowered metal truss at the rear of the stage. The muscle power in their arms as they held taut their upper bodies while rotating their legs in a circular motion above the ground was quite overwhelming and inspiring, accompanied by an even more moving score, entitled Salgari, by Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi. This is the fifth work Christe has staged for the company, the Dutchman’s neo-classical style definitely suiting the company well, the dancers performing with an elevated freedom displaying a surety and self-confidence.

A Celebration in Dance rounded off the anniversary weekend, an annual collaboration with the Royal Academy of Dance featuring seven local schools, giving them the opportunity to perform on a professional stage in front of an audience, many perhaps for the first time. It comprised a good blend of young students demonstrating the polonaise and mazurka and how to carry out the perfect pas de bourrée, older students showing their proficiency in the tango

rhythm, the tentative beginnings of pointe work plus a rendering of the stars and stripes in true cheerleader fashion, all of which had been meticulously rehearsed, the partisan audience naturally full of praise and appreciation. Singapore Dance Theatre added their presence with another performance of Choo San Goh's Double Contrasts, including debuts for a few dancers, and for the grand finale they performed the Tarantella from August Bournonville's Napoli, a divertissement that overflows with virtuosity, flair and exuberance, a fitting conclusion for a packed if not exhausting weekend of dance. Bravo!

Singapore Dance Theatre in Choo San Goh's Configurations. © Bernie Ng

The muscle power in their arms as they held taut their upper bodies ... was quite

overwhelming ...