|
|
|
The Singapore Arts Festival has announced
full details of its 2006 programme. |
|
Over more than three weeks, it will present
some 1,758 artists from 26 countries and regions in 24 main productions
and over 400 free performances, exhibitions and special events this
June. |
|
The Festival¡¯s main productions feature 6
world premieres, 6 Asian premieres and 3 co-commissions involving
festivals and arts organisations in Vietnam, France, the United Kingdom,
the United States and Brazil. |
|
The Singapore Arts Festival is Singapore¡¯s
premier arts event. Annually showcasing the finest performing arts from
around the world, it is an international event with a distinctive Asian
flavour. |
|
Organised by Singapore¡¯s National Arts
Council (NAC), it is reputed for its adventurous programming and
emphasis on originality and innovativeness. |
|
Its 2006 programme features an eclectic mix
of works from the traditional, mainstream and classical, to the
contemporary and progressive. Its fun and interactive events spill over
to the streets in a celebration of the arts. |
|
Said Ms Goh Ching Lee, Senior Director for
Performing Arts and Director for Singapore Arts Festival, NAC, ¡°The
heart of the Festival is very much about encouraging and supporting
artists and their instincts to dream and roam creatively, and seeking to
connect their works with Singapore audiences. Through the commissioning
of new works and championing artistic collaborations of Singapore and
Asian artists, introducing fresh creative insights and presenting works
by international artists of the highest calibre, the Festival this year
brings a strong sense of energy, discovery and adventure. There is much
to see and do, and I hope Singaporeans will not miss this special
opportunity to experience and enjoy the arts" |
|
Transcontinental World Premiere |
|
Increasingly demonstrating the willingness
to take risks in commissioning new work and initiating co-productions,
the Festival has championed inter-cultural, inter-disciplinary and new
media work, often involving international collaborations. |
|
A prime example of this can be seen in this
year¡¯s breakthrough transcontinental world premiere of Station House
Opera¡¯s (UK) major new work Play On Earth. |
|
In collaboration with TheatreWorks
(Singapore), Philharmonia Brasileira (Brazil) and NewcastleGateshead
Initiative (UK), the production literally transcends time and space in
its simultaneous staging to a global audience in Newcastle, Singapore
and São Paulo. |
|
Asian & International Contemporary |
|
The Festival has also become known for its
commitment to contemporary performing arts, particularly the Asian
contemporary. |
|
The 2006 season opens with the world
premiere of Quest, a landmark collaboration between two
leading Singapore arts companies ¨C the Singapore Dance Theatre and
Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO). |
|
Inspired by the music of three Asian
composers rendered by the superb SCO, three choreographers - Kim Eun Hee
(Korea), Gao Yan Jin Zi (China) and Jeffrey Tan (Singapore) ¨C together
create this triple-bill of contemporary dance. |
|
A spread of Singapore talent will be
featured in this year¡¯s Festival. The Festival has initiated a new dance
developmental platform Forward Moves which this year
features four talented young Singapore choreographers. |
|
Other Singapore works include the
world premieres of the Festival¡¯s commissions of Drama Box¡¯s
A Stranger At Home; The Necessary Stage¡¯s Mobile
featuring artists from Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and
Japan; composer and flautist Ghanavenothan Retnam¡¯s Ghana
Sangam together with celebrated Sheng player Wu Tong from
China. |
|
Other than Play on Earth, two other
co-commissions will feature in this year¡¯s line-up. |
|
TheatreWorks¡¯ (Singapore) Asian
premiere of Geisha features Kabuki onnagata master
Gojo Masanosuke, New York-based performer Karen Kandel (winner of
several Obies) and shamisen musician Kineya Katsumatsu. It is
conceived and directed by Singapore¡¯s well-known artist Ong Keng
Sen and is commissioned by the Singapore Arts Festival, in
association with Spoleto Festival (Charleston) and the Lincoln
Center Festival (New York). |
|
In another co-commission,
French-Vietnamese choreographer Ea Sola returns with an Asian
premiere of Drought and Rain ¨C Two Memories, Two Generations.
The work co-produced by the Singapore Arts Festival, Th¨¦âtre de la
Ville (Paris), New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA),
L¡¯Espace - French Cultural Centre (Hanoi), Vietnam National Opera
Ballet (Hanoi) and Grand Theatre of Groningen (Holland). |
|
The Festival also presents an
increasingly noted name from the Asian contemporary arts scene,
Chinese choreographer Jin Xing, whose Jin Xing Dance Theatre will
perform Shanghai Beauty, a work developed in
collaboration with Germany¡¯s Rubato Dance Company. |
|
This year, Festival audiences will
also be treated to works by some of the biggest names in
international contemporary dance. |
|
Nederlands Dans Theater I
(The Netherlands) will present a triple-bill of works including
that of Jiř¨ª Kyli¨¢n. Making a Festival debut is Rain
by dance luminary Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her company Rosas
(Belgium). Returning to the Festival, choreographer Marie
Chouinard¡¯s (Canada) company performs her work bODY_rEMIX/gOLDBERG_
vARIATIONS. |
|
Another treat is New York¡¯s acclaimed
SITI Company (USA), led by theatre pioneer Anne Bogart, who will
perform the American stage production of the early German
Renaissance classic Death and the Ploughman, another
Asian premiere. |
|
Finest Classical Music |
|
The lineup this season also boasts
some of the best of the classical music world. They include the
famed Oslo Philarmonic Orchestra (Norway) with the
brilliant young violinist Sarah Chang; Camerata Salzburg
(Austria) which will perform a special programme of Mozart¡¯s work;
celebrated instrumental and vocal ensemble Collegium Vocale Gent
(Belgium), who are known particularly for their outstanding
performances of the music of J.S . Bach and will perform J.S.
Bach¡¯s mass in B Minor; classical guitar virtuoso John
Williams, who will perform with composer Richard Harvey in
John Williams and Richard Harvey¡¯s World Tour (UK). |
|
More..... |
|
Source:
www.nac.gov.sg News Release 31
Mar 2006 |
|
 |
|
Important
Notice |
|
Our FrontPage
Editions are a historical record of our Web site and reflect
the changing of the times, and also of our Web site through
time. We do not and will not update the links and stories on
these FrontPages even if they have become obsolete. |
|
FrontPage Edition: Mon 17 Apr 2006
All rights reserved
