Singapore TAPS Perspectives 2023

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES

ABOUT TAPS PERSPECTIVES TaPS Perspectives gives IB DP Theatre students the unique opportunity to work intensively with a series of theatre professionals, specialising in: Collaboratively creating original theatre Staging play texts Exploring world theatre traditions Performing theatre theory IB DP Theatre ISTA TaPS Perspectives provides students with an understanding of how the IB DP Theatre course syllabus is applied to current theatre practice. It's a launchpad for students’ explorations of theatre. Working with DP Theatre students from different schools broadens perspectives, forges friendships and enhances all learning.

ISTA specialises in global learning through theatre.

We are a UK based charity, founded in 1978 providing transformative learning experiences for educators and young people worldwide. We create communities of learning, working closely with over 240 member schools around the world and we are the International Bacclaureate’s exclusive global provider of teacher training for Diploma Theatre.

We believe in the unique power of theatre and the arts to connect, develop, transform and empower people to become active members and changemakers in their own communities and the world.

We use the ISTA Ensemble method, a collaborative approach to learning and community building and story based inquiry, using story as a way to understand the world and as a tool for change.

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES Keriann O’Rourke - ISTA Rep I am a Canadian who repatriated after 16 years of living in Singapore back to the ‘Great White North’. I have worked in education as a Kindergarten teacher as well as a drama and dance middle school specialist. I am a proud member of the ISTA team and work as the Communications Manager and as an Event Manager alongside Sophie, Helen and Emily.

These roles allow me the opportunity to regularly connect with the ISTA community. As Event Manager I work directly with hosts, participants, artists and visiting schools to ensure that their event experience runs smoothly. As Communications Manager I organise and produce all Communications content via the website, email and across our video and social media channels. I enjoy the creativity and insight into the ISTA experience that both roles provide. I also love working as an ISTA Rep at our events which gives me the opportunity to step out from behind the computer and jump into the ISTA experience.

FINDING THE FUNNY: TECHNIQUES FOR DEVISING WITH CLOWN Collaboratively creating original theatre Workshop leader: Shanice Stanislaus About the company - Creatives Inspirit Creatives Inspirit is a Singaporean creative arts company founded to make the arts accessible to all.

We often use clowning, theatre and dance in our work as we believe in the transformative power of these art forms. Our mission is to bring the joy of the arts to underserved communities, regardless of sickness, disability or lack of performance experience.

At Creatives Inspirit, we are dedicated to empowering marginalised individuals who have been told they cannot pursue an arts education due to poverty, physical/mental illness or limited access to arts resources. Since our establishment in 2017, we have gained recognition for our efforts and have been honoured as one of the top 100 youth founders by the National Youth Council through the Somerset Sandbox initiative.

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES Biography Shanice Stanislaus is an actor, clown artist and creative director/producer from Singapore. In 2022, her solo clown-comedy show Mail Ordered won the Pick of the Fringe award, was nominated for the 'Artistic Risk' award at the Vancouver Fringe Festival and was featured in the International Artists' Festival in Calgary, Canada. In 2023, her award winning show Mail Ordered went on tour to feature in the Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton Fringe Festivals. She was also a featured artist in the award winning production Dance to Death for El Festival Del Grec in Barcelona. She has worked internationally with Flamenco dance maestro Antonio Vargas, the British director David Glass, Spanish director Alberto Velasco and award winning Broadway Jazz choreographer Sue Samuels.

She has also trained with French master clown and theatre teacher Philippe Gaulier and the contemporary clown theatre company, Spymonkey (United Kingdom).

Workshop overview In this laughter filled devising workshop, we delve into the art of creating comedy through clowning.

Participants will learn various techniques and tools to discover their inner clown. They will be encouraged to embrace their playfulness, to take risks and to be open to making multiple flops onstage - all to bring out their inner clown. Participants will learn the fundamentals of physical comedy, silly walks, complicité and putting a clown show together. Through a combination of physical exercises, improvisation games and creative exploration, we will delve into the world of clowning and the process of devising original comedic material.

INTRODUCTION TO KHON (THAI CLASSICAL MASKED DANCE) Exploring world theatre traditions Workshop leader: Benjamin Tardif Biography Originally from Canada, Benjamin has been in Bangkok, Thailand since 2012 to pursue his training in Khon while completing a Master of Arts in Thai Classical Dance at Bunditpatanasilpa Institute. He was assigned the monkey role, notably Hanuman, which he learned with the national artist, Prasit Pinkaew. Benjamin is a member of the Khon dance troupe of the Royal Sala Chalermkrung Theatre and delivers Khon workshops and performances in many countries.

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES Biography Originally from Canada, Benjamin has been in Bangkok, Thailand since 2012 to pursue his training in Khon while completing a Master of Arts in Thai Classical Dance at Bunditpatanasilpa Institute. He was assigned the monkey role, notably Hanuman, which he learned with the national artist, Prasit Pinkaew. Benjamin is a member of the Khon dance troupe of the Royal Sala Chalermkrung Theatre and delivers Khon workshops and performances in many countries.

Since 2015 he has participated in various contemporary dance projects with Pichet Klunchun Dance Cie, 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre, Compagnie Kham and Fanglao Dance Cie. In 2019 he started working on his own creations where he is interested in bridging the West and the East through dance and music, symbols, mythology and narratives; reflecting on his inner dualities, questions of identities, transformation and survival.

Workshop overview In this workshop, we will: Explore the fundamentals of the monkey role in ‘Khon’ Thai classical masked dance. Participants will be initiated with a Khon traditional training and some choreographic principles.

Practise the animalistic and warrior aspects of the character moving from participants’ observations and conceptual ideas to a refined Khon monkey aesthetic. The learning process will enable us to notice the transformation from a common or animalistic movement into a Thai classical dance gesture.

Participants will then be invited to explore various Khon techniques to convey emotions through the body. It will allow us to learn the guiding physical elements used in Khon to display a range of emotions while learning a coded dance vocabulary to communicate ideas and concepts in movements.

At the end of the workshop we will learn a few short choreographic sequences to experience the dynamics and specificities of a Khon performance. We will be able to use all of the previous material seen in the workshop and combine them to create a narrative.

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES IB DIPLOMA PERSPECTIVES Workshop leader: Darren Scully

Biography ISTA has been a big part of my life since the early 90s in Stavanger, Norway. You may have seen me as AD/Rep/host of ISTA festivals both in Europe and Asia. I was Head of Creative and Practical Arts at St Julian’s School in Portugal, before moving to Asia, as Artistic Director in Bangkok, Shanghai and Hong Kong where I taught and directed theatre: from classic musicals to edgy experimental work. I have more recently been working on reinterpreting classical texts and devising work around environmental themes. I love audiences stumbling across performances and watching the magic work.

Workshop overview This session will assist participants in framing their TaPS Perspectives experience so it relates to their DP Theatre course, their development as artists and as learners.

Participants will Reflect on their workshop experiences in relation to the IB DP theatre course Make connections between workshops and the IB DP theatre course Contextualise their workshop experiences in relation to the IB DP theatre course Consider their development as artists and learners to inform their learning in the IB DP theatre course

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES EMBODIED ACTOR Performing Theatre Theory Workshop leader: ANG Gey Pin

About the company - Sourcing Within

内溯

Initiated by ANG Gey Pin in 2006, Sourcing Within is a network of international performing artists and scholars comprised of extensive collaborations and theatrical work sessions of intercultural, inter-lingual and interdisciplinary levels. It comprises practice based, experiential driven collaborations and workshops for practitioners of performance and embodied practices.

Intended as a platform to promote continuous research and practice, it has drawn worldwide attention from practitioners who have sought ongoing practice by unearthing their innate capacities through embodied practice, investigation, creating and performing innovative works.

Ranice Tay has been a close collaborator with Ang since 2018 into practice-as-research investigation and creation. Tay is a key associate artist alongside Ang in terms of Sourcing Within's pedagogical and artistic development.

Biography A practice researcher/pedagogue/performer from Singapore, ANG Gey Pin was the artistic director of Theatre OX (1995-1998), researching traditional sources and its potentials within the performer’s training. Performed as lead roles, she has toured with the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards, Italy (1994/1998-2006) on Project The Bridge: developing theatre arts - One breath left (UBU Special Award,Italy) (1998-2002) and Dies Irae: My Preposterous Theatrum Interioris Show (2003-2006). Since 2006, Ang has initiated Sourcing Within (https://sourcingwithin.org) consisting of researched, embodied practice projects internationally. Her research is featured in various scholarly journals, books of intercultural theatre and anthropology. A recipient of theatre awards granted by the Singapore National Arts Council, Ang holds a Bachelor of Arts (Distinction) from the University of Hawaii-Manoa (1992) and a Doctorate in Drama by Practice-as-Research from the University of Kent (2017).

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES Workshop overview In this workshop, we will introduce the organic approach of Jerzy Grotowski in the creative process of an actor. It is a practice based workshop aimed to motivate, encourage and challenge students to embody their innate capacities, to be curious and open to possibilities in the act of performing. The workshop hopes to nurture students’ practice based research experience; in turn, this will potentially manifest in their learning and studies.

Led by Ang Gey Pin, a Singaporean theatre pedagogue, director and actress, the workshop aims to introduce a mode of embodied theatre approach to students and will draw on references from the practice of Jerzy Grotowski.

STAGING A SCENE: DIFFERENT TEXTS, DIFFERENT APPROACHES Staging Play Texts Workshop leader: Jeffrey Tan About the company - Theatre Today Theatre Today was established in 2016 by Singapore based experienced theatre director and creative producer Jeffrey Tan. Theatre Today aims to bring independent artists together for arts projects that celebrate the diversity of stories and lived experiences through intergenerational arts/theatre workshops, creative development, commissions, special events and site specific productions.

Theatre Today’s motto of ‘capturing imagination at play’ can be seen in the numerous creative projects and commissions. From the online and physical process drama workshops to full productions, the aims have always been to encourage the pleasure of reading, writing, speaking and responding to the celebration of Singapore and world literature.

Some of Theatre Today’s productions include OPEN BUSINESS at the Singapore Heritage Festivals 2020, 2021 and 2022. SAME-SAME, an online collaboration between No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability (Australia) and Diverse Abilities Dance Collective of Maya Dance Theatre (Singapore) 2020. SAME-SAME 2.0 toured to Melbourne Fringe 2021, New Zealand Fringe 2022 and Adelaide Fringe 2022.

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES Biography Jeffrey is a theatre director, drama educator and creative producer since 1997. He holds a BA (Drama) from the Queensland University of Technology, QUT (Australia) and MA (Drama and Theatre Education) from the University of Warwick (United Kingdom).

He was Resident Director, The Theatre Practice (1997-1999), Drama Lecturer, LASALLE SIA (19992001), Associate Artistic Director, TheatreWorks (S) Ltd (2002-2006), Assistant Director, National Arts Council (2007- 2012), Assistant Director, People’s Association (2012-2015).

In 2016, Jeffrey started Theatre Today to bring freelancers together for theatre and arts projects. In 2023, Jeffrey completed a five month artist residency at Lion Befrienders Clementi. He also conceptualised and produced Inspirations, a series of arts and wellness programmes at UOB spaces.

Jeffrey is also a part time lecturer for Theatre and Community Engagement (National University of Singapore), Stage Management (Ngee Ann Polytechnic) and Community Arts and Global Arts Perspectives (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, NAFA).

Workshop overview This session consists of two texts contrasting in content and style.

The first will be exploring the staging of a prose text, ‘Island of the abandoned tree’ by Kuo Pao Kun, a Singaporean playwright, as an ensemble performance with actors playing narrators and bringing the rich images to life. Participants will be led through the use of tableau, improvisation and physical responses to the text. They will also get a chance to explore the set, lighting, sound and costumes for the scene.

The second text is a scene, ‘Kueh Sellers’ by Leow Puay Tin, a Malaysian playwright. The scene features nine characters. Filled with tension, the fast paced dialogue requires tight team work and characterisation from start to end. The participants will experience the process of staging the scene as an ensemble.

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES 9 VIEWPOINTS Teacher/chaperone specialist workshop Workshop leader: Kristina Pakhomova About the company - Bold Moment Bold Moment is a theatre company that offers training, courses and lessons to empower individuals with confidence, versatility and bravery. They create thought provoking moments on stage, providing a safe space for artists to explore beyond their daily selves. With a multidisciplinary approach, they offer workshops and programmes suitable for anyone seeking self discovery. From actor training to audition preparation, Bold Moment nurtures artists, helping them unlock their creativity and develop their skills. Through their innovative approach and dedication to pushing boundaries, they inspire individuals to embrace their artistic potential and embark on a transformative journey within the realm of theatre.

Biography Kristina graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a BA(Hons) in Acting (2013). She has performed in a number of theatre plays, short films, television and radio projects as well as producing, directing, writing and performing in her own work. Kristina’s life mission is to help people express themselves freely and authentically through creativity. With her company she is excited and honoured to be able to give opportunities to other creatives to express themselves; creating fun, playful and bold moments on stage and in life. Recent standout performances include Venus in Fur and Burying Children in Esplanade Theatre Studio and Away, an award-winning short film which she wrote, produced and starred in.

Workshop overview The 9 Viewpoints workshop offers an exploration of Anne Bogart's 9 Viewpoints and their application to text work. This engaging session combines mainly practical exercises through which attendees will be introduced to each of the 9 Viewpoints and actively work through them, specifically focusing on their integration with text. This hands on approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of the Viewpoints and equips participants with practical tools to enhance their text based performances.

THEATRE

SINGAPORE TAPS PERSPECTIVES ROMEO & JULIET performed by Action to the Word (United Kingdom) “Shakespeare is alive and well and beating in the heart of Action to the Word” The Guardian, UK Direct from London, featuring the UK cast, the award-winning UK theatre company, Action to the Word present this extraordinary new production of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. This hard-hitting tale of lost misfits and their painful family feud is told through a contemporary lens with powerful live music. An innovative and accessible gateway to the true story of the world’s most famous lovers, Romeo & Juliet will simultaneously rip and delight the heart. Directed by Alex Spencer-Jones (A Clockwork Orange, Dracula, and winner of the Musical Theatre Matters: UK Award for Best Director).

P A R A | | E L E - HANUMAN & I performed by Benjamin Tardif (Thailand) This solo performance, designed for a neophyte audience, is an incursion into the parallel universe of a Canadian dancer, Benjamin Tardif, where you can discover khon Thai classical masked dance through his personal journey of learning this ancestral art form and his designated character, Hanuman, the white monkey warrior. In order to highlight the recent recognition of khon to the UNESCO World Cultural Intangible Heritage while giving the chance to a new generation to become more familiar with one of the cultural pillars of Southeast Asia, Benjamin shares his passion and knowledge based on his experience as a khon professional dancer through the eyes of a foreigner. PARA||ELE is a piece that combines tradition and modernity in order to present an ancient classical and coded dance in a more accessible way for a new audience. As Benjamin had to not only learn khon but also its traditions and beliefs, he is the perfect ambassador to introduce this mysterious universe and so, to enable the spectators to connect history, art, culture, language and literature. PARA||ELE is like a mirror; by understanding the other, it allows you to better understand your own roots.