14.01.2022 – 15.01.2022
A blank slate where possibilities are endless.
Tabula Rasa is a culmination of a year long experience in SHIFT, a street dance training and initiative by Luqman B As’ad.
Our very first edition of Tabula Rasa features a mixed bill of four original local creations by SHIFT coordinators Luqman B As’ad and Sammantha Yue, and guest choreographers Hong Guofeng and Chiok Woon Chua, ScRach MarcS, and Subastian Tan.
Join us in witnessing this performance by the talented and driven dancers.
Director's Note
I have always been curious about the vessel that we are all gifted with since the beginning. Our bodies act as clothing, encapsulating our inner beings. Can we consider ourselves naked when we were first born into this world? Was there ever a blank slate to begin with?
Tabula Rasa is a personal project to explore the shifts in the inner and outer worlds of our being. Working with the choreographers - Sammantha, Rachel, Marcus, Chiok and Guofeng has taken me on an inspiring journey that has helped me discover the many ways in which we determine our identities and define ourselves in this life.
The dancers from the very first batch of the SHIFT programme brought these ideas to life. When I first created the programme, I wanted to refine what it means to be a dancer. I wanted to discover what the reasons were behind our own movement choices - is it purely for aesthetics, for some sort of resonance to a culture, or is it simply to understand our own bodies through different approaches? I am beyond thankful to have been able to work with a group of dancers who have showed me how ready they were to submerge themselves in this process and take up the challenge with me.
If you are watching Tabula Rasa today, I hope you find the time to contemplate your own being, who you were, are, and could be.
SHIPS
Choreographed by Hong Guofeng and Chua Chiok Woon
Some people we meet are like ships that pass in the night. The encounters may be brief, but the connection with some leaves imprints that linger.
Performed by Foo Moo Xin, Muhammad Shah Zainee Bin Esham, Ning Poh, Priscilla Chan Xin Yu, Tan Yan Ru Valery, Ting Yi Xuan
SENSATIONALISTICISM
Choreographed by Subastian Tan
We are constantly being bombarded by news about the state of the world and it can be overwhelming at times, causing us to shut ourselves off while grappling with our conscience. Even if we care, do our actions really matter?
"The sky could fall down, the wind could cry now.
The strong in me, I still smile.
I love myself.”
Performed by Brian Chia, Chong Shao Hong Benedict, Ho Hwee Chin Genevieve, Lee Yun Ning, Liew Chuin Leong, Pang Yi Wei, Muhammad Shah Zainee Bin Esham
RE-FRESH
Choreographed by ScRach MarcS
What if we could cleanse our historical data of movement but retain the process? An experimental journey of creation, we explore the meaning of what it means to create a new "style" of dance.
Performed by Chng Min Qi, Estella Ong, Lim Cong Hao Darren, Lim Sze Yao Hendrik, Mohammad Shafiee bin Shadan, Ning Poh, Nur Aisyah Bte Hanafi, Ting Yi Xuan
ORBITAL
Choreographed by Luqman B As’ad
and Sammantha Yue
Unity
Hierarchy
Status Quo
Conflict
Harmony
To rely and to negotiate to fail together
To succeed together
Performed by Audrey Chang He Xuan, Brian Chia, Ho Hwee Chin Genevieve, Kang Cheng Jason, Lian Long Xuan, Loy Xue En Raphael , Nurauni Binte Affendi, Priscilla Chan Xin Yu, Raymond Law Wei Wen, Tan Yan Ru Valery
Artistic Team
Production Team
Director
Luqman B As’ad
Choreographers
ScRach MarcS
Subastian Tan
Hong Guofeng
Chua Chiok Woon
Luqman B As’ad
Sammantha Yue
Tabula Rasa Photographer
Ms Bern
Tabula Rasa Videographer
RP Productions
Graphic Designer/ Creative Director
Tan Yan Ru Valery
Video Editor/ Art Director
Mohammad Shafiee bin Shadan
Shifters (Dancers)
Production Stage Manager
Peter Teo
Deputy Stage Manager
Ginnie Tan
Assistant Stage Manager
Mya
Eileen
Lighting Designer
Alberta
Administrator
Eileen
Subastian Tan
Marketing Executives
Mohammad Shafiee bin Shadan
Tan Yan Ru Valery
Subastian Tan