View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarBank@NUS REPRESENTING ASIAN-NESS THROUGH CONTEMPORARY DANCE: CASE STUDIES OF FIVE DANCE COMPANIES IN SINGAPORE CAREN CARINO B.Ed. and M.F.A. (Dance), University of Hawaii A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES PROGRAMME NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2008 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following people for their inspiration, invaluable guidance and support in the research and writing of my thesis. I am indebt to the contemporary dance companies and dance artists based in Singapore at the time of my research. It is because of these individuals and their creative work that compelled me to write this thesis: Angela Liong (artistic director), Elysa Wendi (assistant artistic director) and Scarlet Yu (dancer) from The Arts Fission Company; Lim Chin Huat(artistic director) , Tan How Choon (associate artistic director) and Su Sam (dancer) from Ecnad Project Ltd.; Tammy Wong (artistic director) and Elaine Chan (dancer) from Tammy L. Wong Dance Company; Danny Tan (artistic director), Sylvia Yong (dancer) and Albert Tiong (dancer) from Odyssey Dance Theatre and; Aaron Khek Ah Hock (executive director), Ix Wong Thien Pau (artistic director) and Ebelle Chong (dancer) from Ah Hock and Peng Yu. I embarked on the writing of this thesis as a dancer accustomed to creative and physical expression. However, through the patience and guidance of my Ph.D. supervisor Associate Professor Goh Beng Lan and the careful scrutiny of Hannah Tan, I have gained an immense respect for critical thinking and written expression. I am grateful to my mentor Joan Woodbury and all my dance friends and colleagues for their words of wisdom and encouragement: Ravenna Tucker, Lim Fei Shen, Professor Patricia Adams, Dr. Brian Howard, Professor Judy Van Zile, Dr. Stephanie Burridge, Associate Professor Cheryl Stock and Dr. Siri Rama. I am i also thankful to the many dancers that have shared their experiences and insights including my students Vincent Yong, Zhou Zihao, Lee Mun Wai, Law Su Ling and Choo Ting. Finally, I would like to thank my family - husband James Andrew Weschler and sons James Anthony Carino (Jac) and Andrew Bradford Carino Weschler for their love and support. I especially want to thank my parents Antonio Collado Carino and Frisca Blaquera Carino for encouraging me to pursue my dreams and aspirations in life. It is because of their firm belief in me that I enjoyed and continue to pursue a wonderfully full and rewarding life in dance as a performer, educator, administrator, advocate and academic. ii Table of Contents Title Page Acknowledgements i Table of Contents iii Summary vii Illustrations x Chapter One: Introduction 1 Personal Location 3 Description of Fieldwork and Data Collection 10 Structure of the Thesis 13 Chapter Two: Background 16 Introduction 16 Western Modern Dance 16 Terms: Modern Dance and Contemporary Dance 22 Asian Contemporary Dance: Western Modern Dance Transplanted in Asia 26 Contemporary Dance in Singapore 28 Conclusion 41 Chapter Three: Analytical Framework 43 Introduction 43 Survey of Scholarship and Discourse on Local Identity: Asian Values and Asian-ness 45 iii Asian Contemporary Dance: Approaches in Creation 57 Interculturalsim 57 Multidisciplinarism 73 Body-Centeredness 77 Conclusion 83 Chapter Four: The Arts Fission Company 86 Introduction 86 Angela’s Personal Search 87 Interculturalism Linked with Multidisiciplinarism 90 Current Issues as Themes 95 Elysa’s Background and Shared Vision 104 Conclusion 108 Chapter Five: Ecnad Project Ltd. 110 Introduction 110 Chin Huat’s Influences and Approach 112 How Choon’s Influences and Approach 114 Artistic Expression through Western Forms and Multidisciplinarism Rooted in Western Practice 115 Dance as an Expression of Contemporary Issues 126 Conclusion 130 Chapter Six: Tammy L. Wong Dance Company 132 Introduction 132 Influences on Tammy’s Identity and Artistic Approach 134 Western-centric Artistic Expression 144 iv Conclusion 153 Chapter Seven: Odyssey Dance Theatre 155 Introduction 155 Danny’s Personal Identity and Vision 157 A Hybrid Dance Form through Interculturalism 161 Aesthetics, Sentiments and Beliefs 166 Conclusion 170 Chapter Eight: Ah Hock and Peng Yu 172 Introduction 172 Aaron’s Background and Influences 174 Ix’s Background and Influences 181 Body-Centeredness as an Approach to Understanding 183 Asian-ness Multidisciplinarism in the Expression of the Contemporary 191 Asian Identity Consistency of Asian Themes 198 Conclusion 201 Chapter Nine: Conclusion 203 Bibliography 210 Appendices: Dance Company Profiles 218 Appendix I: The Arts Fission Company 219 v Appendix II: Ecnad Project Ltd. 225 Appendix III: Tammy L. Wong Dance Company 230 Appendix IV: Odyssey Dance Theatre 234 Appendix V: A Hock and Peng Yu 238 vi Summary Dance has rarely been looked at as a repository site for discourses on nationalist or regional identities in Southeast Asia. Somehow there has been more focus on culture, politics and identity in theatre and other performing arts rather than dance. Hence, in an endeavor to fill this gap this thesis looks at how contemporary dance is a dynamic space where Asian identity takes on complex and meaningful constructions through the lives and work of contemporary Asian dance artists located in Singapore. This thesis contends that contemporary dance, an aesthetic expression, is an important site to analyze the construction and meanings of Asian identity in parallel to social scientific analyses of nationalist and Southeast Asian identities, which have amongst other things, centered on the “Asian values and identities” discourse in Southeast Asia. Although the search for the “local” and “indigenous” has always characterized Southeast Asian scholarship, focus on a broader Asian identity began with the rise of the region and assertion of difference from the West promoted through the “Asian values” discourse since the late 1980’s. Social scientific analyses of the Asian identity discourse in Southeast Asia tend to relegate Asian values as elitist, if not nationalist, constructions. For instance, the discourses on Asian values are viewed as elitist identity politics such as in the context of Singapore where the then prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, used an Asian identity, particularly Chinese values and beliefs, to define the Singaporean identity. While this thesis acknowledges the political strategy of the state and elites in the construction of an Asian identity, it argues that not all constructions can be reduced to elitist or state instrumentality. vii An in-depth investigation of the works and lives of eight artistic directors/choreographers from 1994 to 2005 under the auspices of five Singapore- based contemporary dance companies saw them assuming a significant role in defining “Asian-ness” in their own way. These dance artists were seen to be influenced by their personal biographies, which were a result of cultural heritage, acculturation as well as sojourns and exposure. The work they produced centered around unresolved tensions between prioritizing cultural continuity and/or particularity as well as the uncritical acceptance of Western outlooks. This study shows that Singapore, with its historical, geographical, political and demographical particularities, becomes a conducive and meaningful place for both local Singaporeans as well as immigrants such as Asian Americans and Southeast Asians, particularly those of Chinese or part-Chinese descent, to live and create their Asian contemporary dance forms. The space created by the Asian values and identities debates coincides with the visions and struggles of the Asian-artist diaspora that are not necessarily defined and contained by Singapore’s nationalist ideology. For many of these artists, at times Asian-ness is understood as a specific Asian culture associated especially with Chinese ethnicity, which is thought to be both intrinsic as well as something learned. At other times, however, it is not necessarily about ethnicity but embracing multiple Asian cultural influences, i.e. reflecting different local contexts of various Southeast and East Asian societies such as Malaysian, Indonesian, Korean, etc. Yet in other instances, Asian-ness is not about a particular Asian ethnicity but more about acculturation with, or influenced by values, ways and aesthetics associated with Western societies. viii Furthermore, towards the creation of various Asian contemporary dance forms, three approaches were identified: interculturalism, multidisciplinarism and body-centeredness. While these three approaches are also found in Western as well as Southeast Asian performance creations or somatic practices, more important was the way in which they were utilized by contemporary Asian dance artists towards reclaiming contemporary dance as an Asian form, or on Asian terms, to establish representational difference in today’s world. Through these approaches, contemporary dance is transformed from a Western form into an Asian form. Called “Asian contemporary dance” in this thesis, it expresses Asian themes, has a hybridized mixture of Asian/Western movement vocabularies, a combination of Asian/Western multidisciplinary artistic collaborations as well as Asian translations of Western technique and approaches in dance creations. Hence, this thesis shows that the realm of contemporary dance is a site where diverse and complex interpretations of Asian-ness are embodied. While the discourse of