PROGRAMME

WELCOME2DECA

It has certainly been a minute, hasn’t it? After our last performance in March 2020, the thrill of being physically present on stage once more, in front of a live audience (YOU!), believe me when I say, NOTHING COMPARES.

I’m so proud to be able to present to you, LOCKED! A show where we feature young talents on stage and in process. The narrative is inspired and drawn from their perspective and innocence, their innate ability to warm hearts and foster positivity amongst the darkest times of our generation.

The whole team at DECA has poured months of passionate work and a whole lot of heart in putting this show together and I am constantly humbled by everyone’s sheer dedication to the art of performance.

Enjoy the show,
Edwin Wee
Artistic Director

SYNOPSIS

Locked! reflects the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the private and public body. Joined by dancers from Decadance Co and decak!ds, this production goes inside the inner mind and out to the world behind closed doors. Cycles of loneliness, creativity, isolation, ideation, routines old and new all collapse into one body and space. Locked! invites you to think about how our bodies, young and old, will remember this era-defining moment.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOREDWIN WEE
CHOREOGRAPHERRACHEL LUM
CHOREOGRAPHERSTEPHANIE RAE YOONG
LIGHTING DESIGNERDARYL NORMAN SOH

DANCERJACKIE ONG
DANCERVALERIE LIM
DANCERJOANNE SEOW

DANCERHAYDN WEE
DANCERCHI MAYNARD
DANCERIYLA WEE
DANCERUPASANA AVULA
DANCERSOPHIA GOH

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGERFAE TAN
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERNI CHENG PIN
MARKETING MANAGERVANESSA GUINADI

SUPPORTEDBY

NATIONAL ARTS COUNCIL - LOCKED! is a recipient of Performance & Participation Grant
START FUND - Decadance Co is a recipient of the stART Fund
SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS FOUNDATION - generously sponsored tickets for Mountbatten Vocational School and Pathlight School to attend LOCKED!

Edwin Wee is the co-founder, joint artistic director, and producer of Decadance Co.

Graduating from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts with a Diploma in Dance, he was invited to present his graduating choreography, The Shaman's Cat, at the da:ns Festival 2008 at Esplanade. He was part of Generations Spotlight: Moscow (2008) directed by Ivan Heng, where he performed for the President of Russia, Dmitriy Medvedev, and Singapore's Senior Minister, Goh Chok Tong. He later performed for His Excellency President of Singapore SR Nathan at the Singapore Design Awards 2008.

He joined Arts Fission in 2008 and has been actively choreographing and performing since. He was appointed Rehearsal Director in 2011 and Artistic Director for the company’s annual young people environmental dance-theatre productions since 2012. He has directed, curated, designed and choreographed more than 20 staged and site specific original productions.

Notable performances include, The Rite of Spring: A People’s Stravinsky (2013); Temple Reimagined (2013), a dance film; Future Feed (2014), a collaboration with Irene K Compagnie and presented in Belgium; In the Name of Red (2015), a site specific performance commissioned by National Gallery Singapore; Fire Monkey, a site specific performance for the arts festival Mapping Melbourne (2016), and again at Northcote Townhall, Melbourne (2018).

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Rachel Lum is the co-founder, joint director and choreographer of Decadance Co.

Rachel began her journey with a Diploma in Dance from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Upon graduation, she joined Frontier Danceland as an apprentice. She was a founding member of Re:Dance Theatre (RDT), performing in all core and external productions in renowned festivals such as M1 Contact Dance Festival, M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, Singapore Night Festival and NUS Arts Festival. Rachel was also the choreographer and training mentor for RDT’s second company, Re:Dance Theatre 2.

In her own artistic practice, Rachel has created and produced numerous acclaimed dance works which have premiered internationally in festivals such as the Lift Off Dance Festival in Bracknell, United Kingdom, DANCESTAGES in Shanghai, and CDE Springboard Dance Festival in Macau. She conceptualise and choreographed No Corners for Decadance Co’s debut dance production.

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Stephanie Rae Yoong graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts with a Diploma in Dance with Distinction in 2018 and joined RAW Moves until 2021. She is currently an Associate of Sigma Contemporary Dance and Lead Instructor at decak!ds.

Stephanie completed a Specialist Certificate in Teaching and Learning of Preschool Arts Education by SEED institute. She is also compassionate in teaching Creative movement to children with Special abilities, she hopes to create an enjoyable and safe movement space and class for them one day.

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More than a Lighting Designer, DaryI Norman Soh sees himself as a Storyteller - in which lighting is his medium of expression, in conveying moods, messages and stories. He also sees himself as a Collaborator, strongly believing that in the theatre, one of the most valuable attributes of a designer is their ability to collaborate and communicate openly and effectively with all involved - this being the best way to bring any vision to fruition. Daryl is also a graduate from the Diploma in Technical and Production Management programme at LASALLE College of The Arts. Online portfolio available to view www.darylnormansoh.com.

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Jackie graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and holds a Diploma in Dance. He was the recipient of the NAFA scholarship and had represented the school in overseas conferences. Jackie has also been a member of The Human Expression (T.H.E) Second Company since 2009 and had tour with the main company to Poland, Guangzhou, Yokohama and Niigata. Under T.H.E Second Company, he was part of Singapore: Inside Out, traveling to Beijing, London, New York before the homecoming in Singapore as part of SG50. In 2016, he carried out a month long residency in Seoul and collaborated on the work "82vs65".

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Valerie holds a BSc (Hons.) Political Science from National University of Singapore and a B.A (Hons.) Dance from LASALLE College of the Arts. Currently, Valerie is an independent artist based in Singapore and an associate Artist with P7:1SMA. Her current movement practice involves stepping out of her comfort zone by cross training with different movement practices. The mysteries of the human body, multi-disciplinary and immersive works deeply thrill her. She believes life must be spent pursuing what makes us feel the most alive. Her artistic practice often deals with the universal but often isolating experiences of mortality and grief.

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Joanne started her dance journey at the Royal Academy of Dance ballet programme at the early age of five. At 16, she discovered her interest in contemporary dance, fascinated by the endless possibilities in body movements. While furthering her dance studies at LASALLE College of the Arts, she expanded her repertoire to include genres such as jazz and street dance. During her training at LASALLE, she worked with several local and international artists such as Rachel Lopez de la Nieta (UK), Leah Morrison (UK), Ery Mefri (Indonesia), Eisa Jocson (Philippines), Susan Sentler (UK/Singapore) and Jenny Neo (Singapore), and collaborated across disciplines such as fine arts, fashion, film and animation, which widened her perspectives of dance. She is interested in dance creation as well as movement research and would love to dig deeper into challenging the boundaries of the human body.

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Fae is a graduate from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Diploma in Arts Business Management. Since her graduation in 2018, she has been working in theatre as a freelance stage / assistant stage manager. This includes productions with Singapore Dance Theatre, Singapore Repertory Theatre, The Finger Players, Toy Factory Production, Esplanade’s Huayi Festival, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Gateway Entertainment and many more.

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Cheng Pin graduated with a Diploma in Dance from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 2011. Upon graduation, he was an apprentice with Frontier Danceland for a brief period before moving on to join Re:Dance Theatre (RDT) as a founding member. During his time with RDT, he has performed for the company's debut show, as well as the Exxonmobil Campus Concert, before pursuing his Degree studies in the Tourism sector. Cheng Pin joined Decadance Co. in 2020.

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Vanessa Guinadi is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music and School of the Arts Singapore. She has worked for arts organisations such as HOME Manchester, Hallé Orchestra, Buxton International Festival, Opera Shack and Checkpoint Theatre in various roles from production to stage management. She enjoys bringing a production from page to stage, and seamlessly enabling artists to focus fully on the creation process. A classical singer by training, she has also performed in solo recitals across Singapore and England, from Victoria Concert Hall to St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

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