An Interview with Dancer Lee Mun Wai and Resident Lighting Designer Anna Rouhu from T.H.E Dance Company on ‘O Sounds’

T.H.E Dance Company will be revisiting the work that gave birth to the company in 2008. O Sounds (originally titled Old Sounds) will be performed at this year’s Singapore Arts Festival. In addition to this, a four-city international tour has also been confirmed for O Sounds throughout 2010.

Dansing: We understand that the original Old Sounds was performed in 2008 and it was your company’s first full-length work. How was it selected to be performed again at this year’s Singapore Arts Festival and why was it chosen for your international tour?

Mun Wai & Anna: Despite overwhelming response from the audience and great reviews from critiques in 1998, Swee Boon was dissatisfied with the original Old Sounds. While trying to put up an exceptional show to establish the company and display its capacity, he felt that he added too many elements to the show which distracted the audience from the essence of the work. It was, in his professional opinion and in his pursuit for perfection, not up to his expectations.

Anna: I watched the piece on screen, and felt that the original piece was too chaotic as there were too many things happening simultaneously. There were definitely strong and awe-inspiring moments but I prefer the re-work of it.

Mun Wai: I felt that it lacked editing, in addition to being raw and unpolished.

Both: This is a significant piece of work to Swee Boon and T.H.E.. It is likened to the cornerstone of the company. Hence, the Arts Festival and the world tour were seen as a great opportunity for the development and improvement of the piece of work.

Dansing: What is the significance of this particular piece of repertoire? What is the story behind it?

Both: This dance explores the tension and complexities arising from the erosion of tradition in our endless quest for progress. It represents our struggle in trying to maintain the fragile balance between retaining the essence of who we are and our insatiable desire for progress to a better end that is somehow, never in sight.

It raises questions such as how much of our tradition we can afford to lose, how much we have already lost and how we will be able to regain what we have lost or have merely seemed to lose.

Dansing: What differences can audience who have watched the original Old Sounds before expect from this new interpretation?

Both: Basically, the audience can expect new choreographies, new music, new sequences of the multimedia. In fact the entire first section was re-choreographed; Darren Ng who composed the music for Old Sounds was brought back to edit the music; about 30% of the Brazilian video art was removed.

Generally, the core intention and the essence of original piece remain, but audiences can expect something simpler, more direct, and focused. There will also be more contemporary costumes and a good mix of dance with the video art. We are very pleased with this improved piece of work.

Mun Wai: If you watched and liked Old Sounds, you definitely have to watch O Sounds!

Dansing: What can audience who have not watched it before look forward to in this piece of work?

Both: Audience who did not manage to catch Old Sounds certainly cannot miss this re-work. They will be in for a visual treat that is never like any of the contemporary dance pieces they have ever seen before.

In fact, O sounds received a standing ovation in its premiere in Jakarta just last week. The audience was full of praise and was captivated by the performance.

So, if you haven’t purchased your tickets for O Sounds, you should get it now!

Dansing: Anna, you’ve been a lighting designer for various shows around the world. Tell us more about what you do? What made you decide to be T.H.E’s Resident Artist?

Anna: I initially specialised in drama theatre back in Finland even though most people wanted to do dance. It was in Hong Kong when I joined Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts that I experimented with lighting design with dance and it was there that I met Mun Wai. I was introduced to T.H.E. Dance Company and decided to do the lighting design for Within.Without, which was my first collaboration with T.H.E. in 2009.

Partly why I decided to stay in Singapore was the warm weather and the good food(laughing). Jokes aside, I feel a sense of commonality with T.H.E.. I feel that Swee Boon and I share similar aesthetics and that it is easy to work with him as he leaves me the freedom to create the effect I deem appropriate and he trusts my professional judgment while clearly expressing his expectations.

Dansing: Tell us about your lighting design for O sounds.

Anna: I go for simplicity in my designs. The main difference O Sounds has from the other dance pieces is that there are the video art sections which require minimal lighting to bring the attention to the screen. Other than that, there is a general contrast in lighting between the scenes of city life in Singapore and the scenes that depict the memories and the lost tradition.

Dansing: We were immensely impressed with how talented the young choreographers were from the recent ‘T.H.E Emerging Choreographers II’. Mun Wai, how long have you been dancing and choreographing? Maybe you can tell us more about the company dancers and choreographers in your company.

Mun Wai: I have always loved to move my body. I truly started dancing only when I was 17. I gave up my university studies for a diploma in dance in LASALLE and thereafter pursued a degree in Hong Kong. I first professionally choreographed with T.H.E. and have since been choreographing for several other projects. I identify most with existential philosophy which provides inspiration for my works. I am currently working on a choreography for Platform Campus, a performance that will be showcasing dancers from some of the institutions in Singapore namely NUS, SMU, RP and ITE College East.

T.H.E. Dance Company is made up of about seven company dancers aged between 25 to late thirties. We undergo a very rigorous training regime of a minimum of five hours a day, five times a week. We share the same burning passion for contemporary dance and the arts, and are fighters, not just dancers. 

We laugh, we have fun and we can be full of nonsense, but when we’re dressed in our dance attires we are dead serious and we fight till the very end.

 Dansing: Your youth dancers also impressed us with their great artistry and stamina. How are their trainings like and who qualifies for this youth dance group? I’m sure there are many young dancers who are aspiring to be like one of you.

Mun Wai: The youth dancers have to attend trainings at least once a week and they train together with the company dancers. Swee Boon expects as much commitment from them as the company dancers. He looks out for not only technically strong dancers with established dance foundations, but more importantly the passion and the sincerity in their dancing as well as their individual styles.

Dansing: What are T.H.E’s plans for the future?

Both: T.H.E. wants to continue to spread its passion for contemporary dance to Singaporeans through its sincere performances.

Mun Wai: Though the local arts scene is growing, I feel that right now there is no lack of platform, but a lack of viewership.

I recall that I was very disappointed to learn that my friends would rather spend their time and money on clubbing and going for parties than on a dance performance. I urge more young people to view art as a new form of entertainment. In fact, art can be entertainment and more than that.

Anna: In Finland and in many other countries, there are different dance performances every day and people there watch performances as frequent as they watch movies. Singapore has a long way to go before art becomes more than entertainment and an integral part of people’s lives, but I believe that it will happen if Singaporeans continue to strive for it.

Both: There is a common misconception about contemporary dance being too abstract or technical for the mass public. Swee Boon’s works are very visual and well-poised for the mass public and he uses music that is beautiful and strong.

We hope that more people in Singapore can learn to appreciate dance and the arts and only then can the art scene in Singapore develop further.

 Dansing: Other than the upcoming O Sounds, what other productions by THE can we look forward to in the near future?

 Both: The Man in the Center will be a new piece of work by Swee Boon to look forward to in August. The audience will be expecting a piece of choreography with a totally different style – something that is happy and out of the norm. It is always hard to associate contemporary dance with the word “happy”, so prepare yourself for an entirely new and stimulating experience by T.H.E. in August.

In December, T.H.E. will be initiating a week long dance fiesta in Singapore. It will be a week jam-packed with lots of fun and dance. Unlike the current dance festivals we have right now in Singapore where the primary focus is on bringing in great performances for us, Contact 2010 aims to engage all Singaporeans, dancers or not, to get up on their feet and dance and to talk about dance. In short, Contact 2010 wants everyone in Singapore to experience dance.

It will be like the American Dance Festival, where there will be exciting performances, dance workshops and classes for different levels or simply a place for you and me to just dance.

The Man in the Center will be performed from 12 to 14 August, and Contact 2010 will be happening from 11 to 18 December this year. For more details, please keep a lookout on Dansing.

O Sounds(originally Old Sounds), choreographed by Artistic Director Kuik Swee Boon, first premiered at the Singapore National Museum’s Gallery Theatre in September 2008, as T.H.E’s inaugural work.