Creating Contemporary Asian Dance in Tertiary Dance Education: Research-Based Choreography at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Abstract

The development of the contemporary dance scene in Singapore began with the rise of Southeast Asia as an economic success in the 1990s. This fostered an atmosphere of confidence and the beginnings of a sense of region (Habib & Huxley, 1996, p. i). The assertion of an Asian identity, different from the West, became important (Khoo, 1998) as Singaporeans were awakened to sentiments of marginality and location in the contemporary world. In 2000 Singapore imagined itself to be a global arts hub. In this environment, local artists were encouraged to produce works from a Singaporean perspective towards the development of internationally recognized Singapore and pan-Asian voices (MITA, 2000, p. 3). Contemporary dance became a space for Singaporean choreographers to explore and assert this Asian identity and was not merely a Western category but became an equally significant expressive genre termed by this author as ‘contemporary Asian dance’. This chapter explores tertiary dance education in Singapore as a site for the representation of Asian identity. Research-based practice is considered in the development of a choreographic method for tertiary dance students at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) to assist in creating contemporary Asian dance forms.