In celebration of Singapore Dance Theatre’s 30 years of history, this season presents the most compelling and exquisite works of the year.A triple bill of ballet gems, the company’s 30th anniversary gala performance will see three new works - Ma Cong’s Samsara (created for Tulsa Ballet), Nils Christe’s Sync (created for The Washington Ballet), and Timothy Harbour’s world premiere which is created especially for SDT’s 30th anniversary.More than a stunning repertory set to stage, this performance is a celebration of milestones, memories, and moments! This will be a wonderfully treasured weekend for the company, its loyal supporters, donors, and friends.Season 2018’s Diamonds and Pearls Gala Performance is specially acquired through the Ambassador’s Circle 2018.

For the third time running, Celebration in Dance is a collaboration between Singapore Dance Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) for a one-night-only performance. This production presents a rare and brilliant opportunity for RAD students in Singapore to perform on the prestigious stage at the Esplanade Theatre.SDT will be presenting Double Contrasts by Choo-San Goh and Napoli Tarantella by August Bournonville as well.BOOK EARLY TO GET THE GOOD SEATS!

Jitterbugs Swingapore® is proud to present Wanna Dance 2018: A Triple Bill. This will be an exciting showcase of talent, performed in three themed programs, spanning a wide variety of genres including jazz, tap, classical ballet, contemporary and singing.One of Singapore’s leading dance studios, Jitterbugs Swingapore® is committed to providing excellence in dance education, in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment. Students are encouraged to achieve their own personal potential, while experiencing the joy of dance. Our dancers range between 3-19yrs of age, and train for annual examinations under the Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dance (CSTD).Choreographers: Tiffany Wrightson, Natalie Clarke, Shermaine Heng, Wu Qianyi.

There is a certain dramatic quality, precision and spontaneous energy that makes kuchipudi so exhilarating to watch. With roots in yakshagana, a folk theatre form, it is one of the eight classical dance forms of India based on the ancient Sanskrit text, Natya Shastra. This dance drama was named after a village in Andhra Pradesh, where it was created by the Brahmin villagers and began as a male-only art form.Like other Indian classical dance forms, kuchipudi employs the use of mudras (hand gestures), abhinaya (emphatic facial expressions), rhythmic footwork and music to tell the story. It is identified by its brisk, complex moves, lilting rhythms and sensual curves, and, in philosophy, expresses the eternal human desire to unite with the divine. Most of the performances in the early days included rituals and invocations to the Hindu gods and goddesses.Dancers such as Amrita Lahiri, who is known for her physicality and sprightliness, add their own sense of aesthetics to the form. One of the foremost young performers and choreographers of kuchipudi today, Amrita has been described by critics as a dancer “gifted with a radiant stage presence”. She trained under renowned gurus Leela Samson, Jaikishore Mosalikanti, Anuradha Nehru, Swapnasundari and Seetha Nagajothy, and has also been praised for bringing a new dimension to the dance form.Catch her as she performs a diverse repertoire of works by kuchipudi choreographers, including classic pieces such as Natesha Kautuam and Usha Parinayam, as a well as a tarangam, in which the dancer performs rhythmic patterns on the edge of a brass plate, a trademark of kuchipudi.Musicians:Vasudha Ravi, vocalsLakshmi Krishnan, nattuvangamV M Sai Akileshwar, mridangamSrividya Sriram, violin 

Unleashing the unique worldviews of two choreographers with performers from T.H.E DanceCompany, this double bill takes audiences on a visually arresting trip from the world ofcontemporary art to the elements of nature. Billed as "ingenious and fresh" (The Business Times), award-winning South Korean artist andresident choreographer at T.H.E, Jae Duk Kim, reimagines his pulsating, athletic choreography through the lens of Western visual art. Expect layered references to the meticulous frames of old masters and the spirit of joyful chaos from the new mavericks.UK company Humanhood’s unique fusion of Western physics and Eastern mysticism is on fulldisplay in their new work for T.H.E Dance Company. Crafted from the artistic vision of Rudi Cole and Júlia Robert Parés, the work reverberates in the style of Humanhood’s fluid movements and symbiotic choreography that entranced Singaporean audiences at their performance at last year’s Festival.(There will be an informal studio showing of Earth at T.H.E’s dance studio on 12 May, 4PM & 8PM. Pre-registration via Peatix is required.)

M1 Open Stage + DiverCity has been hailed for its "open, diverse and accessible" curation, where up-and-coming choreographers evoke the "power, potential and universality of contemporary dance for all audiences" (The Straits Times).M1 Open StageThis year, with an increased number of international programme collaborators, M1 Open Stage features innovative and exhilarating works by a diverse range of dance artists over two nights.Programme AAnnamaria Ajmone (Italy), Marcus Foo and Shou Yi Goh (Singapore), Mai Kubota (Japan), Jinyook Ryu and Hyeayoon Kim (South Korea), and Gil Kerer and Korina Fraiman (Israel).Programme BAlbert Tiong (Singapore), Chey Jurado (Spain), Ruri Mito (Japan), Tom Tsai (USA/Taiwan), and Logyee Jung (South Korea).DiverCityAre we all living to die? Influenced by Albert Camus' philosophy of "the Absurd", Singapore-based choreographers Peishan Chiew and Wen-Chun Liu explore the absurdity that every living being faces death eventually in a new work for DiverCity. Created in collaboration with Taiwanese film artist Yan-Hong Cheng and local dramaturg Kim Seng Neo, Should I Kill Myself Or Have A Cup Of Coffee? visualises the choreographers' personal musings on this absurdity.

In this innovative platform, choreographers across our partner festivals gather to present award-winning works and new creations.South Koreans Ho-yeon Kim and Jung-ha Lim present their award-winning work from the 11thSeoul Dance Collection, First Abundance Society. Intrigued by the idea that preparing for thefuture doesn't guarantee a better quality of life, they imagine paradise to be the society of thehunter-gatherer according to Marshall Sahlin's "original affluent society' theory. The pair's visual wit is a perfect match with collaborator Wei-An Hwa (Singapore/Malaysia) in a new creation that will be performed by the trio as a work-in-progress at the end of AFX.Selected from Yokohama Dance Collection, Kenji Shinohe's K(-A-)O examines the phenomenon of emoticons and how the spectrum of human emotional expression has become oversimplified in the information age.Capping off the night is a twin bill by T.H.E. Second Company created by bold, assured femalechoreographers, Natalie Clark and Bora Kim. The New Zealander multi-hyphenate Natalie Clark has taken on hot-button issues with humour, from the dark side of millennial existentialism to divine and occult feminine symbolism. Since being talent spotted at "Who’s Next" at SIDance, South Korea’s Bora Kim’s experimental cross-disciplinary and diverse tastes promises a creation that is visually striking and highly sensorial.

This double bill from selected international artists is a tour-de-force of works that evoke the gravity of the body.Shamel Pitts is a performance artist, dancer and spoken word artist from Brooklyn, who spent seven years in Tel Aviv's Batsheva Dance Company. His multidisciplinary work, Black Velvet, created together with co-performer Mirelle Martins and lighting and projection designer, Lucca del Carlo, is "a heart-piercing exploration of gender, race, identity, love and friendship" (Time Out Israel).Vestige, on the other hand, is an intense "pure movement performance that fascinates from the beginning" (Theaterkrant, Netherlands). Created by Astrid Boons (Belgium/Netherlands), a rising choreographer who has worked with renowned dance-makers such as Ohad Naharin and Jirí Kylián, this duet is an intriguing physical journey that attempts to empty the body of its humanness. Vestige was shortlisted in the top five performances of 2017 in an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper, Het Parool.(Please note that this performance contains partial frontal female nudity. Rating to be advised.)

Asian PremiereExplosive tap dancing set to emotive blues in innovative American fusionCreated by the world-class powerhouse team of Michelle Dorrance, Derick K. Grant, Toshi Reagon, and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, The Blues Project brings together some of today’s best tap artists, musicians, and choreographers in an innovative evening of rhythm, original live music, explosive energy, and raw emotion. Featuring performances by Bessie award-winning tap dance company Dorrance Dance with acclaimed singer-songwriter-guitarist Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely, The Blues Project is a creative collaboration that explores the relationship between music, sound, and movement.As described by the Washington Post, "[the] intimate and rowdy merging of dance and music, with one disappearing into the other, hits you like a sonic distillation of a blistering American past and its perilous present, with a transcendent strength of spirit woven through.” This 60-minute production features an original score composed by Reagon, and performed live with her five-piece band, BIGLovely. Choreography by Dorrance, Grant, and Sumbry-Edwards, coupled with improvisations by the versatile dancers of Dorrance Dance, drives home the powerful conversation between live music and tap dance as its own musical score. Winner of a Bessie Award in 2015 for outstanding production, The Blues Project brings together two dynamic ensembles for a transfixing program that expands and shatters notions about their respective art forms.

Fairytales and Parisian haute couture captured in the French choreographer’s ageless repertoire Those well-acquainted with the sublime ballets of French dancer and contemporary dance choreographer Angelin Preljocaj will rejoice. Playlist #1 is not one dance, but a long choreographic repertoire of excerpts from ten of his most beautiful solos, duos and ensembles from 1994 till now, in a single show. Those less familiar will find it a wondrous gateway into the works of the much- awarded dancer and artistic director of the Ballet Preljocaj.Playlist #1 expresses the entire breadth of Preljocaj’s choreographic vocabulary, his predilection for written texts, his taste for the introspection of human beings and the value of symbols. It is an extra pure concentrate of virtuoso dance that plunges us into a state of grace or ecstatic contemplation. It is haute couture, made-to-measure to fit the skin and the flesh of the dancers who give life to his inspiration.Among some of the highlights: the otherworldly Spectral Evidence commissioned by New York City Ballet and set to music by experimental composer John Cage; the narrative ballet Snow White that sees dancers outfitted in costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier; and Le Parc, a ballet about love and lust, created for the Opéra de Paris.Playlist #1 is a repertoire that testifies to a journey through Preljocaj’s work and through time.

''Experiencing the arts can never start too early, and an appreciation of movement, music, and spectacle can lead us into wonderful realms of possibility.'' - Janek Schergen (Artistic Director, Singapore Dance Theatre)In 2010, Artistic Director Janek Schergen choreographed a three-part ballet series, Peter & Blue, as a performance solely dedicated to family with young children. It is an hour-long ballet specially created for the wee ones, and this year’s Peter & Blue’s Forest Adventure will feature a live narration that engages with the children.Interweaving the magic of fairy-tale and meaningful morals, this children’s production tells the story of the ever-inquisitive trio - Peter, his dog, Blue, and his cat, Calico. The trio embark on yet another magical adventure, ending off with a blast at a huge birthday celebration!Children will get to meet with the dancers and take photos with them after each performance.(Recommended for children of ages 3 and above.)

Artistic Director: Low Mei YokeBe enthralled by three original choreographic works of vastly distinct styles by choreographers Shahar  Binyamini (Israel), Richard Chappell (UK) & Faye Tan (Singapore) and Annie Vigier & Franck Apertet (France). Dancers: Adele Goh               Adelene Stanley               Daniel Navarro Lorenzo               Faye Tan               Keigo Nozaki               Joy Wang               Sammantha Yue

The St Petersburg Ballet Theatre is coming to Singapore for a strictly limited season this May with their world-renowned production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Starring prima ballerina Irina Kolesnikova and guest stars from the internationally renowned Bolshoi Ballet, the limited season is Russian classical ballet at its best.Following sold out seasons in London and Paris, the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre, has been hailed as 'A TRIUMPH' (The Times, London) and 'A COMPANY TO BE TREASURED' (Sunday Telegraph, UK). See it this May and remember it forever. *Performance times and cast are subject to change.

Asian PremierePoetry in motion in Israeli dance company’s stirring study about love There is definitely something compulsive about OCD Love, a dance inspired by a forlorn spoken word poem by Neil Hilborn about love lost due to the protagonist’s obsessive-compulsive disorder. Primitive and visceral, stirring and stylistically abstract, Israeli dance company L-E-V’s creation is a powerful study about matters of the heart that is danced to relentless techno beats mixed live by musician and DJ Ori Lichtik.In a mesmerising hour fusing movement, music, lighting and technology, six bodies moving with technical precision orbit each other in a space, pulsating in between light and shadows, full of yearning yet always unable to connect. It is the dance embodiment of one person coming to bed while the other gets up, of something that is full and intact, but which has many holes in it. Dancer Sharon Eyal with long-time collaborator Gai Behar, both key figures in Israel’s thriving arts scene and co-founders of L-E-V with Lichtik, have created a contemporary piece about incomprehensible and pathological love — one whose lovers keep missing each other because they are constantly out-of-step, yet are chronically and incurably unable to break free from the other.Again and again, these paradoxes are personified by L-E-V’s dancers — in each suspension and fall of a torso, with each extension of sinuous arms, and on every arabesque. OCD Love is an irresistible visual treat that will grip contemporary dance lovers with its mysterious exploration of imperfect and obsessive love.

SINGAPORE DANCE THEATRESEASON 2018SEASON PASSESSingapore Dance Theatre (SDT) celebrates 30 years of traditional and modern choreography, and we are inviting you to commemorate this joyous and memorable year with us as we bring to you the Diamonds and Pearls of our repertory!Season 2018 will present the undeniable beauty of the old and thrilling splendour of the new, including some of the most established and treasured classical ballet gems like Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and Rubies; as well as premieres by Ma Cong, Nils Christe, Timothy Harbour, and Timothy Rushton.At SDT, we are ever diversifying and enlarging our capacity towards exploring greater forms of expression and creativity, and we believe that Season 2018 will be a poignant milestone year for all of us. Get your Season Passes now, and celebrate our 30th Anniversary with us!Best Value | Save up to 35% on your favourite performances.Advanced Bookings | From 1 January 2017, through SDT only.Privileged Seating | Be the first to get the best seats in the house!Ticket Flexibility | Season Pass holders enjoy hassle-free ticket exchanges up till 2 weeks before the opening of each performance.Be a FRIEND of SDT | Get a one-year complimentary FRIENDS of SDT membership that entitles you to discounts to classes, tickets, and SDT merchandise.