Moscow - A crash course into Singapore‘s diverse cultures played out at the International House of Music in Moscow on Wednesday night.
The hour—long performance called "Generation`s" was part of Spotlight Singapore — an event that leverages on arts exchanges to spur business tie—ups.
A 400—strong audience was given a brief introduction to Peranakan culture and Malay dance through the inter—disciplinary music—theatre work, which took eight months to prepare.
The brainchild of Ivan Heng, artistic director of local theatre company Wild Rice, "Generation/s" featured more than 30 performers from Singapore and a well—known Russian string ensemble who spent three days rehearsing with their counterparts.
Heng said: "In this music is a conversation that is a negotiation between the voices and I wanted to expand this conversation to include a conversation with Russia.
"There‘s no way I can represent Singapore because we are so complex. It was very important that we are not presenting stereotypes of Singapore. We presented a work that has a certain integrity about it... kind of open hearted."
Multimedia elements in the performance also presented a slice of everyday life in Russia and Singapore.
Joining Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and his wife was Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov, who said he enjoyed the jokes, music and dances.
"It was an example for everybody how different cultures can live together and cooperate, and how this mixture of cultures can bring a good spirit of humanity, a good spirit of friendship. I think we should study this experience and gain from it," he said.
After "Generation/s", Wild Rice is shifting its focus to the Singapore Theatre Festival in August where it is expected to offer 14 new plays, which are all written by local playwrights.
Source: beta.ph.news.yahoo.com (6 Juni 2008)
