A Filipina dancer in Singapore

Philippine representation is not lacking at the ongoing Singapore International Festival of Arts, as Pia Angela Custodio is among the international dancers in “Colony,” a dance recital slated for final weekend playdates.

Under the auspices of Arts House Limited, SIFA, now on its 48th edition, runs from May 16 to June 1 and features cutting-edge performance, recasting of classics, installation art and multimedia works endemic to Southeast Asia.

“To be given a chance to perform through ‘Colony’ is a big honor in itself,” Custodio said in an online interview, and it was main choreographer Andy Benjamin Cai who contacted her to be part of the project.

She started rigorous training in classical ballet and modern dance at age six with ACTS Manila, and later with the American Ballet Theater, Australian Conservatoire of Ballet and Singapore Ballet, among others.

A True Colors project, ‘Colony’ has allowed Custodio to ‘reflect deeper on what dance is and why we do what we do.’

“It’s been a pleasure to work with such a diverse cast. I’ve been able to learn so much and have actually come to self-reflect a lot since working with the disabled artists. Actually, it’s been so inspiring just to be able to watch them work and witness their dedication to their craft,” Custodio says of “Colony.”

She says the process involves a lot of collaboration, and though language may be a factor, it hasn’t been a barrier. “Since movement is universal, it’s truly just allowed us to step out of our comfort zones and practice a more positive thinking when it comes to trying new things and seeing what best works for each of our bodies,” says the dancer who relocated to Singapore during the early years of the pandemic through a scholarship at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

A True Colors project, “Colony” has allowed Custodio to “reflect deeper on what dance is and why we do what we do.” Playdates are on May 30 and 31 and June 1 at the Drama Centre Theatre.

Meanwhile, “The Sea and the Neighbourhood” inaugural program on May 16 was a burst of pure energy on different platforms, mainly dance, music heavy on percussion, scat among other vocal calisthenics to match the dancers’ wont, as well as featured soloists on guitar, mandolin, flute, that it could be an opening number in a games ceremony.

Nearly static like minimalist theater from Lebanon, ‘Told by my Mother,’ befuddles the audience at Victoria Theater with extended meditational suites for the disappeared, Arabic trilling and a sound driven by a six-stringed instrument.

Strangely enough, it works, isn’t at all cluttered, and stands its ground to showcase Singapore’s beginnings as a port city and amalgam of cultures. Maybe the only aspect that wasn’t represented was the Peranakan, at least from the back row. What served as a stage was the installation “Beneath tide, running water” by Singapore artist Wang Ruobing, an interdisciplinary work inspired by corals and mangroves.

Across the street, rows of bananas hung in bunches of red, green, yellow listening in to the hubbub that was the sea’s neighborhood of dancers, hawkers of braised duck and spinach soup at a nearby food court, deep in the humid May night.

Every weekend at Bedok Town Square for the duration of SIFA will be varied performances ranging from stand-up comics to performance art and musicians, to bring art or a semblance of it closer to the public.

Natalie Hennedige, festival director on her last tour of duty, says art should always be seen in the larger context of nationhood, and that programs have at least six months lead time for preparation.

‘Animal Farm’ is an almost tongue-in-cheek tale told by life-size puppets, with excellent stage and light design that imparts renewed appreciation for the term Orwellian.

In the evening of May 17, the nearly static like minimalist theater from Lebanon “Told by my Mother” befuddled the audience at Victoria Theater with extended meditational suites for the disappeared, Arabic trilling or yodeling or whatever it’s called, paroxysms of despair by male dancers, sound driven by a six-stringed instrument and percussion in need of a bass itself a desaparecido.

In contrast, “Animal Farm” earlier in the afternoon was an almost tongue in cheek tale told by life-size puppets, with excellent stage and light design that imparts renewed appreciation for the term Orwellian.

“Lattice” by Karyn Nakamura consists of six endless loop videos in the Funan underground pedestrian link, in motion with the promenaders who may resemble kinetic art in themselves.

As part of young SIFA, Singapore installation artist Yang Jie puts together “A House Between the Winds,” a boat of myths in collaboration with high schoolers to sail across empress lawn not necessarily in monsoon weather.

“Umbilical,” by a trio of Singapore artists including Thesupersystem, has raveups perhaps better appreciated on prohibited substances, but surely a no-no because verging on propaganda at end reminiscing about a gory parturition from Malaysia 60 years ago.

Mind-boggling videos and effects surround stage, around which is free seating.