Searching Within; Reaching for the Stars

Maya Dance Theatre (MDT), a non-profit interdisciplinary dance theatre company, was formed in 2007 by Artistic Director Kavitha Krishnan and Creative Producer Imran Manaff. MDT harnesses the power of dance to illuminate and address pressing social issues. As part of their community initiative, the Diverse Abilities Dance Collective (DADC) was formed in 2018 to unite dancers with diverse abilities, celebrate their talents and challenge stereotypes. Founded by Artistic Director Kavitha Krishnan with six members with Down Syndrome, the group has grown to 18 dancers who co-create and share a unique artistic space.

DADC’s performances promote inclusion and diversity, blending captivating choreography and heartfelt storytelling to inspire audiences locally and globally. Over the past five years, DADC has gained widespread recognition for its craft, skill sets and passion, carving out a niche in Singapore arts scene by championing inclusion and diversity through the arts. DADC’s work highlights empowerment, demonstrating that creativity transcends limitations and advocating for inclusion through the arts.

Hemang has penned and directed a number of plays, including a modern Noh play All The Crazy People (Wisdom of Monkeys, 2010), Maya: Demon Architect (Esplanade’s Raga Series/RDG, 2014), the opera-based play Letter to Juliet (Bellapoque, 2014), site-specific plays for the annual Arts Walk Little India (RDG, 2017-2019), Pongal (Late Night Texting 2019, Dastak 2021), the musical Love Etc (Voilah! French Festival, 2021), Anbudan Uppuma as part of SITFE’s production Solo/Oray (2021) and Quit (2022).

As an actor, Hemang has played memorable roles like the Bhagavadha in Girish Karnad’s Hayavadhana (Experimental Theatre Company, 2006), Kent in Ho Tzu Nyen’s The Lear Universe (Singapore Arts Festival, 2008), Demetrius in Stageclub’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Godse in Elangovan’s Satyameva Jayate (Agni Koothu, 2009), Bhima in WeCanDoIt’s Trikon (performed in Bangalore, 2011), Patel in Mahesh Dattani’s Tara (RDG, 2015) and Pillay in the site-specific First Storeys (2019). He has also worked as a dramaturg for Saga Seed’s The Shape of a Bird, RDG’s Adukku Veettu Annasamy, Drama Box’s Chinatown Crossings and Bhaskar Arts’ Marabu 2.

Hemang has transcreated the works of Kalidasa, Tagore and more recently Chekhov, adapting his short stories into short plays. He has also adapted Chekov’s play The Marriage Proposal into Hyderabadi Urdu context. Additionally, he translated the poems of his grandfather, the late Mr N. Palanivelu, which were featured in Maya Dance Theatre’s performance Pancha 4 (2021).

Known to many as the Fiddler for Peace, Kailin believes firmly in the power of music and love to affect profound and positive change in the world. He was trained at the Musikhochschule Wien in Austria and was the recipient of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin in 2004 for his efforts in building cultural bridges through music.

In 2013, Kailin returned to Singapore after spending 20 years living, travelling and performing in Europe and America. Since then, he has been actively sharing his gift as a music director and composer with theatre and dance groups like Checkpoint Theatre, Flamenco Sin Fronteras, Maya Dance Theatre and In Source Theatre, just to name a few. He is also the founding member of several pan-cultural musical groups including the Kailin Yong Peace Project. Kailin currently teaches at Lasalle College Of The Arts, School Of The Arts (SOTA) and Dulwich College.

Gillian Tan has been very fortunate to make a living as a professional performer since 1999, namely as an actor, singer, mistress of ceremonies, trainer, voice over artist, writer, songwriter and sometimes director. She had always liked writing stories and poems since she was in primary school. At the age of 13, she wrote her first song, This Possible Love. To date, she has written over 50 songs.

Until recently, Gillian focused mostly on work as a professional singer, sharing the stage with many talented musicians at various functions and events. Some of her original songs have been performed on stage, by other actors, singers and herself, in theatre productions, musicals, at Little India Art Walk, the Singapore Writers' Festival and charity events for cancer and mental health.

Gillian has also trained children and adults in voice, singing and vocal projection for stage. She coaches drama clubs and teaches Ministry of Education-approved programmes such as storytelling, poetry and theatre workshops in schools around the island. Gillian sometimes shares snippets of her work on Instagram (GillianTan.TV) and continues to write original songs no matter where in the world she is.