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Events - da:ns focus

Esplanade Presents

Dance | Talk

Dance To Doubt: Toward the Non-Standard

Tang Fu Kuen (Singapore)

26 Sep 2025, Fri, 2.30pm

1hr

(Intermission: None)

Esplanade Black Room

This event is over.

Photo Credit: Naphatrapee Suntorntirnan
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Synopsis Artist Information Date & Time
Synopsis

Standardisation, as a notion, seeks to regulate a metric system which, when applied, sets the norm for which practice must adhere to, so as to achieve the results of efficiency and quality as final desired output. In formulation, standardisation sets protocols of determination and leaves next to no leeway for exception or deviation. Many dance practices—shifting from the anthropological ambit into the regime as art discipline—have had to undergo and implement processes of standardisation in order to transmit techniques, to measure levels of physical excellence, and essentially to impose a system of reproduction.

 

The question now is to reflect on how non-normative bodies and thoughts, as dramaturgical tools for expansion, can lead us away from institutional and theoretical standards by refusing the temptations or appearance of “definitions”. The talk will also reflect upon the artistic practice of Thai dance artist Pichet Klunchun. This talk is recommended for arts and cultural practitioners, artists, educators and students.

 

This programme is part of da:ns focus – Connect Asia Now (CAN), a weekend that spotlights contemporary dance works by and in collaboration with Asian artists focusing on distinct voices and creative impulses from the region.

Advisory:

  • Patrons who have registered will have priority entry to the venue.

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  • Limited seats are available at the door.

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Recommended Age: 13 and above.
Admission Age:
6 and above.
Language: English
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Artist Information

Tang Fu Kuen

Tang Fu Kuen is prolific on the global art stage, actively crossing between live performance and visual fields. He instigates cultural exchanges between Europe and Asia, in both public and independent spheres, in the innovation of traditional-contemporary practices and art-science-tech collaborations that bridge history, nature and human consciousness.

 

As a driven arts leader, festival-maker, curator, producer and dramaturg, Fu Kuen has enabled numerous inter-media and intercultural collaborations and commissions. He was the Artistic Director and Managing Director of BIT - Bergen International Theatre (Norway); Artistic Director of Taipei Arts Festival (Taiwan); and has guest-curated notable platforms, amongst them: TPAM (Japan), Indonesian Dance Festival, Exodos Festival (Slovenia), In-Transit Festival (Berlin). In 2026, he will curate two platforms in Copenhagen and Oslo.

 

At the 53rd Venice Biennale, Fu Kuen was the sole curator of artist Ming Wong for the Singapore Pavilion that won a Special Jury Mention, hitherto the highest recognition for the nation. In 2015, he curated Art Next Door, the SG50 exhibition that commemorated Malaysia-Singapore bilateral relations. In 2022, he guest-curated REFUSE, a large-scale bio-art installation that inaugurated the new space of Singapore Art Museum@Tanjong Distripark.

 

As dramaturg and producer, Fu Kuen has been instrumental in enabling the artistic development of Pichet Klunchun, Eisa Jocson, Choy Ka Fai, Daniel Kok, and continues to mentor the young generation in the Asian context.

 

Fu Kuen worked previously in the heritage institutions UNESCO HQ (Paris) and SEAMEO-SPAFA (Bangkok) on policy implementation, research and development. As a Raffles-Chevening scholar, he received his MA (Distinction) in Media & Communications from Goldsmiths University of London, after graduating English Literature and Theatre Studies (BA Honours) at the National University of Singapore on a Public Service Commission scholarship.

Date & Time

26 Sep 2025, Fri

2.30pm

Esplanade Black Room
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