EDUCATION & PRESENTATION
Singapore Dance Theatre
@ Fort Canning Centre
1.00 – 2:00pm, Saturdays

What is ONE @ The Ballet?

Initiated in 2009, One @ The Ballet is a dance presentation focusing on topics such as “The ballet behind the fairytale”, “what defines a dancer’s career”, to “how a choreographer creates a ballet”. Within the format of each session, audience will also get to watch our professional dancers up close and personal as they perform excerpts from the main performance seasons at this bi-monthly session on Saturdays from 1.00 to 2.00 pm at Singapore Dance Theatre.

Who are the audiences?

Be it for individuals, family outings or a part of school’s outreach programmes, One@The Ballet aims to engage with audience through this interactive platform as well as to create an opportunity for us to meet new audience including youth, senior citizens who have yet a chance to catch SDT’s performance.

How to register?

Simply send an email to classes@singaporedancetheatre.com.
Fee is at $8 per participant inclusive of programme and cast list for the session.

Discount Schemes

School Bookings: For every booking of 20 tickets, 1 complimentary ticket will be provided for the accompanying teacher. Schools can opt for a dedicate session at 12pm.

25% Discount for a minimum of 2 ticket purchase or more than 2 sessions

2010 Calendar

20 Feb
Giselle – An Introduction to Ballet storytelling and pantomime

In the first installment of One @The Ballet, we will focus on ballet pantomime through Giselle. Classical ballets, such as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella portray love, romance and drama through miming by the dancers, which convey certain actions and emotions. For example, the prince shows his love to the princess by crossing his hand over his heart. Join us at this session and walk through the simple movements of miming, as explained by Janek Schergen, SDT’s Artistic Director and get a chance to watch several excerpts from both Act I and Act II of Giselle.

24 April
Three Pillars of Dance

Also known as the evolution of ballet, this session will take audiences from the 18th Century of classical ballet to the 20th century neo-classical masterpieces and finally to the modern world of contemporary dance with new choreographic creations.

Classical ballet such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia originated in Russia, and very often, it represents formalized movement of the dance form which brings out the technical brilliancy of its principal dancers. Although classical ballet remained popular today, there are emerging styles termed as neo-classical and contemporary which encourages the freedom of movements. At this session, audience will get to learn how each form differs from one another, by viewing sections of ballets that epitomize each unique style.

29 May
Concepts of Pas De deux

A Pas de Deux simply means a dance for two in French, and usually consists of an entree, adagio, two variations (one for the male, and one for the female) and ends with a coda.

At this session, learn the techniques of partnering such as promenade with the male dancer balancing the female dancer while she is on pointe, or a “fish” position where the female dancer is picked from an arabesque position and she makes a curve like a fish. Plus, we will show you the magic behind daring lifts and pirouettes. This will also be accompanied with dance excerpts from various ballets featuring pas de deux segments.

10 July date updated
Major Choreographers

Most contemporary choreographers create a work based on their personal experiences in life, or they restaged well-known classical ballets, to join the ranks of world class companies. At this session, learn the similarities and differences between major choreographers worldwide which includes George Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton, Jerome Robbins, Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Sir Kenneth Macmillian, John Cranko, Christopher Wheeldon, Stanton Welch as well as those represented in the performance repertoire of SDT.

28 Aug
Music for Dance

Performance is sometimes regarded as the physical expression of music, especially shown in Swan Lake, where the music composed by Tchaikovsky was made for the ballet. Learn the differences between concerto and symphony and why choreographers prefer to use one or the other to create a dance piece.

Find out the reasons behind why choreographers find particular music more suitable for their choreography and why ballets are danced to recorded or live music. Lastly, we will explain how dancers count phrases of music to help them dance in harmony with each other. Audiences will get to watch dance excerpts.

9 Oct
Ballet companies worldwide

Like many other ballet companies in the world, Singapore Dance Theatre was founded with the aim of bringing world-class act and classical ballet to the audiences here. Since 1988, the company has grown from 7 to 26 dancers, and had staged ballet from renowed choreograhers such as George Balanchine, David Dawson, Jorma Elo, Graham Lustig and Jiri Kylian, amongst others.

In this topic, we will discuss how major ballet companies have been founded and developed throughout the years, and how they have played a key role in cultivating and nurturing the arts culture in their countries. The major companies in discussion are New York City Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Kirov Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Netherlands Dans Theatre, Hong Kong Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet.