It’s five o’clock and a small crowd gathers in the foyer of a grand, old building. I stand among them, listening intently to a petite, well-dressed lady standing at the front of the group. The building is the Victoria Memorial Hall, and the lady is Ivy, who manages Education and Outreach activities for the Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT). The group surrounding her had come to participate in a tour of the goings-on in the production of Coppelia, a ballet by SDT. They were entitled to sign up for this exclusive backstage tour as they had become members of Friends Of SDT, an outreach initiative of the company.

Despite having passed by the building countless times, I quickly realize how little I know about it as our guide begins to tell us of the building’s origins. Ivy tells us that the building is actually more a hundred years old, making it one of the oldest buildings in the country. The first part of the building to be built was the Theatre, but back then it was designed to be the town hall. It was then followed by a memorial hall dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, which is now the Victoria Concert Hall. A clock tower was constructed to join the two buildings and today the entire compound has been gazetted as a national monument since Valentine’s Day, 14 February, in 1992.

After this insightful introduction to the background of the performance venue, we proceeded into the backstage area of the theatre itself. We were shown the cue area, where the stage manager gives the lighting and sound cues so that the show can run smoothly. We also got the chance to see the dancers going through rehearsals and take pictures with the huge sets of Coppelia, which are three-dimensional and more elaborate than those used in SDT’s last three stagings of the ballet. There were tudor-style cottages, a sinister looking closet where, in the ballet, the doll Coppelia resides, and even a large rocking horse for one of the dancers to ride as a Moorish doll.

Next, we were given a look at the wardrobe and dressing rooms of the dancers. This was perhaps the most exciting part of the tour for me, as we got the chance to see the bright colourful costumes worn by the dancers, and even the dancers themselves! One dancer was particularly friendly and posed with us for pictures. Like most of the other dancers she was young and pretty, but it was her bright, bubbly personality that endeared her to us all. Her name was Chihiro, and she told us that she’d been dancing since she was barely two and a half years old, and first performed when she was four, in her country of origin, Japan.

With that, the tour ended on a high, and I was thrilled with having had the chance to see the sets up close and even talk with the dancers involved in the production. That made me the envy of a lot of my friends, as they learn ballet and look up to these dancers as role models, even idols, and I had the chance to meet them face to face. The tour also made me a lot more appreciative of the production crew; often we only see the performers on stage and give them the credit for the production, but without the crew moving the sets and props and calling the cues, the production would not be able to run like clockwork. It was a memorable experience, and I can’t wait to see what takes place behind the scenes of the next SDT production. So if you would like a chance to participate in future behind-the-scenes events as well, do sign up as a Friend of SDT.

Indeed, membership has its privileges.