FUSE#4

FUSE #4
(or lack thereof). I am not earning enough to be independent. I couldn’t
support myself if I had to pay rent. I am upset that my parents don’t
seem to support me and don’t understand what I’m doing.
All this rumination is making me even more depressed. I’ve tried everything
- booking that silent retreat, going for movement workshops,
ballet classes, sleeping more, sleeping less, drinking… none of that has
really helped.
People have said that the best way to prove the naysayers wrong is to do
just that - to be successful. I haven’t gotten there yet. And I’m not sure if
I ever will. And I don’t have a solution right now.
3. Experience - by being made to experience it for yourself.
SCOPE
Specific ideas and sequences in the generation of the project were tested at
the following platforms:
• 2 Mar 2018 & 3 Aug 2018; Make It Share It Open Stage, Singapore
• 23 Feb 2019; Dance Nucleus Scope #5, Singapore
• 16 June 2019; Kinergie Studio, Hanoi, Vietnam
• 23 Nov 2019; Dance Nucleus Scope #7, Singapore
A work-in-progress version of Mulled Wine was presented at Dance Nucleus
on 6-7 September 2019.
1. Harold Schweizer, “PENELOPE WAITING,” Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal 85, no.
3/4 (2002): 284.
2. Kinneret Lahad, “Waiting and queueing,” in A table for one: A critical reading of singlehood,
gender and time (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017), 102-3.
Let’s wait together. Maybe the fact that we aren’t in this alone will alter
the sensation of waiting.
4 cups apple cider
1 (750-ml) bottle red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1/4 cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange, zested and juiced
4 whole cloves
3 star anise
4 oranges, peeled, for garnish
Combine ingredients in a pot and heat it over a stove.
Mulled Wine will be ready in 10 minutes.
Epilogue
Kinneret Lahad, referencing Victor Turner writes in A Table for One that waiting
is a liminal state. 2 Lahad’s “waiting” is actually a “waiting for” - the desired
thing that one waits for will effect one’s transformation when it is finally obtained.
Meanwhile, one remains in an impatient limbo, a transitory state. But is
Waiting that straightforward?
If you enjoy the wait, are you still waiting?
If you shop while waiting; if you text while waiting, are you still waiting?
Ultimately, is Mulled Wine “waiting” or “waiting for”?
Jocelyn Chng is a freelance practitioner, writer
and educator in dance and theatre. She has a
keen interest in issues of culture and history,
both personal and in wider societal/national
contexts. She holds a double Masters in Theatre
Studies/Research from the Universities of Amsterdam
and Tampere, and obtained a BA(Hons)
in Theatre Studies from the National University
of Singapore. In 2018, she also completed
a PG Dip in Education (Dance Teaching). Her
works, Becoming Mother? (2017) and Mulled
Wine (working title) deal with the intersections
between personal histories, culture and form.
She is currently working on a video project that
explores the mental and emotional effects that
our society’s focus on rapid development and
commercialisation have on the common person.
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara dispels the notion
that everyday life and codified art are distinct
entities in her performances and writings,
and questions how far an urbanite can resonate
with contemporary issues with ideas inspired
by her practice in bharata natyam. She has obtained
her PhD in Theatre Studies from National
University of Singapore and received the Natya
Visharad award from Singapore Indian Fine Arts
Society for her finesse in bharata natyam. Her
primary research interests include affective registers
in performance. Her notable performance
works include the ongoing Wandering Women
(2018~), Bitten: Return to our Roots (2018),
Becoming Mother (2017) and Soul in Search
(2007).
Melissa Quek is a choreographer, performer and
educator whose choreographic interest lies in investigating
the body-subject. Her works, including
those for young audiences, attempt to touch
on questions of agency, materiality and perception
to create a visceral experience for the audience.
Some noteworthy choreographic works
are the Immersive and multi-disciplinary performance
series of RE:Gina is Dead and RE:Looking
at RE:Gina, co-created with Elizabeth de Roza
presented around and within the Substation theatre
in Singapore. The site-specific outdoor performance
Tracing the City (2016). Alice’s Topsy
Turvy Tea Party, a work-in-process for young
audiences presented at the Esplanade Theatre’s
Octoburst! Festival with The Kueh Tutus (a Collective
dedicated to creating dance for young
audiences that unlocks the imagination). Melissa
contributed a chapter on contemporary Dance
in Singapore to the book “Evolving Synergies:
Celebrating Dance in Singapore”, and has been
trying her hand at creating education-packs to
accompany dance performances.
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