Contemporary dance performances – one weekend only!

It’s been 10 years since Singapore audiences have enjoyed a dance performance by Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (NDT 2). The good news? They’re returning on 29 and 30 November for “da:ns focus” – a contemporary dance weekend at Esplanade Singapore. Read on for details and tickets!

Three dynamic performances

#1 FIT (2018)

This dance explores what it truly means to fit in, and what happens when you don’t. Created by Swedish choreographer, Alexander Ekman, it’s set to the swinging Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Alexander’s signature humour and wit are conveyed by the entire NDT 2 company as they explode with energy in bold costumes.

NDT 2’s performance at Esplanade Singapore follows their September-to-November tour in the Netherlands for their 2025/26 programme, The Edge of Things.

#2 Folka (2021)

Set to an original composition of haunting human vocals, chants and pulsating beats by Juan Cristobal Saavedra, Folka tells an evocative story about community, customs and rituals.

Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau describes his contemporary dance piece: “Under a starry sky, one night of any year in history, a group of beings gather to celebrate life and challenge the questions that have moved us since the beginning of time. Folka is a song to life, a night of offering and celebration.”

One of the dancers, Viola Busi, gives her perspective of this contemporary dance: “The movement language and the music bring us in a dimension dominated by the conflict between feeling safe in a community, and the desire to break out from it and express one’s individuality.”

#3 Watch Ur Mouth (2025)

Londoner Botis Seva, a hip-hop theatre choreographer, created this piece for NDT 2. It embodies the journey of navigating the relentless chatter of everyday life – the critics, doubts and noise we face. The music is composed by Torben Sylvest.

Through an amalgamation of hip-hop, physical theatre and contemporary dance, an ensemble of dancers express the role of criticism and people’s response to it in the process of creation. Botis hopes that after watching this dance performance, the audience can be more open to their own emotions.

This is Botis’s first creation for NDT 2. His work was last seen at the Singapore International Festival of Arts 2023, which presented his hip-hop theatre performance, BLKDOG.

Here’s a peek at what’s in store at da:ns focus – Contemporary Dance:

About the event – celebrating dance at Esplanade Singapore

An annual festival, da:ns focus is a celebration of dance through performances, experiences and activities over different themed weekends spread throughout the year.

About NDT 2

NDT 2 is the second company of Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), founded in 1978. The latter is one of the world’s leading contemporary dance companies based in The Hague. NDT 2 prepares 16 recently graduated dancers – often classically trained – over a three-year trajectory for the top. It has developed into an independent company with its own repertoire. The company tours extensively both in the Netherlands and internationally.

The first company, NDT 1, consists of 28 dancers from all over the world. Each season, they perform four Dutch programmes. They also tour in either Asia, the United States, South America or Australia.

Get tickets to watch NDT 2 at Esplanade Singapore

Don’t miss the opportunity to watch these dances at da:ns focus – Contemporary Dance, showing only on one weekend:

• Saturday 29 November, 8pm
• Sunday 30 November, 5pm

Run time for each performance is 2 hours 10 minutes with two 20-minute intermissions. Tickets start from $40 and are available from Esplanade Singapore’s website.

Esplanade Singapore – Theatres on the Bay
1 Esplanade Drive
6828 8377 | esplanade.com

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