Apsara Asia

Apsara Asia was established in 2003 as a performing arts and arts management company that focuses on promoting and presenting various cultural dances and art forms prevalent in Singapore and around Asia.

Besides Apsara Asia’s experience in providing cultural dances and contemporary fusion arts performances for all types of events, we also provide quality arts education programmes for learning institutions in and around Asia.

Inspired by legendary Asian epics and social issues, Apsara Asia focuses on producing contemporary dance productions that transcend cultural boundaries, and languages. Apsara Asia also takes pride in its unique element of collaborating across different arts forms within a single plane.

World-In-Theatre

World-in-Theatre perform plays with themes that transcend cultural boundaries and remain relevant no matter when and where they were written. It draw inspiration from the world regardless of nationality, culture, race or creed and present plays with due reverence for each source with the mission of developing a distinctive yet clearly-recognizable Singapore theatre.

To support this mission, it taps on the resources of traditional world theatre (masks, costumes, music) as well as aim to foster that intimate communion between the performer and the audience in the way that traditional theatre across the world does. World-in-Theatre’s mission is to contribute to the development of Singapore theatre, not by the usual path of staging works with either a Singaporean or a modern-day focus, but by bringing to the Singapore stage works of world-wide significance whose impact on human thought goes beyond what is relevant to our immediate daily lives. Such an approach aims to transcend ethnic and cultural boundaries.

Yayasan Tri Pusaka Sakti

Tri Pusaka Çakti is a school for the arts situated near the rich cultural area of Batuan which foundation director Nyoman Budi Artha donated a large property for this purpose. Along with housing the facilities to teach dance, music and theatre, the school contains accommodations, and an extensive research centre, and film library; where film, audio, photo even interactive multimedia CD would be documented to ensure that this artistic, cultural and spiritual inheritance is preserved and pass on responsibly to the future generations of Balinese and the lovers of this island throughout the world.

Ajith Baskaran Dass

Ajith Bhaskaran Dass is recognized for his exquisite interpretation of Bharatha Natyam and Odissi. A lawyer by training and a dancer by choice, Ajith is a versatile performer, choreographer and the artistic director of Suvarna Fine Arts based in Malaysia. Awarded with the title of ‘Nritya Varidhi’ by the Global Organization for People of Indian Origin (Singapore Chapter), Ajith has performed in prestigious venues all over the world such as the Lincoln Center (New York), Joyce Theatre, Broadway(New York), Krishna Gana Sabha, Narada Gana Sabha(Chennai) to name a few.
“Ajith fuses technique and creativity in a judicious mix and reinvents and reinterprets within the classical frame
(Los Angeles Times)”

Suvarna led by Ajith has been recognized as one of the most active catalysts of Indian dance in Malaysia. Suvarna’s distinct and original dance works present authentic classicism on the contemporary stage with universal appeal. Suvarna boasts of an impressive repertoire of professional productions and collaborations both in Malaysia and abroad. Nominated for best choreography and costume design by the Boh Cameronian Arts Awards in 2006, Ajith and his dancers continue to be recognized for their vibrant dance renditions, striking choreography and innovative theatrical presentations.

Naomi ‘Shoko’ Matsumoto - Lighting Designer

Special Advisor for Cultural Exchange, Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan

Shoko Matsumoto is a First Class Lighting Technician and member of the Lighting Engineers Association of Japan; member of the Association of British Lighting Designers (ALD); Association of British Technicians (ABTT); OISDAT-PATDAT, Philippines and founding-member of Sinag Arts Foundation. At present, she is the Executive Director, theatre consultant and trainer of the Sinag Arts Studio.

Shoko designs lights for Theater, Opera, Musicals and Dance in the UK, US, a number of European countries, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia. Currently she’s venturing into designing house light fixtures.

Having stayed abroad for more than ten years, she has made the Philippines her base since 1994. She co-founded Sinag Arts Foundation through which she hopes to share her talents and expertise through technical education work, workshops and consultancies.

With Sinag Arts, she is currently developing and implementing technical training modules for several schools in the Philippines. She is a Faculty of Sinag Arts Studio in the lighting workshops for theater and interiors.

Alex Dea- Music Composer, Indonesian soloist

American-born Chinese composer Alex Dea is trained in Western classical music and received a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, with a specialty in Javanese gamelan music. Mentors include prominent avant-garde composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Robert Ashley. He studied raga for five years with the late Hindustani master, Pandit Pran Nath. He has also studied the musics of Africa and Japan, and was active in the 1970's experimental music in California and New York, with La Monte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music, and the world and American premieres of Young's monumental The Well-Tuned Piano. Since 1992, he studies with the last remaining Javanese gamelan masters, living with his 107-year old teacher in Java. His Sound As Movement:Movement As Sound workshops based on Indian drone and rasa theory has been held with the Beijing Modern Dance Company and Taipei Dance Circle. As an ethnographer-composer he travels throughout the Asia-Pacific region, maintaining artistic contacts, and observing different cultural practices.