ECNAD ARTISTS' PROFILES

LIM CHIN HUAT Artistic Director Director (Creative Services)

Chin Huat is a recipient of the Young Artist Award (2000). He founded Dance Dimension Project, now ECNAD, with Tan How Choon in 1996. His dance teachers include Colleen Darby, Janet Sturman, Boon Teo, Angela Liong and the late Tony Llacer. Even as a student, he demonstrated exceptional fortitude by breaking his flat feet into their present arches to dance. Chin Huat dances, choreographs, conceptualises and designs. His original training in fine arts at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts has a profound impact in all his creative endeavours with ECNAD. He seamlessly assimilates Asian sensibilities with Western disciplines in his choreographic works, as evident in B-Cycle (1996). He leaves his inimitable imprints on stunning set designs, costumes and illustrations seen in ECNAD's theatre and site-specific productions, such as Sheep (1997, 2003) and Ontogenesis - Dawning on the Source (1997). He has done production designs for other local companies/events, to name a few: The Finger Players, Practice Performing Arts Schools and Mercedzes Benz Asia Fashion Award (2006). He brought his works a-the-bird, Floating Mirror (Caution: Hippo Crossing!) and Tales from the Giant Blanket to festivals in New Zealand, the former Yugoslavia and Indonesia in 2001. In 2005, he was invited to Beijing, China to collaborate, choreograph and perform in Confession, a collaborative project involving artists from China, Japan and Singapore, staged 20 shows at Chaoyang Cultural Center and Capital Theatre. He also conducted movement workshops during this visit. His other invaluable contribution to local arts has been to provide upcoming artists of any discipline, platforms for development and expression. FireBall (2005, 2006) was his latest brainchild for such talents. His fearless artistic experimentations, spirit of perseverance and unflagging enthusiasm are widely admired among local arts practitioners and supporters. Chin Huat is currently a part-time lecturer with NAFA Theatre Department and is co-directing 2008 Graduation play. He is also appointed as one of the NDP Choreographers for year 2007 and 2008. There are also a couple of collaboration works and commissioned works with various artists and corporates in the pipeline. He was awarded Professional Artist Grant (1999) given by the National Arts Council.

TAN HOW CHOON Artistic Director Director (Education)

Gymnastics provided How Choon with an early physical and mental foundation for his artistic career. He received dance trainings in the United States of America and Singapore with Colleen Darby, Anna Sokolow, Mary Anthony, Angela Liong and Boon Teo, and also at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Even at an early stage of his artistic path, he was an outstanding student who had received scholarships and commendation certificate both in the areas of technique and creative dance making. He founded Dance Dimension Project, now ECNAD, with Lim Chin Huat after their first choreographic collaboration on ZerO'Clock (1996). This partnership has resulted in 30 multidisciplinary productions over 10 years. His choreographic outputs are as much expressions of his intellectual musings as they are creative explorations of movement. His oeuvre is regularly characterised by wit, elegance, quirkiness and a surprise element. His groundbreaking site-specific outreach productions Ontogenesis - A Wish TO Utopia (1997 at Bugis Junction fountain) and Terrestrial Beings in Spherical Analogy (1998 at UOB Plaza Atrium) liberated dance from conventions and altered perceptions about the art form. He conceptualised the use of cartoons, live video feed, iconic images and fluid environments with dance choreography, as seen in Plastic (1998), Water Story (2001), Missing In Tall Pillars (Singapore Arts Festival 2002) and Ego Flamingo (2004). An adventurous individual, he is a process-based artist that continuously explore with variety and subtleties in areas such as voice-movement integration, sound/music, choreographic variables and body contact into a new style of movement. How Choon facilitated the dance jam segments in Fireball (2005 & 2006) making the improvisation process the performance itself. He led 2 actresses and 2 dancers in a process-based production entitled In The Name Of Dance (2008) and presented a fun and comedic performance comprises cohesive variety of singing, acting and dancing. He also showcases his own recorded music and a song through this performance. As a teacher of technical dancing, he has approached trainings in several perspectives. His teaching experiences include being Dance Master for full-time international team of dancers from Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Malaysia. From 2005 to 2006, he was invited as a part-time lecturer for the Dance Faculty of LASALLE College of the Arts. He is currently mainly in charge of ECNAD Education and the design of New Talent development programmes. He was awarded Professional Artist Grant (1999) given by the National Arts Council.

VIVIENNE TAN Instructress

Vivienne Tan started classical ballet training from the age of 6. She has trained in the Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dancing (Australia) and the Royal Academy of Dance (UK) syllabus. She graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a Diploma in Dance, Presidential Distinction in 2001. She was awarded the Most Outstanding Student of her faculty. In July 2003, she graduated with a BA (Hons) Dance Theatre degree from LABAN (London, U.K.) with the support of the National Arts Council, Arts Bursary (Overseas). Vivienne has danced in The Singapore Dance Theatre's productions of The Nutcracker, Coppelia and Giselle. She has also danced with other local dance companies such as The Arts Fission Company, Ah Hock and Peng Yu, ECNAD, MProjectz and Moving Arts. Vivienne is currently a dance instructor in Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School and local contemporary dance company, ECNAD. Besides teaching ballet, contemporary dance and jazz, Vivienne also choreographs and performs.

RACHEL TAN Associate Dancer / Instructress

A dance graduate from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2007, Rachel has also obtained various dance teaching certification from foreign dance organisation such as Beijing Dance Academy and CSTD. She has been consistently performing in ECNAD's arts education programme for schools since 2007 and has worked as Assistant to NDP 2007 for ECNAD choreographer Lim Chin Huat in Source of Life scene. In 2008, her creative talent in gibberish singing and dancing is showcased in In The Name Of Dance an ECNAD creative performance project directed by Tan How Choon. She has also performed in Singapore Dance Festival 2006 and contemporary dance works by foreign choreographers such as Loretta Livingston and Jaime Redfern. Rachel is currently a freelance dancer as well as a dance instructress with schools. She has choreographed some of her own short dance pieces lately.

LIM BEI SHAN VICTORIA Children's Class Instructress

Victoria began her dance training in Singapore at age 7 and attained the Royal Academy of Dance certificate (Intermediate Level) with Distinction in 2007. She furthered her studies in dance in 2004 and obtained her Diploma in Dance from LASALLE SIA College of the Arts in 2007. Victoria also interned with De Claffer Music (2002-2004) where she practiced Technical Theater and aspects of Film, Sound and Video. Productions involved included COMPASS Awards 2004, Pioneer Junior Colleges Opening Musical and Wayang Warehouses Playing in the Park Series. Victorias performance experience includes the Chingay Parade of Dreams in 2005, NTUC Singapore Birthday Bash by OM+ Studios and Lasalle's Scream and Whisper for the Singapore Dans Festival in 2006 and also in the recent Singapore River Festivals inaugural dance drama, Legenda Singapura 2008. She also stage managed and assisted a number of Lasalle's dance productions including Latitude 1° 18N and Intersect, and also in ECNAD Projects Ego Flamingo, Spy, Fireball '04 and '05 and their recent productions, In the Name of Dance and Feather Touch. Victorias teaching experiences includes dance curriculums and workshops of various genres in numerous Secondary and Primary schools. She was also assistant choreographer for National Day Parade '07 for Clementi Primary School and National Day Parade 08 for Bukit Batok Secondary School.

WEE SHEAU THENG Associate Designer / Instructress

Sheau Theng has two passions in life: making things with her hands and history of art. She knew from a tender age that she was good with her hands but never went beyond the conventional, until she began working on projects with ECNAD. A volunteer with ECNAD since 1997, Sheau Theng spent much of her tertiary education days balancing school and working on ECNAD's performances. Starting out with set and props making, she gradually ventured into stage and production management as well as an instructor of ECNAD's Little Arts Explorer. Through the years, she found her place in costumes creation and her skills and responsibilities in wardrobe have increased over the years. Nowadays, Sheau Theng spends a large part of her waking moments toiling over set, props and costumes in the workshop, which is as much a creative den as a refuge. Other time is spent working on projects with the local museum and researching on her other passion. She recently received her third degree, a Master of Arts (specialising in Buddhist Art and Archaeology) from the National University of Singapore and is contemplating a fourth in the near future. In the mean time, she continues to take on the many challenges presented to her, in realising visually stunning designs and has, to her delight, achieved what was thought impossible on several occasions. She put up an exhibition of costumes from ECNAD's past productions that she helped design and make in FireBall (2005), and in FireBall (2006), collaborated with ECNAD's graphic artist, Chua Ai Hua, to put up 55x10, an exhibition celebrating ECNAD's 10th anniversary.

CHUA AI HUA Associate Designer

Ai Hua is a (object) conservator and an accomplished commercial graphic designer. She is a founding member of ECNAD. She is also the company's graphic artist, designing most of ECNAD's publicity materials and pivotal in shaping ECNAD's distinctive image. Ai Hua believes that culture, environment and heritage are key elements of a society that must be preserved. She hopes to share her unique vision and educate people on the need to treasure and protect their lifestyle and surroundings. She hopes to transfer her concern through exhibitions. In FireBall (2005), her art installation The Price of Neglect was exhibited. The aim was to create greater awareness of the preservation of the performing arts. Ai Hua holds a degree in conservation studies from the City and Guild of London Art School, United Kingdom.