Reimagining the Arts at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay invites audiences to enjoy the arts reimagined, in its upcoming festivals and programmes, which continue to bring the arts online for audiences of different ages and interests.

From 5 – 18 October 2020, the centre’s annual festival for children, Octoburst! – A Children’s Festival will burst through Esplanade’s spikey domes to reach little ones of all ages at home with a series of free-to-access digital programmes. These include PIParade Online, where children are invited to join an online parade through an open call for video submissions of themselves playing percussion instruments, dancing or song-signing. Hold My Hand, the festival’s first-ever commission, is a table-top toy theatre (puppetry) presented as a film by Paper Monkey Theatre and Jean Tay. This year, Esplanade will also be working closely with several Social Service Organisations to present Alice’s Topsy Turvy Tea Party by The Kueh Tutus, an exclusive interactive digital dance experience for families in crisis.

Children are invited to join an online parade in Octoburst! – A Children’s Festival.

And from 12 – 31 October 2020, a reimagined da:ns festival invites audiences to discover movement across diverging mediums—through your body and from your screen. Explore dance in its varied forms and expressions with thought-provoking new works, illuminating conversations, introductory videos and more. Highlights include On-screen programmes which offer a new way to experience dance, through films and live streamed performances across diverse dance genres. These include Dancing at Dusk – A moment with Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring, co-produced by Sadler’s Wells (UK), Pina Bausch Foundation (Germany) and École des Sables (Senegal), as well as The Intervention of Loneliness (Lockdown Edition) by Berlin-based Singapore artist Ming Poon.

da:ns festival 2020 invites audiences to discover movement across diverging mediums.

Esplanade has also resumed its monthly tradition of “opening up” the Esplanade Concert Hall to everyone through the Beautiful Sunday Online series which will feature a newly-produced concert recording released every month, from September to November. The free concert series was launched during the SARS crisis in 2003, to encourage Singaporeans to return to arts venues for live performances. Although usual programming for live performances cannot resume for now, these recordings will feature Singapore musicians, and also take audiences behind-the-scenes of the centre’s Concert Hall, which has been referred to as its crown jewel.  

In Beautiful Sunday Online, Esplanade resumes its monthly tradition of “opening up” its Concert Hall to everyone through a free concert.

For music lovers who enjoy evergreen hits, Esplanade’s Coffee Morning & Afternoon Tea series has also gone online from August to October. Live streamed performances every first and third Monday of the month feature Singapore artists performing English and Chinese golden hits.

Singapore duo ShiLi and Adi perform English hits from the ’70s in Coffee Morning & Afternoon Tea.

Finally, on an encouraging note, Esplanade also worked with Singapore’s Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and the National Arts Council on a trial series of small-scale live performances in September. These pilot performances helped artists and arts groups, audiences and performing arts venues like Esplanade gain the confidence and experience needed to safely resume live arts performances in the near future.