Night Festival 2009

I have been fascinated, hypnotised, excited, bedazzled and in awe by the performances of the Night Festival 2009 which took place at the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum and SMU Campus Green. It is an absolutely stunning evening with spectacular dance, percussion, vocals and the most delightful and enchanting of all, the out-of-this-world pyrotechnic show by Action Theatre Pan Optikum from Germany. It is simply magical!

BERSAMA HIJAU - HE 合

Presented by the Teng Company, a group of 4 men (a vocalist, a cello, a pipa and a guitar) created an impressionable ensemble of fusion (modern and traditional Chinese) songs and music. Unconventional but captivating. The debut of He, which is written by one of the members, is quite mystical yet modern and familiar. I have to say, the vocalist is quite a soprano. His singing in 合 deeply reminded me of the alien concert in Fifth Element. And he is good.

BERSAMA HIJAU - TAP AND CLOG

Cute, funky and high energy tap dancing with a new twist; the use of char-gia, ie clogs. Extremely entertaining and bright. It makes you just want to dance.

BERSAMA HIJAU - THREE STONES 三生石

Combination of Cellist (Leslie Tan) and 2 modern dancers on Bach's solo cello suits; sweet, charming, endearing and alluring. Classy and yet cheeky. Daring and yet soulful. I'm surprised by the gracefulness of the 2 male dancers.

BERSAMA HIJAU - THE STORY OF DEEPAVALI

Presented by Bhaskar' Art Academy, the Kathakali is a well-known dance in India similar to Chinese Opera and Japanese Noh. You will be in for a treat as you watched the triumph of Good (Lord Krishna) against Evil (Narakasura), which is celebrated as a Festival of Lights.

BERSAMA HIJAU - THE MORE WE GET TOGETHER

Dance choreography Aaron Khek tried very hard to engage the audience with a clap-clap-wave-wave dance routine which kind of failed miserably. Singaporeans are kind of shy dude. Get them drunk first!

BERSAMA HIJAU - MARI KITA GELEK GELEK

A mixture of songs and dances down memory lane with a tribute to a few popular P Ramlee's songs.

BERSAMA HIJAU - SOUTH DOWN

Enter into the nostalgic world of traditional Malay dance with Chinese Ensemble, tracking down history of Singapura as a Malay fishing village before the arrival of Chinese immigrants. I was a little frustrated at the beginning with the Malay description which I didn't understand but yet I was captivated by the gracefully, demure, subtly attractive movement of the female dances. While I was indulging myself with the dances, in came the Chinese immigrants. Appearing in the crowd, marching slowly towards the stage, they made quite an appearance! I particularly love the drumming.

The highlight highlight which brought me down to the Bras Basah Precinct. I have to watch this even though I have to go alone. It was all worth it!

THE LOOP OF FORTUNE

The live vocalist walked through the crowd with that abstract and yet ethereal touch. She moves along the crowd as if she is exploring and looking for new experience but slowly found herself moving towards a path which she is unable to turn away from or escape. The acrobatic dance, singing and drumming are weaved seamlessly with the firework displays. The National Museum of Singapore stood beautiful with the projected background scenes and lighted fireworks. You can't help be feel joy, amazing and surprise. It is a totally magically experience which went beyond words. I was ecstatic watching the dancing wheel moved in synergy with the firework in the sky.

This is definitely one performance you should not miss! It is undoubtedly breathtaking! Performing on 10 and 11 July 2009 from 7.30pm to 2am. For more information visit, http://nationalmuseum.com.sg.