28 October 2020 @ YouTube
Motherhood
with Natalie Alexandra Tse and Inch Chua
presented as part of Frame Dragging by SAtheCollective
In this work, we found that the only way to close the physical separation between us was through sharing the same sense of time. Responding 'live' to each other across three rooms, we carved time into threes, and found ourselves reaching across the distance of the internet, unable to fully see nor hear the other -- until after the fact. Held together by our bodies' rites of passage as "not not a mother", this is a performance by three women, two unborn babies (at the time), and one cat.
"not not a mother" is from “Motherhood” by Sheila Heti
18 October - 31 October 2020 @ The Esplanade Dans Festival
UNISON
by Bernice Lee and Adele Goh
presented as part of Open Call
mentioned in this review by Jocelyn Chng and Melissa Quek, for The Straits Times
18 October 2020 @ Objectifs Centre
Tactility Studies: Pandemic Distances
by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee
presented as part of immaterial bodies
16 - 25 September 2020 @ Zoom
Making Performances with Care:
Approaches to Care and Intimacy in Performance-Making
A workshop series led by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee,
with facilitation by ila, Lizzy Talbot, Chan Sze-Wei, Faye Lim, Rosemary McGowan
supported by the National Arts Council (Singapore)
28 August 2020 @ Interdisciplinary Art Festival Tokyo 20≠21 ONLINE, “Meet OFF-ON-LINE”
Loopholes
by Teow Yue Han and Bernice Lee
Loopholes is a system of exchanges between Bernice Lee and Teow Yue Han, each layer building on to the previous, arriving at a set of repeatable gestures and interruptions. With these exchanges, they give form to complex technologically-mediated means of embodiment exacerbated by the virus-as-choreographer.
made in May-June 2020, online indefinitely
Local Domestic Dancer I
Local Domestic Dancer II
Local Domestic Dancers
part of Wuwei Performance Series, From The Living Room, and THE BRIDGE respectively
Each video-recorded work is an emotive meditation on what this dancer is dancing in this time, as a domestic body, a political body, a racial body, a gendered body, a local body, a migrant body, an unwell body
-- and part of a larger body.
Each work approximates an apology and a promise.
22 May 2020 @ SAFRA Toa Payoh, Your Residence, and Zoom
Gerak ABC Online
Gerak ABC Online a bilingual (English and Malay) participatory dance theatre performance, animating the letters of the alphabet through the body, and connecting them to simple movement words like “gerak,” which means “move".
by Rolypoly Family with Dalifah Shahril and Syimah Sabtu, and The ArtGround
30 April 2020 @ C42, Your Residence, and Zoom
Touch You Later!
An online participatory performance by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee, drawing from their joint explorations in Tactility Studies (2018-ongoing). In this special edition created to say 'see you later' to C42, "Touch You Later!" is our first response to the current touchlessness in our world. It places bodies and physical touch front and centre as it attempts to make sense of the connections between the physical, the social, and the emotional.
Sometime in April (?)
Conceive and begin to grow baby in uterus
Motherhood
with Natalie Alexandra Tse and Inch Chua
presented as part of Frame Dragging by SAtheCollective
In this work, we found that the only way to close the physical separation between us was through sharing the same sense of time. Responding 'live' to each other across three rooms, we carved time into threes, and found ourselves reaching across the distance of the internet, unable to fully see nor hear the other -- until after the fact. Held together by our bodies' rites of passage as "not not a mother", this is a performance by three women, two unborn babies (at the time), and one cat.
"not not a mother" is from “Motherhood” by Sheila Heti
18 October - 31 October 2020 @ The Esplanade Dans Festival
UNISON
by Bernice Lee and Adele Goh
presented as part of Open Call
mentioned in this review by Jocelyn Chng and Melissa Quek, for The Straits Times
18 October 2020 @ Objectifs Centre
Tactility Studies: Pandemic Distances
by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee
presented as part of immaterial bodies
16 - 25 September 2020 @ Zoom
Making Performances with Care:
Approaches to Care and Intimacy in Performance-Making
A workshop series led by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee,
with facilitation by ila, Lizzy Talbot, Chan Sze-Wei, Faye Lim, Rosemary McGowan
supported by the National Arts Council (Singapore)
28 August 2020 @ Interdisciplinary Art Festival Tokyo 20≠21 ONLINE, “Meet OFF-ON-LINE”
Loopholes
by Teow Yue Han and Bernice Lee
Loopholes is a system of exchanges between Bernice Lee and Teow Yue Han, each layer building on to the previous, arriving at a set of repeatable gestures and interruptions. With these exchanges, they give form to complex technologically-mediated means of embodiment exacerbated by the virus-as-choreographer.
made in May-June 2020, online indefinitely
Local Domestic Dancer I
Local Domestic Dancer II
Local Domestic Dancers
part of Wuwei Performance Series, From The Living Room, and THE BRIDGE respectively
Each video-recorded work is an emotive meditation on what this dancer is dancing in this time, as a domestic body, a political body, a racial body, a gendered body, a local body, a migrant body, an unwell body
-- and part of a larger body.
Each work approximates an apology and a promise.
22 May 2020 @ SAFRA Toa Payoh, Your Residence, and Zoom
Gerak ABC Online
Gerak ABC Online a bilingual (English and Malay) participatory dance theatre performance, animating the letters of the alphabet through the body, and connecting them to simple movement words like “gerak,” which means “move".
by Rolypoly Family with Dalifah Shahril and Syimah Sabtu, and The ArtGround
30 April 2020 @ C42, Your Residence, and Zoom
Touch You Later!
An online participatory performance by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee, drawing from their joint explorations in Tactility Studies (2018-ongoing). In this special edition created to say 'see you later' to C42, "Touch You Later!" is our first response to the current touchlessness in our world. It places bodies and physical touch front and centre as it attempts to make sense of the connections between the physical, the social, and the emotional.
Sometime in April (?)
Conceive and begin to grow baby in uterus
6, 13, 20, 27 April 2020 @ Your Residence via Zoom
Anti-Viral Dance Party
An online dance party, and fundraiser for AWARE Singapore. Silly costumes welcome!
Visit bit.ly/antiviraldance for more details.
(To learn more about how the covid-19 pandemic affects vulnerable women in Singapore, click here.)
28 - 29 March 2020 @ Pang Sua Pond
Rolling On
(Cancelled: visit instagram.com/rolypolyfamilysg for short videos instead)
(Read more about how we have "rolled on" through the Rolling On Artist Residency aka ROAR here)
Part of Arts In Your Neighbourhood, Rolypoly Family and The Kueh Tutus collaborate and perform together outdoors in Bukit Panjang, in this dance performance/parade featuring movements co-created between children and artists. In finding cyclical patterns in their bodies and in nature, the dancers raise awareness of Earth Hour.
In this time of pandemic and climate crisis, we have a lot to reflect on.
15 March 2020 @ The ArtGround
Letters Come Alive!
In this whimsical and acrobatic dance theatre performance, the letters of the alphabet take on different shapes and sounds to inspire silliness for kids and grown-ups to enjoy.
A joyful and imaginative piece by Rolypoly Family.
13 - 14 March 2020 @ The Arts House
Handbook of Daily Movement
Performer in a multidisciplinary performance by Marc Nair, Mantravine, Sudhee Liao & Audrey Ng
We are bodies of consent and dissent, buffeted by permission and expression. We swim towards the shape of safety, drifting against the tides of an uncertain world, grasping life buoys of small mercies.
In this hybrid music, spoken word and movement performance, encounter a modern interpretation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, rendered in the tongue of these troubled times.
7 - 8 March 2020 @ Ground-Up Initiative
The Basket
A dance theatre performance inspired by The Incredible Basket, a delightful book by local children’s book author Quek Hong Shin. Featuring two dancers with lots of baskets and baskets full of imagination,
Rolypoly Family looks into acts of holding and caring.
4 - 12 January 2020, Various Timings @ The ArtGround
Baby Space
Performer in Baby Space, a multi-sensory installation designed for pre-walking babies.
Contemporary dance, music and visual arts meld together to form an immersive encounter with the arts.
Conceived by Swedish choreographer Dalija Acin Thelander.
7 December 2019 @ Dance Nucleus
Tactility Studies by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee
Work-in-progress showing after 3 phases of creative process.
23 November 2019 @ National Gallery Singapore
Cassettes 100 by José Maceda
Section Leader for Cassettes 100 re-staged as part of the exhibition Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969-1989). Directed by Dr Jonas Baes, choreographed by Elizabeth de Roza and filmed by Sherman Ong. Featuring the mass movement of 90 participants led by 10 artists and performers, playing pre-recorded tracks of instruments, voices and sounds indigenous to the Philippines in unison.
4-15 November 2019 @ Force Majeure
INCITE Intensive
Artist-participant at INCITE by Force Majeure, a two-week immersive lab in Sydney for mid-career and established artists working in any performance discipline.
Led by Artistic Director Danielle Micich, with guest artist Gideon Obarzanek.
23-25 October 2019 @ Stamford Arts Centre
Project Transit - Echoes of Waterloo
Performer in Project Transit, a work-in-progress created as part of Stamford Arts Centre's residency. A piece created by Veshnu Narayanasamy in collaboration with Grain Performance & Research Lab and Wong Chee Meng.
4-6 October 2019 @ The Esplanade
Letters Come Alive!
Proud to be part of Octoburst! Adapted for The Esplanade Library Open Stage, this joyful and imaginative piece by Rolypoly Family is partially inspired by my beloved childhood novel, "Frindle" by Andrew Clements.
Come and invent a new word together with us!
24 August, 1 September 2019 @ The ArtGround
Letters Come Alive!
by Rolypoly Family
20 July 2019, 3pm @ Esplanade Annexe Studio
M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival 2019 - Open Stage
Solo performance of Ghosting: Indelible in the Hippocampus
alongside Reisa Shimojima (Japan), Natalie Allen (Australia),
and Lee Kyunggu & Lee Yeonju from Goblin Party (South Korea)
12 July, 8pm & 13 July 2019, 3pm @ Stamford Arts Centre Black Box Theatre
Happy Waiting
Directorial debut of original script by Beverly Yuen, a Singapore woman's look at the absurdity of the everyday, based on Samuel Beckett's Happy Days and Waiting for Godot.
Presented by Grain Performance & Research Lab.
How does a stuck human body conjure freedom?
28 June 2019, 7-9pm @ Pek Kio
Wuwei Performance Art Series
Performing alongside Erica Chung, Kara Inez, Rosie Le
Curated by Richard Chua, Jeremy Hiah and Seelan Palay
What is this woman doing and why? Or, a 20-minute experiment in giving care via foot massages and making a sandwich while trying and failing to communicate live via social media.
21 June 2019, Various Timings @ Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
Things We Picked Up By The Shoreline
A child’s crazy collection of sea shells, an act of harvest and response; allowing the theme of the ocean to travel with them through life, the artists gathered whatever they associated with it, pieces both original and found, and put them all together, took them apart, played with them, made little necklaces.
Communicating through interdisciplinary mediums (dance, spoken word and music), Benjamin Chow, Karisa Poedjirahardjo, Bernice Lee & Friends create an evening of wild strangeness together.
30 May 2019, 1240-110pm @ St Margaret's Secondary School
Keynote Speech: Every Student a Champion for Change
A talk about the ReadAble literacy program and my story of volunteerism. Sharing how change takes place through conversation and how each individual can use our voices: to give unto others and to ask for help, both being equally important skills.
19 - 28 April 2019, Various Timings @ The ArtGround
Baby Space
Conceived by Swedish choreographer Dalija Acin Thelander.
14 March 2019, 1030-12pm @ Catholic High Primary School
A Talk + Workshop on Thoughtful Citizenry
Presentation and workshop facilitation about the ReadAble literacy program, to encourage students to consider their role in bridging communities and service to others in an unequal world.
8 March 2019, 645 PM & 745PM @ Esplanade Concourse
A Lover's Anatomy
A Lover's Anatomy explores the notion of the body as a vessel of romantic histories, along with the multitude of ways our bodies entangle and collide. The performance centres on text by confessional poet Amanda Chong, brought to life in sound and song by actor-singer Benjamin Chow, as well as through movement by contemporary dance artist Bernice Lee. Audiences can expect a multi-disciplinary exploration of intimacy that spins from as close as a kiss to cosmic distance.
24 February 2019, 3-4 PM @ Dance Nucleus
SCOPE #5: Tactility Studies by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee
Tactility Studies is an ongoing joint exploration of the notion of body-as-theatre. How do we draw attention to the performativity of bodies in conversation with themselves and the world around them, and also to each person’s subjective experience through our performance work? In this sharing, we talk about our thought processes behind the project and how we plan to develop the piece, as we would like to get feedback to further develop our ideas.
Bernice can be found at Rolypoly Family events throughout the year.
Anti-Viral Dance Party
An online dance party, and fundraiser for AWARE Singapore. Silly costumes welcome!
Visit bit.ly/antiviraldance for more details.
(To learn more about how the covid-19 pandemic affects vulnerable women in Singapore, click here.)
28 - 29 March 2020 @ Pang Sua Pond
Rolling On
(Cancelled: visit instagram.com/rolypolyfamilysg for short videos instead)
(Read more about how we have "rolled on" through the Rolling On Artist Residency aka ROAR here)
Part of Arts In Your Neighbourhood, Rolypoly Family and The Kueh Tutus collaborate and perform together outdoors in Bukit Panjang, in this dance performance/parade featuring movements co-created between children and artists. In finding cyclical patterns in their bodies and in nature, the dancers raise awareness of Earth Hour.
In this time of pandemic and climate crisis, we have a lot to reflect on.
15 March 2020 @ The ArtGround
Letters Come Alive!
In this whimsical and acrobatic dance theatre performance, the letters of the alphabet take on different shapes and sounds to inspire silliness for kids and grown-ups to enjoy.
A joyful and imaginative piece by Rolypoly Family.
13 - 14 March 2020 @ The Arts House
Handbook of Daily Movement
Performer in a multidisciplinary performance by Marc Nair, Mantravine, Sudhee Liao & Audrey Ng
We are bodies of consent and dissent, buffeted by permission and expression. We swim towards the shape of safety, drifting against the tides of an uncertain world, grasping life buoys of small mercies.
In this hybrid music, spoken word and movement performance, encounter a modern interpretation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, rendered in the tongue of these troubled times.
7 - 8 March 2020 @ Ground-Up Initiative
The Basket
A dance theatre performance inspired by The Incredible Basket, a delightful book by local children’s book author Quek Hong Shin. Featuring two dancers with lots of baskets and baskets full of imagination,
Rolypoly Family looks into acts of holding and caring.
4 - 12 January 2020, Various Timings @ The ArtGround
Baby Space
Performer in Baby Space, a multi-sensory installation designed for pre-walking babies.
Contemporary dance, music and visual arts meld together to form an immersive encounter with the arts.
Conceived by Swedish choreographer Dalija Acin Thelander.
7 December 2019 @ Dance Nucleus
Tactility Studies by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee
Work-in-progress showing after 3 phases of creative process.
23 November 2019 @ National Gallery Singapore
Cassettes 100 by José Maceda
Section Leader for Cassettes 100 re-staged as part of the exhibition Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969-1989). Directed by Dr Jonas Baes, choreographed by Elizabeth de Roza and filmed by Sherman Ong. Featuring the mass movement of 90 participants led by 10 artists and performers, playing pre-recorded tracks of instruments, voices and sounds indigenous to the Philippines in unison.
4-15 November 2019 @ Force Majeure
INCITE Intensive
Artist-participant at INCITE by Force Majeure, a two-week immersive lab in Sydney for mid-career and established artists working in any performance discipline.
Led by Artistic Director Danielle Micich, with guest artist Gideon Obarzanek.
23-25 October 2019 @ Stamford Arts Centre
Project Transit - Echoes of Waterloo
Performer in Project Transit, a work-in-progress created as part of Stamford Arts Centre's residency. A piece created by Veshnu Narayanasamy in collaboration with Grain Performance & Research Lab and Wong Chee Meng.
4-6 October 2019 @ The Esplanade
Letters Come Alive!
Proud to be part of Octoburst! Adapted for The Esplanade Library Open Stage, this joyful and imaginative piece by Rolypoly Family is partially inspired by my beloved childhood novel, "Frindle" by Andrew Clements.
Come and invent a new word together with us!
24 August, 1 September 2019 @ The ArtGround
Letters Come Alive!
by Rolypoly Family
20 July 2019, 3pm @ Esplanade Annexe Studio
M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival 2019 - Open Stage
Solo performance of Ghosting: Indelible in the Hippocampus
alongside Reisa Shimojima (Japan), Natalie Allen (Australia),
and Lee Kyunggu & Lee Yeonju from Goblin Party (South Korea)
12 July, 8pm & 13 July 2019, 3pm @ Stamford Arts Centre Black Box Theatre
Happy Waiting
Directorial debut of original script by Beverly Yuen, a Singapore woman's look at the absurdity of the everyday, based on Samuel Beckett's Happy Days and Waiting for Godot.
Presented by Grain Performance & Research Lab.
How does a stuck human body conjure freedom?
28 June 2019, 7-9pm @ Pek Kio
Wuwei Performance Art Series
Performing alongside Erica Chung, Kara Inez, Rosie Le
Curated by Richard Chua, Jeremy Hiah and Seelan Palay
What is this woman doing and why? Or, a 20-minute experiment in giving care via foot massages and making a sandwich while trying and failing to communicate live via social media.
21 June 2019, Various Timings @ Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
Things We Picked Up By The Shoreline
A child’s crazy collection of sea shells, an act of harvest and response; allowing the theme of the ocean to travel with them through life, the artists gathered whatever they associated with it, pieces both original and found, and put them all together, took them apart, played with them, made little necklaces.
Communicating through interdisciplinary mediums (dance, spoken word and music), Benjamin Chow, Karisa Poedjirahardjo, Bernice Lee & Friends create an evening of wild strangeness together.
30 May 2019, 1240-110pm @ St Margaret's Secondary School
Keynote Speech: Every Student a Champion for Change
A talk about the ReadAble literacy program and my story of volunteerism. Sharing how change takes place through conversation and how each individual can use our voices: to give unto others and to ask for help, both being equally important skills.
19 - 28 April 2019, Various Timings @ The ArtGround
Baby Space
Conceived by Swedish choreographer Dalija Acin Thelander.
14 March 2019, 1030-12pm @ Catholic High Primary School
A Talk + Workshop on Thoughtful Citizenry
Presentation and workshop facilitation about the ReadAble literacy program, to encourage students to consider their role in bridging communities and service to others in an unequal world.
8 March 2019, 645 PM & 745PM @ Esplanade Concourse
A Lover's Anatomy
A Lover's Anatomy explores the notion of the body as a vessel of romantic histories, along with the multitude of ways our bodies entangle and collide. The performance centres on text by confessional poet Amanda Chong, brought to life in sound and song by actor-singer Benjamin Chow, as well as through movement by contemporary dance artist Bernice Lee. Audiences can expect a multi-disciplinary exploration of intimacy that spins from as close as a kiss to cosmic distance.
24 February 2019, 3-4 PM @ Dance Nucleus
SCOPE #5: Tactility Studies by Chong Gua Khee and Bernice Lee
Tactility Studies is an ongoing joint exploration of the notion of body-as-theatre. How do we draw attention to the performativity of bodies in conversation with themselves and the world around them, and also to each person’s subjective experience through our performance work? In this sharing, we talk about our thought processes behind the project and how we plan to develop the piece, as we would like to get feedback to further develop our ideas.
Bernice can be found at Rolypoly Family events throughout the year.