Gey Pin’s teaching in the program at BA (Hons) Theatre + Performance at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, 2009-2012.

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students at Ang Gey Pin’s class session, Nov 2011, BA (Hons) Theatre + Performance at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, still from video by Caleb Lee

 

• Excerpts of journal from Tabitha Loh, BA (Hons) Theatre + Performance at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, Level 1

26th September 2011
A sense of play. What is a sense of play? In what way can my body be engaged in play?……it was not just an exercise. It was not dead and mechanical. There had to be life within it.

28th September 2011
Everyone must have a personal revelation. Revelation of what? Of life? Or realizing what I need? There is such difference in making something work and making it sincere and believable. There are times in which I am doing it as an exercise, plainly as an exercise…There is no truth in that. There is no revelation.

5 October 2011
In vocal work, I was encouraged to jump into the river and follow where the water carried me. Sometimes, I lose that thread but I am starting to recognize that the river is very long and the journey has many paths, I should not be passive and naive to just assume that there is one path but find life in any direction.

10 October 2011
There are moments in which I have to awaken my body to re-connect with what was happening in that moment. When that moment is past to let it go and not stay stuck or blocked but instead always search for that thread and contact. It seemed as though I had to sense the “wave”, to follow, carry and change with it…..
…..The renewal of interest is also essential in keeping the work alive. There is an inner laziness by which I sometimes find myself lapsing into. I get tired of searching, my breath deepens, I lose my associations and contact with people. The action thus becomes without intention and drive.

31 October 2011
I finally found the life in what I do.  This time, I refused to get stuck on what I was doing previously, but to flow with this new river, this new scenario and circumstance given. Once I engaged it, I had not to rush and just flow with it, always searching, almost playing. The drive and intention of the text started to flow almost naturally as the body became free to play and search.

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• Excerpts of journal from Melissa Chiew, BA (Hons) Theatre + Performance at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, Level 3

Week Ten: 3rd of October 2011
….it is more interesting to watch a performer doing a ʻsearchʼ of the moments with an ʻaliveʼ intensity, rather than presenting movements that have been ʻfoundʼ and the ʻsearchʼ stops there. Life never ceases till the day we die, and nothing ever gets a full resolution until we cease to exist, and even then, nobody really knows for sure what is life beyond our lives. I think what really matters is how we choose to live our present lives. I appreciate what takes into an account a more embodied understanding and treatment of the performing body. This is the approach and principle that I wish to bring into developing my future works as an artist. I feel that this is what Theatre needs to be kept alive, a truthfulness of the body, a bigger meaning beyond the superficial, and an experience of realness for the audience…..

…..People are drawn towards qualities of ʻopposing forcesʼ as it is a reflection what life is about. It is more interesting to see how those ʻopposing forcesʼ transform into something ʻnewʼ, rather than to remain in a sort of deadlock with no continuation or a sense of ʻevolvingʼ through the experience. Many times when dancers learn new movements from a choreographer, they can master the steps over time, but bringing out the inner life of the movements is the most challenging aspect, as every performerʼs body is different in physicality and inclinations. In many dance classes, or even in traditional theatre training sessions too, we often participate by first imitating the forms presented by the teachers. However, the form is just an empty shell, it only comes ʻaliveʼ when there is constant ʻsearchʼ and ʻplayʼ involved. It needs to go beyond a superficial level to reach something that is poignant to all human beings – the sense of life.

students at Ang Gey Pin’s class session, Nov 2011, BA (Hons) Theatre + Performance at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, still from video by Caleb Lee