SMU Arts Festival 2019: Roots’ grand opening featured SMU Samba Masala, SMU Indian Cultural Society, SMU INDANCITY, as well as Community Groups

The distant thud thumps grew louder by the second, and the excited crowd of 800 craned their necks in anticipation.

A while ago, patrons were ambling through a dreamy Makers’ Market – where stalls offered unique, locally made items, food and snacks. Some took selfies with “live” historical figures such as Sang Nila Utama, Sir Stamford Raffles and Elizabeth Choy who walked among them.

But at that precise moment, the audience gathered in front of the psychedelically illuminated Peranakan Museum along Armenian Street, eager to witness the grand opening of SMU’s Arts Festival 2019: Roots.

Taking cue from our nation’s 700-year bicentennial celebrations, this year’s SMU Arts Festival was a fitting homage to our heritage, traditions and multicultural makeup, interpreted and executed creatively through song, dance, music and visual arts.

To kick off the festival opener – Tales from the Garden, members of SMU Samba Masala – decked out as explorers and kampong villagers – led a rousing mini parade through an excited crowd from the entrance of the newly repaved, pedestrian-only Armenian Street – site of Singapore’s first botanic gardens - onto stage.

Against the museum’s colonial façade, and with various pulsating instruments struck continuously by their flailing arms, SMU’s much lauded Brazilian-Asian percussion band then provided perfect segues between a delicate pair of classical dancers from SMU Indian Cultural Society, a cloth-twirling operatic maiden from SMU INDANCITY, as well as with a number of external acts which included the Community Drumming Network at Kallang Community Centre.  This marked a new community collaboration between SMU and Central Singapore Community Development Council (CSCDC), called Arts With Heart. The initiative saw SMU clubs using their art form to guide, rehearse and perform alongside youth or senior citizen community groups.

Especially moving was an interpretation of a popular folk song, Singapura, sung by SMU Chamber Choir and Silver Stars @ Kelantan Residents’ Corner - another group part of Arts With Heart. The piece started off playfully, with light-hearted audience participation, but blossomed midway into an emotive rendition which showcased the choristers’ crisp yet sensitive voices. SMU Eurhythmix performed several energetic dance numbers with youth from Lakeside Family Services. The young dancers were all smiles as they shared the spotlight with SMU undergraduates who had mentored them through dance.

The last SMU arts club to take the main stage was salsa dance group SMU Caderas Latinas, whose sultry dancers put up a sizzling number that rounded up the first half of the two set opening extravaganza. Local external acts MICappella and Sezairi then thrilled an appreciative crowd during the second half of the night. The concert ended on a high note with thunderous applause for all featured artists, which heralded a spectacular bloom to the 10-day celebration of arts at SMU.

Here are some of the highlights of SMU Arts Fest 2019:

FADE

FADE, the first tri-club visual arts collaboration between SMU Artdicted, SMUSAIC and SMU Literati, chronicled the transition of iconic Bras Basah Complex through the years. The exhibition, supported by the Bras Basah Merchants Association and installed at the Substation Gallery, contained artworks made from interviews with tenants, past and present. Among these were 39 white books which represented the complex’s age, and each contained an artefact of reflection from project members.

Legenda

SMU Ardiente’s magical mermaids and guardians of the Dragon’s Teeth Gates cried for their lost leader in Legenda. The triple-bill production re-constructed three famous Singapore folktales, told creatively through dance by SMU Ardiente, SMU INDANCITY and SMU Funk Movement. Valiant heroes, vicious villains, mythical creatures and sinister spirits took centre stage in this elaborate triple-bill production. Old stories were given novel twists, and performed against an omnipresent video backdrop that conjured the traditional Malay art form of shadow puppetry.

SINGA-PELLA!

SMU VOIX took the audience on a night out at the museum. Historical figures Sang Nila Utama, Sir Stamford Raffles, Tan Tock Seng and Naraina Pillai came alive and retold aspects of stories from eras long past in this original production. The comedy was spiced up with popular contemporary hits, sung a cappella by SMU’s three-time AcaChamps winners.

Bloom!

First-year School of Social Sciences student Melissa Anna Yow’s eloquence and quick wit made her champ of SMU Broadcast & Entertainment’s Voice Personality Hunt 2019: Bloom! Contestants of the club’s annual talent quest – who underwent rounds of mentorship and training by professional hosts prior to the finale - had to perform a variety of hosting tasks rooted on topics pertaining to Singapore history.

Crosswinds

100 musicians from SMU Symphonia and SMU Chinese Orchestra came together in a one-night-only performance to swap tunes and musically prove that the cultures (and music) of East and West, are very much intertwined. In segments titled Individuality, Commonality, Collectivity, they played well-known tunes from their own genre and music from each other’s genre, before combining in a thrilling finale where their rendition of local compositions clearly highlighted our unique blend of cultures.

Stay tuned for next year’s rendition of the Arts Festival as SMU celebrates its 20th Anniversary.