In Singapore, where the colon is king, they've just had the first da:ns festival at Esplanade: Theatres on the Bay, and it was highly impressive despite the punctuation and a shortage of capital letters.

But spelling it "da:ns" did catch my attention.

"We wrote it this way because we didn't want another name that would mean something else," says JP Nathan, Esplanade's director of programming.

"We wanted people to stop, take a second look at it, and think about 'dance' again."

From this year on, the da:ns festival will be the highlight of every October.

During many of the events that take place in its internationally acclaimed performances spaces, Esplanade has its visiting foreign companies conduct a workshop, or at the least, a post-show Q&A.

This guarantees more public participation, but community involvement quickly dissipates each time.

"If you really want to build the audience, you must build it through a festival," says Nathan. "And it must happen at the same time every year, so the audience can look forward to it."

"Plus, when you do a festival, you can present many kinds of dance together - contemporary dance, ballet, flamenco, salsa, hip-hop, etc.

"There aren't many dance festivals like that."

Variety is a dominant feature in da:ns, ranging from "Red Giselle" by Russia's Eifman Ballet to "Carmen" by Spain's Compania De Danza Espanola Aida Gomez and "The Locusts' Wrath", a new production by local company the Arts Fission.

In addition, Esplanade commissioned new works by award-winning Singaporean choreographer Tammy L Wong.

Not only was there a fine balance between international and local productions, but there were also various interactions among professional artists, dance students and the public.

Nathan admits few ballet fans attended the finals of the hip-hop competition "Overdrive", held during the festival, but he says at least those who did now know choreographer Wade Robson, one of the judges who may well be their kids' idol.

The festival's last weekend had two distinctive programmes. Brazil's Grupo Corpo, in their Asian debut, enthralled near-sell-out audiences with the rhythms and movements of "Parabelo" and "Lecuona".

Both featured a highly disciplined ensemble, groundbreaking cross-disciplinary choreography, and perfect unison of set, costume and lighting.

The following night, Japan's Baby-Q drew a younger crowd to the Theatre Studio and amazed viewers with high-speed animated movements that reflected our everyday lives in "ALARM! Zero hour edition".

Before each night's programme, "Rasas - Colours of Asia", a free presentation of traditional Asian dances, was presented in the open Concourse between the theatre and concert hall.

This informal yet impressive event took place against the backdrops of "Trip the Light Fantastic", sculptures celebrating the human form.

The diversity of this inaugural festival's programme, supported by solid management, drew a wide range of viewers. This kind of success, unfortunately, has never happened in Thailand Festival of Dance, now in its eighth year.

Esplanade next presents "Pesta Raya: Malay Festival of the Arts" from Friday through next Monday. For more info, visit www.esplanade.com.

The writer can be reached via Pawit.M@chula.ac.th.

Pawit Mahasarinand

The Nation