The artist’s work is hard, heart work, demanding deeply of the artist’s self. In seeking to connect authentically and imaginatively with others through art and movement, often the artist has to journey within. Even in the presence of others, the work of artmaking can remain a lonely and solitary affair. To keep the hope of completing a work alive or to inspire an audience, one may need to give the appearance of knowledge, control and confidence. Therein lie fears of being misunderstood, of not being understood, of not being able to finish what one starts.
In the work of “pretending”, we explore the labour of balancing appearances and reality. As we externalise the self to connect with others, we find these efforts can come at costs to ourselves. Going inward, what are the personas we believe we need to uphold? Going forward, what do we now shed – or shield – of ourselves?
RawForm (RF) emphasises the curated practice of diverse dance interpretations in unconventional venues. By centralising the importance of research and documentation in artistic development, it unveils creative processes and methodologies, while creating opportunities for the public to engage, participate and interact in an immersive dance-making setting.
Constructing Selves: Faces of a Shifting Form is an immersive exhibition/dance performance that explores identity as fluid, layered and constantly evolving.
Through movement and AI-generated visuals, it reveals how memory, emotion and experience shape who we are. Step into a poetic space where the self is in perpetual motion.
Conceptualiser
Lip Chiong
Movement Collaborator
Ricky Sim (Singapore)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara / Dominic Nah
In collaboration with
A Programme of
Held in
Part of
A Subsidiary of
A Programme of
Held in
Part of
A Subsidiary of
Performance/
Exhibition
Performance/Exhibition
Opening Reception
5th September (Fri), 8pm
Includes exhibition and performance
Free Admission (as part of SNF)
Performances
6th September (Sat), 8pm
Free Admission (as part of SNF)
12th & 13th September (Fri, Sat), 8pm
Free Admission
Exhibition
6th – 21st September, 12 – 8pm
Closes on Monday and at 6pm on Fri & Sat
Free Admission
Workshops
Artist Sharing Session by Lip Chiong
10th September (Wed), 2pm – 3.30pm
Free Admission
Movement Workshop by Ricky Sim
15th September (Mon), 11am – 1pm
Free Admission
Venue
Lim Hak Tai Gallery
NAFA Campus 1
80 Bencoolen Street, S189655
International expands our unique repertoire of works to a global audience.
RAW Moves was invited by AfterImage, Longshan Artgong, and the Taipei Chen-En Experimental Education Institution to co-present a Taiwan–Singapore edition of Balancing – The Movement of Consciousness. This interdisciplinary initiative promoted cultural exchange between Taiwan and Singapore through movement-based practices, technology, and conceptual art.
Creator/Conceptualiser
Mark Wang (Taiwan), Lip Chiong (Singapore) & Matthew Goh (Singapore)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara
International Collaborators
Date / Time
8 – 24 June 2025
Venue
Longshan Artgong, Taipei
International expands our unique repertoire of works to a global audience.
Taipei Shih Chien University’s Department of Architecture and Design invited RAW Moves to present a Taiwan-Singapore edition of RawGround as part of the Cross-Disciplinary Spatial Creation Workshop from April 14 to 18, 2025.
With the theme Body and Me / Creativity Can Be a Habit, the workshop aimed to foster cultural exchange, aesthetic improvisation, and cross-disciplinary experimentation. Through experiential learning and intuitive training, participants were encouraged to expand their creative thinking and artistic exploration.
Creator/Conceptualiser
Paul Gong (Taiwan) & Matthew Goh (Singapore)
Adjunct Visiting Associate Professor
Ricky Sim (Singapore)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara
Date / Time
14 – 18 April 2025
Venue
Shih-Chien University, Taipei Campus
A Little RAW (ALR) has been an inclusive young dancers’ company based in Singapore, for children and youths 10 years and above. Having engaged over 60 performers with different abilities, the company continues to develop original dance and movement with new perspectives, spaces, and audiences, while celebrating the ‘Diversability’ of young differently-abled individuals.
Title: Tree House – A Sanctuary in the Sky
Conceptualiser: Ricky Sim (Singapore)
Venue: Punggol Library (NLB, Level 1, Lobby)
RawGround (RG): 2 Films, 1 Conversation, is a 10-day hybrid event featuring five artists presenting ten films. It explores urban life’s rush and how we hold onto ourselves. Our memories and senses become guides, leading us through this exciting adventure. As we ponder the beauty of life, RawGround stands as a platform for transformation and fostering a communion of thoughts and perspectives.
Artists:
Mari Kalabegashvili – multimedia visual artist and cultural practicitioner (Georgia/Germany), Fangas Nayaw – multidisciplinary performer, director (Taiwan), Lau Hong Hu – film maker (Malaysia/Singapore), Adzylnn – visual artist, production designer (Singapore), Gardika Gigih – composer, pianist, soundscape researcher (Indonesia), Euginia Tan – multidisciplinary writer (Singapore), Tan Wei Ying – performer (Singapore) and Wong Jin Yi – performer (Singapore)
RawGround: 2 Films, 1 Conversation, is a 10-day hybrid event featuring five artists presenting ten films. It explores urban life’s rush and how we hold onto ourselves. Our memories and senses become guides, leading us through this exciting adventure. As we ponder the beauty of life, RawGround stands as a platform for transformation and fostering a communion of thoughts and perspectives.
Artists
Mark Wang (Taiwan/Netherlands)
Lip Chiong (Singapore)
Matthew Goh (Singapore)
Line Krom (Germany)
Takako Hamano (Japan/Netherlands)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara
Programme Partner
International Supporters
Join us for a captivating 3-Day art-filled event, where this year’s artists will debut their films and share insight into their creative processes and artistic practice.
Date
14th Feb (Fri) – 16th Feb (Sun) 2025
Venue
*SCAPE – Gallery Level 5 / RAW Moves Studio
Tickets
Can’t attend in person? Then join us in the digital iteration of
RawGround 2025. Our website will feature all of this year’s films and past editions of RawGround.
Date
17th Feb (Mon) – 23rd Feb (Sun) 2025
Website
Stacked Stories, is a captivating movement-theatre performance that explores the delicate balance between reflection and the shifting interplay of stability and instability that shapes our lives. It celebrates diversity, strength and the resilience of the human spirit, with performers of various abilities contributing unique perspectives to the storytelling.
Date / Time
1st Dec 2024 (Sun)
12:30pm & 3:30pm
Venue
Punggol Regional Library
Atrium (Level 1)
1 Punggol Drive, One Punggol, S828629
Tickets
Free Admission
Watch it here
Synopsis
We live in a time of unprecedented technological development. From ancient stone tools all the way to the computers that we use to work and live, we have always possessed the innate desire to progress and advance. We’ve come far enough that we’ve begun to trust in our computers in ways that we wouldn’t trust another human being.
As we further develop these systems, could we one day ask the machine to interpret our dreams? Can we see ourselves in the machines we use? Can we ground ourselves in the ‘now’ to catch a glimpse of possible futures?
Glitch examines & meditates on man’s relationship with the machines we live with.
Creator/Conceptualiser
Wu Jun Han (Singapore)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara
Movement Collaborator
Ricky Sim
Performers
Matthew Goh
Natasha Fawzi
Kang Minchae (Intern)
Understudy
Alden Wong (Intern)
Date / Time
1 to 3 September 2022, 8pm
Venue
Watch it here
Synopsis
In adolescence, arguably a huge aspect of growing up concerns the establishment of one’s identity. As both an individual and social phenomenon, adolescents navigate this process of identity formation by experimenting with possible self- identities, seeking significance in their relationships with others and their place in the world.
But what happens when this process is disrupted and interrupted by the isolating experience of living and schooling in a pandemic? How does both the distancing of oneself from others, and the increasingly enclosed space of home, affect the direction and outcome of their identity development?
Bringing together young movers from diverse abilities and backgrounds, In/Out provides a creative and experimental outlet for A Little RAW (ALR) Company where youths develop and pursue their personal reflections with each other’s assistance. We invite you to witness this evolving and interactive space that promotes expression and connection over shared questions of identity, in a time of disruption and distance.
Co-Directors
Wong Wai Yee and Ricky Sim
Conceptuliser/Performers
Annika Mei Das, Choo Qian Ning, Ellyssa Yeo, Estelle Yeo, Eunice Loh, Gabrielle Chia, Lee En Jie
Facilitators
Matthew Goh, Natasha Fawzi
Date / Time
6 Aug 2022, 7pm | 7 Aug 2022, 1pm & 5pm
Venue
Watch it here
“How has your internal ‘tempo’ changed over the past two years?”
Covid has forced us to adapt to new and unexpected circumstances, resulting in the disruption of pacing within and between people. Consciously or unconsciously, we have had to adjust our inner timings and rhythms to fit this uncertainty. As parts of the world stop and start, open up and lock down, the effects continue.
The artists conducted sessions exploring how participants’ pacing has changed between three periods of time: pre-Covid, the heaviest lockdowns and now. Through a series of sessions involving discussion alongside movement, sound and visual experiments, each participant compiled their own collection of pacing graphs. We combined the graphs with those of other participants to find patterns that led to the creation of immersive performances by the RAW Moves dancers.
Creator/Conceptualiser
Murasaki Penguin (Australia/Japan)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara
Part of YPAM Fringe 2023
Date / Time
15 – 17 December 2023
Venue
Murasaki Penguin Project Totsuka Theatre, Yokohama
Research & Development (R&D) promotes creative investigation in a curated practice, with an emphasis on unveiling the creative process and methodologies through archiving and performance.
How often do you think about breathing?
A Sense of Air navigates the relationship between our state of mind and the ways air moves through us. RAW Moves, together with conceptualiser Andy Pang, follows a research process involving dance and puppetry that reflects the different layers of self-awareness, empathy, and environmental consciousness in relation to one’s breathing. In this journey of introspection, we invite you to discover how your breath can connect with the self, society, and the environment.
Creator/Conceptualiser
Andy Pang (Singapore)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara
Date / Time
4 August 2023, 8pm
5 August 2023, 3pm & 8pm
Venue
Watch it here
RAW Project (RP) features commissions and reprised works with the intent to infuse diverse movement aesthetics into the local arts industry.
Experience a captivating exploration of the intersections between the wisdom of elders and the vibrance of youth. “Symbiosis” invites you to witness the dynamic between generations, revealing the enduring value of elder wisdom through the lens of contemporary challenges.
Music by SAtheCollective
Natalie Tse (Guzheng & Electronics)
Brian O’Reilly (Cello and electronics)
Christoven (Viola and abstract objects)
Movement collaborators – RAW Moves
Audrey Desmond
Matthew Goh
Wong Wai Yee
Ricky Sim
Digital multimedia
Keith Chia
Date/Time
1 March 2024: 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Venue
RAW Moves Studio
Wendy Mack (Singapore)
Lim Ci Xuan (Singapore)
Ashley Ho (Singapore/Netherland)
Rachelle Lee (Singapore)
Ke Yu-Fang (Taiwan)
Teoh Jie Yu (Singapore)
Matthew Goh (Singapore)
Natasha Fawzi (Singapore)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara
Physical Event (10 to 12 February 2023)
10 February 2023
Premiere of 12 films and Artist Sharing
Duration: 7:00 to 10:00pm (3 hours)
11 February 2023
Workshop 1: Wendy Mack (Singapore)
Art form: Craft + Discussion
Duration: 3:00 to 5:00pm (2 hours)
Description: Botanical Soap-Crafting
Workshop 2: Ashley Ho (Singapore/Netherlands)
Art form: Movement + Discussion
Duration: 7:00 to 9pm (2 hours)
Description: How do we begin to dance?
12 February 2023
Workshop 3: Matthew Goh (Singapore)
Art form: Movement + Text
Duration: 10:00 to 12pm (2 hours)
Description: Moving memories
Workshop 4: Ke Yu-Fang (Taiwan)
Art form: Movement + Film
Duration: 1:00 to 3:00pm (2 hours)
Description: Body Mapping
Workshop 5: Lim Ci Xuan & Teoh Jie Yu (Singapore)
Art form: Applied Drama + Discussion
Duration: 4:00 to 6:00pm (2 hours)
Description: Trauma and its invisibility
Digital Event (13 to 19 February 2023)
Watch it here
Run Another Way (RUN) is a movement clinic that functions as an unconventional work in an unusual theatre setting. It serves to create opportunities for the public to engage, participate and interact in the dance-making.
Synopsis
“How has your internal ‘tempo’ changed over the past two years?”
Stutter examines how the pandemic has forced us to adapt to new and unexpected circumstances, resulting in the disruption of pacing within and between people. Consciously and unconsciously we have had to adjust our inner timings and rhythms to fit this uncertainty. As parts of the world stop and start, open up and lock down, the effects continue.
Creator/Conceptualiser
Murasaki Penguin
Choreographer
Anna Kuroda (Japan)
Sound/multimedia
David Kirkpatrick (Australia)
Dramaturg
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara
Performers
Matthew Goh
Audrey Desmond
Date / Time
1 to 3 December 2022, 8pm
Venue
Watch it here
Goodman Arts Centre
90 Goodman Road, Block B, #01-08
Singapore (439053)
Office: 9362 9931
Email: hello@rawmoves.net
Copyright © 2022 RAW Moves Ltd