Kho Yong Xiang

Over the 2 weekends of August 2025, I joined the first Playback Theatre Core Training, led by Michael Cheng. I revisited the basics of the applied theatre form, Playback Theatre. The course was under Singapore Drama Educators' Association, its first as the affiliate school of Centre for Playback Theatre. Pictures from our mini showcase on Day 3 which we had titled, "The More We Get Together". Permission has been sought from the Teller and the actors involved, please do not circulate the pictures further. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Singapore Drama Educators Association (@sdeaofficial) The first batch who completed the Playback Theatre Core Training. BACKGROUND Playback Theatre is an applied theatre form where audience members are invited to share their personal stories. The Playback Theatre troop would then reenact the story through improvisation and spontaneity. Usually the performances are done wit...

In June 2025, I participated in the Relational Choreography masterclass by Dik Danstheater . The masterclass culminated in a dance performance, Relations (Live) ,  on 14 June to nearly 200 audience members as part of the International Community Arts Festival Hub in Singapore (ICAF Hub Singapore). A picture with the Dik Danstheater team (Left to Right): Jordy Dik, Vincent Dankelman, Sjaak van Dam, Loura van Krimpen Core members from the Relational Choreography  masterclass. Picture with the audience at the end of Relations (Live) BACKGROUND Drama Box hosted ICAF Hub Singapore: The Gathering from 12 - 15 June 2025. in Singapore. The festival which originated in Rotterdam, the Netherlands is held once every three years to showcase community arts organisations, professionals and practices from around the world. The masterclass by Dik Danstheater was a sharing of their  Relational Choreography method that the company developed over the last 5 y...

Since September 2024, I have been taking up weekly 1.5h sessions of Jazz Intro with Jazz.Artistry.Movement (J.A.M.)'s Mel. I admit that I was responded to the dance form through an Instagram ad, (perhaps naively) hoping to find a more accepting dance form. I had felt like my body was too old to conform to the demands of ballet. So imagine my surprise when I entered class and was told to do plies and pas de bourrees ! My flexibility (and pas de bourrees ) need a lot more work and I am still trying to figure out what has made me stay on. I wonder if it has to do with the more contemporary (pop) sound and the openness to blend with elements from other dance forms. Or perhaps, it is to do with the focus on conditioning, to slowly nudge my body into form. Or maybe even perhaps, the intergenerational crowd of fellow attendees. I might not have said it aloud but it is encouraging to be in the such a space and that my body can continue moving.

[Side note: I watched this play with a friend. And we were reminiscing all the times we have gone to a theatre show together. And I actually forgot the name - and venue - of the first show we watched. It made me recall why I started doing these "reviews" in the first place. I knew my memory was bad, and at a younger age, it was so expensive to go watch the theatre! I want to remember what I paid money for, what I liked and the questions that the performances left me with. This space is firstly a personal record for myself. And secondarily, maybe an informal record of the transient performance that passed.] National Day Charade written and directed by Thomas Lim re-imagines Singapore's National Day Parade, the annual parade which celebrates Singapore's nationhood. The play imagined an alternate National Day from the usual curated parade and glamour we see on our TV screens. Within the Ngee Ann Kongsi theatre, a contingent for the LGBT community, migrant workers and act...

I became a volunteer docent with Both Sides, Now (两面之间), conducting English and Mandarin tours during the Closer arts installation in October 2018, the public installation in July 2019 and  tides (潮） in March 2024. Community Tour at the public installation in Telok Blangah, July 2019. Uncle Jason, one of the participants in the workshops sharing his post cards. Photos by Clara Lim. Volunteering as a docent and leading the elderly through the community arts trail at Chong Pang, titled, "Closer" (Sep 2018). Retrieved from ArtsWok's Instagram Stories. BACKGROUND Since June 2017, I have been volunteering at Both Sides, Now (BSN). BSN is a arts engagement programme that uses the arts to spark conversations about end-of-life care, living well and leaving well. In the 2017-2019 iteration of BSN, the programme was based in Chong Pang and Telok Blangah in hopes to have a deeper engagement with the residents. The 2024 iteration of BSN, Both Sides: Now: tides, ...

From January to March in 2024, I decided to do an Introductory course in Ballet with Z.en Ballet with Marissa Ooi. The 1h 15min sessions were used to introduce us to the principles of classical ballet. This included basic barre exercises, posture and coordination. I joined with the intention of hoping that ballet would help me understand some of the dance traditions other dance forms like Contemporary dance were seeking to break. I will not deny that the 8-weeks has been a challenge for my body. I thought the entire process was humbling. It informed me about how dance may be experienced and perceived by others who are new to it. Ballet demanded more precision in posture and feet movements compared to Locking. The flexibility demanded ran contrary to my body's default. My calves and plantar - on the sole of my foot - regularly cramped in the midst of drills. I eventually found comfort as I got used to the routine of the drills we would do. Sessions where we had a demonstrat...

From October to November 2023, I returned to Legacy Dance Co try their introductory class in Locking with Chris . The 8 sessions of 1.5h classes built upon some of the basic urban dance moves from the Introductory class: such as the two-step and four-step. I thought the course really challenged me to hone in on the groove, hearing out the beats to hit in music. This got tougher with trying to hit 16-beats and also with the songs with the faster tempos. It was physically demanding and while I saw classes as a physical challenge to keep up and control both strength and speed, I wondered how Locking or dance can be adapted to people of other abilities. As always, choreography was also a challenge. However, as someone who has not had formal dance education, I thought the sharing about the origins of Locking to be an interesting was to think of dance. How it started from Don Campbell, an arts student who was doing his own thing; and how it evolved into a movement with his crew; and how...