Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Half
Commissioned by Esplanade
Director / Royston Tan
Co-choreographer & Dancer / ZHOU Zi-hao
Co-choreographer / Yarra Ileto
Composer &Sound Design / CHONG Li-chuan
‧Duration : approximately 10 minutes
What happens if your reflection breaks free from you? What will it do and where will it go?
Half is an explosive and intimate dance portrait of a dancer and his reflection. The film offers a fusion of film and dance by incorporating movements within the image. Through this, it also explores the idea of having multi-faceted layers within the self.
Half is directed by critically acclaimed director Royston Tan and produced by Chuan Pictures, in collaboration with co-choreographer and dancer ZHOU Zi-hao, co-choreographer Yarra Ileto as well as composer and sound designer CHOUG Li-chuan.
Main Creator
Director / Royston Tan
The idea of this film really sparked off when I looked at myself in the mirror and had a sudden epiphany that we would not know how we actually look like from another person’s perspective. The closest person would probably be our reflection in the mirror. What if the reflection has separate thoughts and identity, what would he or she think of us?
This film is a curious imagination of this concept, and collaborating with Zihao has been nothing short of wonderful. I hope that this film can ignite various interpretations within the audience and perhaps metaphorically—cultivate a deeper understanding towards the fact that all of us have multiple sides entrenched within us.
Singaporean director, screenwriter and producer. In 2000, first short film The Son. In 2003, 15, which won the International Film Critics Union Award at the 16th Singapore International Film Festival, the "Special Jury Award" at the Asian Film Festival, and became the first film to be awarded the "Future Gold Award" by the Venice Film Festival. The Singapore film nominated for the Lion Award, and won the "Best Director Award" at the 5th Brunos Ellis Independent Film Festival for this film. In 2007, the comedy film 881, which was shortlisted for the Rotterdam Film Festival and was selected as a foreign language film for the Singapore Oscars.
Co-choreographer & Dancer / ZHOU Zi-hao
Dance film has been a topic familiar to my craft, and I’ve had the opportunity to direct, choreograph and perform in a number of them over the years. During this project, I experienced many more “firsts”, including the opportunity to create and perform for this year’s Huayi Festival and collaborate directly with renowned film director Royston Tan. It has been a humbling experience that has revived a sense of purpose in creating meaningful and unfiltered work.
In my view, Half depicts the internal conflict towards what one may see as their own reflection versus how it may be perceived in reality. To grapple with this concept challenges many layers of being and sense of self. Philosophically, your reflection is something that belongs to you and only you. And it is something that one needs to accept and live with. In my own thoughts—I am no longer the young energetic mover that I used to be. How can I learn to accept my current self? This project provided a chance for me to take a fresh look, to recalibrate for the current body that I live in and have processed for this performance.
In terms of choreography, my wife Yarra Ileto acted as a second pair of eyes, assisting me throughout the process to help my most authentic self emerge on film. I hope that you can sense the sincerity in the body to find it equally reflective for yourself.
Since he became an independent artist in 2016, Zhuo Zihao has been continuing his exploration of how movements can enhance performance, which eventually widened the spectrum of his crafts. He has not only worked with people in the dance scene, but also communities such as people with disabilities, children, inmates and theatre practitioners. Zihao’s practice covers a broad range of relating subjects like dance filmmaking, photography, set design, production management and even music composition for his own works. Felt Sense (2013) is a work that illustrates his ability to merge 3D projection with live performance. The 2012 Young Artist Award recipient co-produced Dance in Situ in 2015 with the aim of bringing dance to non-dance audiences with site-specific creations. In the following year, the work Being was proudly selected by The Strait Times as one of the best works in 2016.
Zihao studied contemporary dance at LASELLE College of the Arts in Singapore and Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts—both under scholarships. He started his professional practice as a resident artist with Odyssey Dance Theatre from 2000 to 2004, and subsequently became a founding member of T.H.E Dance Company from 2008 to 2016. Over close to two decades of practice, Zihao is now a known name in the scene and has worked with many renowned artists from all over the world. He is currently an Associate Artist with T.H.E Dance Company.
Co-choreographer / Yarra Ileto
As the co-choreographer of the dance film Half, it was important for me to work from a vantage point that allowed ample space for the dancer to reevaluate himself. The theme of self-reflection is an intimate journey that the individual ventures alone in; The work needed Zihao to draw his own connections retrospectively whilst keeping it both a revelation and a mystery. Throughout the choreographic development, I imagined the external relationships in space, prompting the inner dialogues one would have to assess time and energy. This allowed Zihao’s personal experiences to find resonance on site as he carried an emotional and spiritual history in his body.
Thank you to the Esplanade team, creative team and fellow artists who have come together to make this project possible. I appreciate the opportunity for mature dance artists to continue performing and evolving through their bodies in dance and on film.
Yarra Ileto is a an Australian-born, Singapore-based dance artist who negotiates between the roles of director, choreographer, educator, performer and mother. In 2008, she joined T.H.E Dance Company as one of the full-time pioneer members. This has seen her touring extensively in Asia and Europe, working with notable choreographers like Kuik Swee Boon (Malaysia and Singapore), Kim Jae Duk (Korea), Dimo Kirilov Milev (France and Spain), Xing Liang and Mui Cheuk-Yin (Hong Kong). She has also choreographed works for T.H.E Dance Company, T.H.E Second Company, several local universities and art institutions, with works presented at M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival, M1 Fringe Festival and the Joint Dance Congress in Adelaide, Australia. In 2017, she received the Young Artist Award—Singapore's highest honour for young people in the arts. She also furthered her studies and graduated with an MA in Arts Pedagogy and Practice with Distinction from Goldsmiths University, London in 2020.
Composer &Sound Design / CHONG Li-chuan
In the project Half with filmmaker Royston Tan along with dancer and choreographer Zhuo Zihao, my intention as the composer and sound designer was to approach the musical score and sound design by exploring the liminality between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The former includes sounds that the viewer might expect from the movement and objects in motion on screen, while the latter refers to abstract sounds that I imagine to depict the protagonist’s frame of mind, as portrayed by Zihao.
I hope that this would create a dynamic body of sound, connecting with the viewer in a visceral way. In terms of musical style, the score is experimental, without a tonal centre such as a distinct key and devoid of melody and harmony in the traditional sense. Instead, the musical elements—drones, glissandi and rhythmic patterns—stem from and meld with the naturalistic sounding elements such as the refrigerator hum, body sounds, clothes rustling and radio crackling.
Chong Li-Chuan is a Singaporean composer with a keen interest in philosophy, culture and the arts. His career in music and sound started in the late '90s, freelancing as a composer and sound designer in collaboration with practitioners in theatre, dance, visual arts, and architecture. His activities run the gamut of acoustic composition, electroacoustic sound, installation, free improvisation, and collaborative work investigating the poetics of music and sound. Li-Chuan's works had been presented in the United Kingdom, Japan and Singapore.
Production Team
Commissioned by Esplanade
Director / Royston Tan
Co-choreographer & Dancer / ZHOU Zi-hao
Co-choreographer / Yarra Ileto
Composer & Sound Design / CHONG Li-chuan
Production Company / Chuan Pictures
Executive Producer / Karen Khoo-Toohey
1st Assistant Director / Jun CHING
Production Manager / Sherilyn LEE
Director Of Photography / Shyan TAN
Ronin Operator / Christopher ANG
1st Camera Assistant / Daryl NAH
2nd Camera Assistant / Charis YEO
Data Wrangler / Jean Anne Leong
Ronin Technician / Shawn Fonseka
Grip / Ong Soon Lai, Zhang Yuanhui
Art Director / Chris KOH
Art Assistant / Adelene WEE, Samuel TAN
Location Manager / Feefee
Production Coordinator / Wendy LIE
Production Assistant / Lionel SEAH
Production Intern / Macarius CHIA
Offline Edit / Neo Rui Xin
Colourist / Olha Korzhynska
Online Post Production / Gravitate
Executive Producer (Post) / Shahril Ahmad
Online Edit / Pinky C.Vierra, Merv
www.esplanade.com/huayi
Half is a dance film commissioned by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. It is presented as part of Dance en Scene by Esplanade, in partnership with National Taichung Theater (Taiwan), National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) (Taiwan) and Tai Kwun - Centre for Heritage and Arts (Hong Kong).