Passages

PHAN MING YEN; Extract from The Straits Times, Thursday, September 21, 1995.
Arts/Entertainment, Page Seven.

Four years ago, he applied martial arts movement to dance in the work Breath Of Time, premiered by the Singapore Dance Theatre.

The music was by the Australian group Sirocco, whose brand of world music used Indian, Chinese and Western instruments.

Now, in another work, Passages, which receives its world premiere by the SDT in its September Season this weekend, Gordon uses the Alexander Technique which, though originated by an actor, has nothing to do with dance or the theatre.

The technique works on the principle that muscular tension in the body inhibits performance, not only on stage but also in all aspects of life.

It teaches one to release this tension and to be aware of the balance and articulation of the body, even in a activity like sitting.

Describing movement in words is never easy, but Gordon says this of his work: "It Is contemporary and fusion. You will see the head leading the flow of movement through the body and an unrestricted use of space."

It is not that the 36-year-old Gordon is being gimmicky.

He just happens to believe in adding on whatever he is studying at the moment to his Western classical and contemporary dance background.

"It is a pure dance piece. There are meetings in it, there are couples who are involved in relationships,” he elaborates.

"There are ideas which have to do with reflection of your own passage in life. It is an abstraction, but there are always themes and moods, and that is also created by the music, of course."

Gordon’s choice of music is, indeed, no less interesting: This time round, it is two pieces from the famous Ravi Shankar-Philip Glass album, Passages. The melodic content is sinuous and haunting, the repetitive and insistent rhythms hypnotic and spellbinding.