Tan Ngiap Heng: Anatomy of Performance

Anatomy of Performance is an exhibition that gives rare insight into the world of dance and theatre in Singapore by photographer Tan Ngiap Heng. He has been working with performing arts groups since 2000, taking their publicity and production photographs. In 2011, as Ngiap Heng’s photography started to shift to more personal subjects, he began to document the rehearsal processes of various dance and theatre companies, which led to the setting up of the Work In Process archive which is housed on the website of the LASALLE College of the Arts. Along with 24 images from the productions that Ngiap Heng documented, he shares his personal observations on various elements needed to put together a theatre or dance production in Singapore.

Tan Ngiap Heng has a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering and a doctorate in nonlinear dynamics, both from University College London. His first foray into the arts was undertaking a one-year certificate in dance from the London Contemporary Dance School. Upon his return to Singapore, he worked for the Singapore Arts Centre (now known as Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay), where he photographed performing arts groups for the Arts Magazine.

Ngiap Heng went on to become the resident photographer for the Singapore Dance Theatre in 2007 and 2008, and his work was exhibited and published in an independent photobook, Dance Me Through The Dark: The Photography Of Tan Ngiap Heng (2009). In 2012, he helped found Photovoice SG, an organisation that runs participatory photographic workshops for fringe communities.

Besides having been featured in publications like Photo District News Annual, his dance photography has also been exhibited at the Fotoseptiembre Photo Festival in San Antonio, Texas. Ngiap Heng was also the Early Entry award winner of the One Life: International Photography competition 2012, and a nominee for Singapore’s prestigious ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu award in 2013.

Artist panel discussion and guided tour

Ngiap Heng will be holding a panel discussion and a guided tour of his exhibition. Registration is required to participate in both events, please sign up here.

1. Putting Together a Performance: 13 Aug, 3pm
A panel discussion on dance and theatre productions with prominent figures in the scene — Tan Ngiap Heng, Alvin Tan, Kenny Goh, Patricia Toh and moderated by Edith Podesta.

2. Artist Guided Tour: 21 Aug, 4pm