Founder
and Artistic Director of ODYSSEY DANCE THEATRE LTD - Danny
Tan had started dancing since the age of 13. First trained
in the art of Chinese classical and ethnic dances with Mdm Ong
Choon Mui, Danny had pushed his technical capabilities through
ballet and contemporary dance training with distinguished dance
practitioners such as Mdm Goh Lay Kuan, Mr Ron Ashton, Prof. Susan
Street, Assoc Prof Cheryl Stock and John Utan.
From 1993 to 1998, Danny has performed
extensively both locally and internationally. Though choreography
was his main forte during his current reign as Artistic Director
/ Choreographer, Danny has continued to perform at ODT's productions
with recent performances in 'XTRODINARY SOLOS - A Season Of
Asian Contemporary Dancers', 'ME.I.THANK YOU. and 'WINGS'.
A registered instructor with Ministry
of Education (CCA Division) and People's Association, Danny has
provided numerous training and workshops at People's Association,
LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, Northland Secondary School, Commonwealth
Secondary School and the N5 cluster schools. His earlier efforts
at dance making have earned him recognition at the Singapore
Youth Festival, such as the Distinction Award (1995) and
Gold Award (1997). Acknowledging his valued contributions
towards Northland's dance developments, he was awarded the Outstanding
Service Award in 1997. That same year, he was awarded
the NAC-SIA Travel Grant from the National Arts Council,
Singapore to perform in India. An invitation was also extended
from Ta-Ge Dance Theatre to choreograph and perform his work 'WAVY
EMOTIONS' at Yunnan (China).
To continue in his aspirations to
be a professional artist and fulfilling his passion in dance,
he set off to Queensland University Of Technology in 1998 to study
for his Master in Fine Arts (Dance) under the National Art
Council Bursary Arts Award (Overseas). Under the tutelage
of eminent dance educators and practitioners - Prof Susan Street
(Dean of Dance HKAPA, Former Head of Dance at QUT), Mr
Francious Klaus and Ms Maggie Sietsma (Artistic Directors
of Queensland Ballet and Expressions Dance Company respectively),
Danny continued to hone his choreographic abilities with numerous
choreographic opportunities at Queensland Ballet and QUT. In 1998,
commendation was accorded to his work - 'WINGS', in association
with the Brisbane Festival's Out of the Box - Festival of Early
Childhood. It was also presented at Queensland Ballet Dance
Day and QB's Vis - a - Vis series - All That Jazz
at Thomas Dixon Studio, and was later remounted for Hong Kong
Academy for Performing Arts. During the same year, his other work
'THE ROOTS' premiered at the Woodwards Theatre, Brisbane
(Australia) for QUT's annual production New Moves - Statement
through Dance.
Upon his return in 1999, Odyssey
Dance Theatre (ODT) was founded with its debut performance
'ODYSSEY TO THE SUBLIME' in January 2000 at the Jubilee
Hall, Singapore and Taiwan ROC. This successful debut
has led ODT to present many other acclaimed repertoires and productions
with warm reviews.
Having a genuine intention have
put him solidly in path to astounded local and international audiences
on a number of accounts with his vibrant and inspiring works,
where the vision and ambition of his works is paired to the outmost
commitment to professionalism and innovation that have access
to both stillness and technical dynamics.
A propitious and maturing choreographer,
his many works had been performed in Hong Kong, Australia, China,
Taiwan and India. In his initiative to provide a new creative
voice in dance, 7 full-length works & more than 20 short
works have been created with his artistic endeavors in dance
making. All his works have been presented at major venues, exemplarily
Kallang Theatre, Jubilee Hall, Victoria Theatre, UCC Hall (National
University of Singapore), Esplanade Theatre, Esplanade Theatre
Studio, Singapore Art Museum and the now defunct Drama Centre.
His works were also performed at the invitations of Theatre
Arts Troupe, Economic & Development Board, JTC Corporation,
Seagate Technology Int'al and National Arts Council.
For one who constantly challenges
the norms of dance, Danny has initiated the first contemporary
dance festival in Singapore - XPOSITION 'O' CONTEMPORARY DANCE
FIESTA in 2001. Collaborations with accolades from Australia
and Hong Kong saw the participation of 100 performing artistes
and choreographers. The fiesta also introduced Master classes,
workshops, fringe events and professional performances that are
being held at Northland Arts Centre & Victoria Theatre.
October 2003 will see the return of this successful biennial event,
featuring dance companies and artists from USA, Korea and the
Philippines.
Though Danny's main vocation is
an Artistic Director, he has proceeded to spearhead an Arts Centre
at Northland Secondary School, while ODT was appointed the first
dance artiste-in-school by the National Arts Council, Singapore.
His appointment as the artistic consultant and facilitator at
the arts centre saw the development and implementation of a 4-year
dance/arts curriculum since June 2000.
One of Danny's firm beliefs is to
cultivate the younger talents in Singapore while educating the
community through dance outreach programs. The unflinching determination
to uphold public awareness towards this vision had led him to
set up the Young Artists Project (YAP) in April 2001 and
the Young Artists Project Performers in January 2002. Surpassing
itself from the usual conventional dance interaction, both programmes
have offered a definite distinction in professionalism, creativity
and dance development to the younger generation.
Since the company's inception, Danny
has garnered sustained commitment and support from numerous organizations
that have assisted ODT to grow from strength to strength. These
include the National Arts Council, ARTS FUND, Lee Foundation,
The Arts Magazine, OCBC Bank, Singapore Pools, Hotel Bencoolen,
Northland Secondary School, PASSION 99.5FM and most recently
SHELL. In May 2001, Seagate Technology Int'al gave major recognition
towards Danny for his conceptualization and choreography of his
full-length repertoire 'THE WHITE SENSATION'. This work
was also re-staged during the Esplanade's Trial & Orientation
Programme at the Esplanade Theatre.
During his directorship, Odyssey
Dance Theatre was transformed into a company limited by guarantee
in November 2001 while it received its charity status in December
2002.
Odyssey Dance Theatre continues
to elevate the presence of contemporary dance in Singapore while
promoting arts to the local and international audiences. Danny
has just returned from an invigorating brief stint at the Tisch
School of the Arts (New York) during its summer dance residency
festival 2003. After the premiere of his latest full-length work
'Passion.Love.' at the Singapore Art Museum, Danny will be
remounting his acclaimed full length work THE ORIGINS for
XPOSITION 'O' CONTEMPORARY DANCE FIESTA 2003.
Information correct
as at July 2003
