The August to October period was a busy one for performing arts groups at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Most of these groups, such as the NUS Dance Ensemble, Chinese Dance, Symphonic Orchestra, Indian Dance and Dance Blast!, held their annual concerts during this period, with several held in collaboration with the Exxon Mobile Campus Concerts.
With close to 32 performing groups - 22 from the NUS Centre for the Arts and 10 sub-groups from the NUS Cultural Activities Club - requiring rehearsal venues for their concerts, there is a question of whether facilities in NUS are able to accommodate all these rehearsals.
The answer seems to be a resounding, "No."
A recent concert by the NUS Dance Ensemble, titled The Next Wave 2011, paid a heavy price when one of its dance items had to be cancelled due to a shortage of rehearsal venues - even though preparations had already commenced.
Other performing groups have been feeling the strain in venue shortage over the recent hectic period of performances. Being unable to secure any of the proper dance studios for rehearsals due to heavy bookings by other groups, performers often have to resort to rehearsing in open, public areas around the campus. These areas include the Arts and Social Sciences Block 7 (AS7) and the Yusof Ishak House corridors.
These areas have no proper rehearsal facilities, such as built-in speakers or mirrors. Instead, they have reflective glass surfaces and are air-conditioned, hence making them a popular but imperfect substitute for dance studios.
While some performers are able to utilize any type of open space for their rehearsals, others require special venues for their practices.
“Unlike the Hip Hop dancers, Contemporary and Chinese dancers require a certain flooring as well as adequate space for our rehearsals,” Ng Yen Ngee, a NUS Chinese Dance committee member, said.
“If the flooring is uneven, or the rehearsal space is too small, we can get injured easily, and would be forced to cancel our practices,” she said.
A telltale sign of the venue shortage problem is when substitute public areas become overcrowded with performers hoping to secure a rehearsal venue.
As these are unofficial practice venues, they cannot be pre-booked. Thus, performing groups might face unexpected shortage of rehearsal venues at the last minute, as another group could arrive first, or ad hoc events might take place.Other performing groups have been feeling the strain in venue shortage over the recent hectic period of performances. Being unable to secure any of the proper dance studios for rehearsals due to heavy bookings by other groups, performers often have to resort to rehearsing in open, public areas around the campus. These areas include the Arts and Social Sciences Block 7 (AS7) and the Yusof Ishak House corridors.
These areas have no proper rehearsal facilities, such as built-in speakers or mirrors. Instead, they have reflective glass surfaces and are air-conditioned, hence making them a popular but imperfect substitute for dance studios.
An additional problem surfaces when lessons are taking place at these areas in the day. Performers rehearsing would then not be allowed to play their music or instruments too loudly in order not to disrupt lessons.
“During busy periods, there can be as many as five groups competing for space at AS7,” said Glenn Ho, Dance Captain of the NUS CAC D-Hoppers. “It’s the same problem every semester, and we’ve all gotten used to it. Every concert has so many items, and each item needs venues for rehearsals.”
Performing arts groups have been looking into further alternatives aside from these public venues for rehearsals, such as borrowing studio usage from the six Halls of Residence.
However, performers from the NUS Halls of Residence are sometimes unable to secure sufficient venues for their own practices as well. Sometimes, they have to turn to using public areas outside of their halls for rehearsals. This further increases the demand for public rehearsal spaces.
“Our hall studio is too small to accommodate all our dancers, and practising at the open areas in our hall disturbs the residents. We usually have to rehearse without music if we use these spaces,” said Sheares Hall Dance Head, Mereith Lo. “With performances come rehearsals, and with rehearsals come the problem of sourcing for venues. It’s a problem experienced by anyone in NUS who loves to perform.”
This problem of rehearsal venue shortage has been in existence for a while and worsened over time, due to the increasing membership intake of each performing arts group in NUS.
“The demand for performing groups has been increasing over the years. It might be because CFA has been pushing for programs and measures to increase the membership, even with limited facilities for us to practise,” said Alex Teo, President of NUS Dance Blast!. “It doesn’t help that the studios in U-Town are still under construction.”
It seems that this shortage of venues is here to stay, at least until more venues are constructed for rehearsals. In the meantime, the performers will continue to find alternative solutions to cope with the problem.
“This year was not the first time an item has been cancelled in Ensemble history,” said Dicky Eka A, a member of the NUS Dance Ensemble. “It was unavoidable, and we had to move on from there.”
Regardless of venue shortages, there has been no case of entire concerts being cancelled due to this problem yet. Performances will still take place as scheduled, with performers keen as ever to showcase their undampened passions.
“No matter what happens along the way, the show must still go on.” said Dicky, with a determined smile.
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