NUS Dance Synergy is a contemporary dance group that aims to achieve recognition for challenging movement and minds with a process-driven dance pedagogy and for winning hearts as a socially conscious arts group.
Founded in 1978 as the NUS Jazz Ballet Group, the dance company was renamed NUS Dance Synergy in 1994. Under Mr Fan Dong Kai, their former Artistic Director, the group primarily performed lyrical jazz works and established its culture of warmly welcoming dancers with a keen interest in learning dance. Synergy has since evolved to become a community of contemporary dancers who are committed to refining their craft through exploration and experimentation. The group is currently guided by Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer Ms Yarra Ileto and Technique Tutor Mr Albert Tiong.
Focusing on the values of Inquisitiveness, Awareness, Cohesiveness and Dedication, Synergy’s dancers undergo elementary and intermediate technique training weekly, with a progressive framework that allows them to continuously improve and excel in contemporary dance. Synergy seeks out-of-the-ordinary opportunities to question, explore and discover new forms of expression. This includes site-specific and cross-disciplinary performances that challenge artistic boundaries and encourage its dancers to be bold and daring in their own creation of movement.
Beyond an interest in purely practice and performance, Synergy believes in the power of dance to do good in communities and promotes Community, Outreach and Engagement (COE) efforts amongst members by engaging with diverse communities in Singapore to spread the joy, appreciation, and benefits of contemporary dance. This includes dance workshops and interactive sessions planned for targeted communities, such as the elderly and youths, that promotes dance as a sustainable and inclusive activity for all.
Key Past Events
2022 | NUS Arts Festival Opening Show, Incandescent – A City that Never Sleeps |
2021 | NUS ExxonMobil Campus Concerts, Venture 4.0 |
2020 | NUS Arts Festival Road Show, Focality: Where We Nest |
2019 | Fuse(d), Moving Thoughts |
2019 | NUS ExxonMobil Campus Concerts,TL;DR |
2018 | NUS Arts Festival Opening Show, On The Shoulders of Giants (in collaboration with Electronic Music Lab) |
2018 | 40th Anniversary Performance, #HumansofSynergy |
Awards and Achievements
2022 | Production of the Year — Incandescent — A City that Never Sleeps, 13th Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards |
2022 | Outstanding Community Service of the Year — Helping Hands, Moving Bodies 2.0, 13th Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards |
2021 | Outstanding Community Service Award, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards (Honourable Mention) |
2019 | Outstanding Community Service Award, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards |
2018 | Outstanding Community Service Award, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards |
2017 | Original Work of the Year, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards with the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Performance |
2016 | Outstanding Community Service Award, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards |
2014 | Production of the Year, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards with Traces |
2012 | Production of the Year, Tan Ean Kiam Arts Awards with Hereafter |