Rant and rave: THE Dance Company’s Lee Mun Wai

SINGAPORE — It seems like dance artist Lee Mun Wai has all the right moves. After all, he recently won the Young Artist Award, which he considers “a little pat on the back”.

“It has been a very tough journey. At the same time, I know the pressure is on because with such awards come increased expectations,” said Lee.

He’ll be performing at this year’s M1 Contact, the annual contemporary dance festival organised by THE Dance Company, of which he is a founding member. This year, expect seven productions and a slew of other events such as workshops and a forum.

“M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival has grown to become a festival for exciting, alternative and unique contemporary dance,” said Lee.

You can catch him in Organised Chaos, a new piece jointly created by the company’s artistic director Kuik Swee Boon and resident choreographer Kim Jae Duk. He’ll also be giving two contemporary dance classes for beginners as part of the festival.

“There is so much I want to do in terms of artistic exploration. All I can say now is that, in whatever I do, I hope it is always an improvement from before. I see this career in art as a lifelong progression,” he said.

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RANTS

1. “INSTANT NOODLE” CULTURE. There’s a diminished value of depth in local society. We are such an “instant noodle” kind of country. (Everything) must be fast — never mind if it does not taste like the real laksa, just use MSG and food additives to make it taste as such. I get this feeling that it is about mere accumulation and not about appreciating or understanding what you accumulate. Very little value is placed in taking time to hone certain skills or acquire knowledge. Maybe it is because I am a dancer. Every dancer knows that you do not go from standing to grande jete in one class. It’s painstaking toil. But through the time spent, you learn a great deal more. You learn the stuff that you cannot Google or research on Wikipedia.

2. PEOPLE WHO THINK ART IS EASY. Are you kidding me? When you practise art, you question your worth and existence on a daily basis! You tell me if that is easy. Also, producing good art requires one to be honest with oneself and that is something very hard to do. If you ask me, it is so much easier to clock 9 to 5 at some corporate job. The system is there, the rules are laid out, you politick a little and then you are out for happy hour. Rinse and repeat. With art, one usually demands the near impossible from oneself, and usually on a next-to-nothing budget.

3. SINGAPOREANS’ WOE-IS-ME ATTITUDE. People who keep thinking that they are victims of their circumstances. Especially in cushy, sunny Singapore. Look, let’s put this in perspective, there are people trying to fend off ebola and the Islamic State. How bad can it be here? Life is what you make of it. Everyone has issues, everyone has problems; some bigger, some smaller. But if you keep thinking you cannot do anything about these, then, of course, your circumstances won’t improve. There is always a way out. Quit whining and go find it.

RAVES

1. LARGER-THAN-LIFE ICONS. Bjork, Debbie Harry, Karen O, Lady Gaga, Chris Ho, Marina Abramovic, U2, Madonna — there is just something intoxicating about people who live or present themselves as larger than life. I have come to realise all the creative people I look up to are extreme in this sense and I try to emulate this all-or-nothing attitude. It’s the only way to live, if you ask me.

2. THE AMOUNT OF ART IN SINGAPORE. There’s a nonsensically large amount of art activities here. I think we can’t use the excuse that there is no art in Singapore any more, can we? I can’t even keep up with the dance performances, let alone events from other disciplines. It’s great. I think the next step now is to focus on art education, so that we can grow the audience size in the future, and for artists to start being increasingly critical about the quality of our output to make sure it keeps staying fresh, exciting and relevant.

3. THE VOCIFEROUS LOCAL SOCIAL SPHERE. I love all the arguments happening among different sections of local society now. A lot of people think it is negative. I think it is the beginning of truly living. Previously, social cohesion was maintained only because we put up so many OB markers and no-go zones and not because we truly understood one another. We skirted around issues for the longest time. That is why the arguments are happening now, because we want to solve these issues and not avoid them anymore. We are still a very long way from being a pluralistic, mature society. But, it is a start. If we do not even start to exchange words, how will we ever understand one another?

M1 Contact 2014 runs from Nov 27 to Dec 13. Organised Chaos will run from Dec 4 to 6 at the Esplanade Theatre Studio. Tickets from SISTIC. For more details on the festival, visit http://www.the-contact.org.