After volunteering for Sigma’s performance: Dock 65 last year, I was really amazed by what they put out. Fast forwarding, when we were given our choices for the internship placement, Sigma immediately caught my attention. I then decided to choose Sigma as my internship placement and am very grateful for this opportunity especially given these circumstances in the COVID – 19 Pandemic.

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This internship was one of the most interesting and immersive experiences any intern could ever find. Unlike “traditional” internships, where interns would help teach classes or undergo the company’s technique classes, Sigma involved the interns in their own dance film project, “Hypnagogia”. I managed to learn so much within the short span of 10 weeks, not only developing my dance technique and artistry but also develop a new skill set such as art management skills (i.e., planning, funding, marketing, administration, etc.)

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The Artistic Director, Hong Guofeng imparted these skills to us by planning out each week carefully, meeting all the checkpoints and goals for the day. Due to the pandemic, Sigma was not able to receive government funding for this project. However, he taught me to be resourceful and creative, minimizing the budget through the means of self-sourced and handmade most of the props and sets. Learning from how he managed to produce two successful projects in collaboration with his musician taught me that I should engage in networking with all sorts of other artists (i.e., musicians and videographers).

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 In addition, I had a lot of interaction with Sigma’s residential dance artists, where they taught me new sets of contemporary dance techniques and to develop an intention when dancing. Personally, I feel very comfortable to have interned at Sigma. The Sigma family has been very kind and accommodating to the interns. They are very supportive, acceptive, and caring towards everyone; not divided by a hierarchy, they take into account every individual’s thoughts and opinions, carefully and patiently understanding each and every one of them.

 

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Hypnagogia - The experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep: the hypnagogic state of consciousness, during the onset of sleep. Mental phenomena that may occur during this “consciousness" phase include hallucinations, lucid thought, lucid dreaming, and sleep paralysis.

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Guofeng then further developed this concept of state and connected it to loss, the loss of their main studio, the Substation. Guofeng then went through the phases of loss and he further developed into four specific concepts based on loss, which were (1) shock and numbness, (2) yearning and searching, (3) disorganization and despair, and lastly (4) reorganization and recovery.

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Further developing from the loss of the Substation, Guofeng added in another element which was the sentimental feelings and memories from the Substation. Personally, I feel the depth of his thoughts and how deeply he developed the artistic meaning behind his work, and I feel that I would like to take on his approaches whenever the opportunity to create arises.

Through these concepts, I was tasked to create a solo, but with qualities and intentions from the different concepts. Through this interesting and challenging process, I was able to expand my movement vocabulary instead of constantly repeating my movement habits.

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 I personally feel that this piece was very relatable to everyone, mainly because it is the reality of the current COVID – 19 pandemic, where the whole world is experiencing some form of familiarity loss; People have lost their jobs, their livelihood, stability, and even loved ones. I also feel that this piece can inspire others as it also gives people hope, where no matter what, we all still can bounce back and recover.

 

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“Hypnagogia” is a 360 online site-specific performance filmed at Cranwell Bungalow, located in the deep east of Singapore. Guofeng chose the Bungalow because it was an abandoned colonial bungalow that had a lot of memory and history matching the film concept, memories, and sense of loss. Guofeng also hoped that we could create our own memories there, which I definitely did. It was a very memorable and meaningful memory for me.

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 As the bungalow has been abandoned for years, the place was extremely dusty, dirty, and every corner of the house was filled with spider webs and lizard droppings (decomposed lizards too). The first week of the on-site rehearsal, we spent most of our time cleaning up and trying to dance in the space. Now being on-site, I have a better and clearer understanding of the layout of the bungalow and how we could occupy the space as compared to our rehearsals in the studio for the first three weeks.

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In the second week, we started the rehearsal by cleaning up space (again) and we also set up some of the props and sets. Four different rooms in the bungalow were decorated with different concepts resembling each of the four phases of loss. Even though it seemed like it was just a simple task making all the props and sets, I can take some positive mental notes (i.e., how to become more creative and resourceful which I can apply in any project in the future). In addition to that, I also got the chance to have a small sharing session with Sigma’s artists, where I learned how being in the dance industry was like.

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On the third and final week, we tried several times to film the rehearsal using the 360’ camera. This was done as per the COVID-19 pandemic situation, where the audiences are not able to physically watch the performance live. Therefore, Guofeng attempted to recreate the experience of a live performance through the use of a 360 camera with a 300’ viewing angle. The remaining 60’ was not included as it became the ‘backstage’ for the dancers and the videographer. The process was quite tough and we had to go through a lot of trial and error, but in the end, we were able to produce a very well done film.

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In the end, I would not have traded this experience for another one. It was indeed a fantastic internship and with the end of the filming, it left me with a bittersweet feeling; I completed my internship but I would now be leaving our “home” – the place where I spent hours upon hours, dancing, establishing many bonds, and refurbishing the bungalow.

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