Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-cultural intertwined and fusion country, its dance is as diverse as its diverse culture. Dance in Singapore is broadly categorized into three types: court dance, folk dance and modern dance.
I. Court Dance
Singapore has a great inclusiveness of foreign cultures, and the shadow of other countries' dances can be seen in its most representative dances. Singapore's court dance is y influenced by Chinese opera, both in terms of spiritual culture and figurative movements have obvious Chinese colors. Chinese opera is a comprehensive performing art that combines literature, music, dance, recitation, martial arts, acrobatics, fine arts, illusion and other artistic components, and skillfully blends them together to present a complex social life as well as twisted and vivid storylines, and to portray the thoughts and feelings of different characters in a variety of expressive forms. Opera has a fixed program, formed a unique artistic style in the historical development, is the valuable intangible cultural heritage of the Chinese nation, has its own most distinctive artistic characteristics, unique in the history of world art. Since the emergence of opera, dance has been absorbed continuously, and opera dance occupies two of the four artistic means of opera, namely, singing, reading, sitting and playing, and two of the four means of opera, namely, sitting and playing. Opera dance in the opera to show a variety of characters, plot scenarios, choreographed life movements and beautiful dance passages and wonderful martial arts acrobatics and other components. Singapore's court dance has absorbed some of the elements of Chinese opera, and the dance's hands, eyes, body, method, steps, and form, spirit, strength, and rhythm have all inherited the essence of opera. In Singapore's court dances, there are often cloud hands, wind and fire wheels, double shaking hands, round field, small shooting swallows, orchid fingers, mountain bladders and other movements commonly used in opera, and there are also shadows of the eyes, boards, body and method in opera, while appearances and spins in Peking Opera have become the place of splendor. The Chinese brought Chinese opera dances to Singapore and gradually developed them. According to documents, from 1887, there were theaters for opera performances in Singapore, and many traditional Chinese opera dances were preserved in Singapore. The Chinese in Singapore combined Chinese opera dances with dances of other races in Singapore to create dances that were representative of Singapore as well as the essence of Chinese culture.
In addition, Singapore's court dance has also been influenced by the culture and art of other Southeast Asian countries, court dance and with certain Southeast Asian characteristics, dance modeling is based on the "three bends", the knees are open, do a half-squat. Other countries in Southeast Asia to join the dance so that the court dance has become solemn and lively, ancient but no loss of light, graceful and smooth dance, rich in sculpture. Due to the geographical location and historical relationship between Singapore and Malaysia, Malaysian dance is often involved in many dances in Singapore. Malaysian court dance is based on Malay folk dance, absorbing the essence of the dance art of Thailand, Indonesia and other countries and gradually perfected, and trained a number of excellent court dance artists. Those that have been preserved to this day include the Axi dance, which is influenced by the court dance of Thailand, the candle dance, which is influenced by the court dance of Sumatra, Indonesia, the Inay dance with long armor and the Kameelan Jugi dance, among others. The most famous of the Malay court dances that have been handed down to Singapore is the Chukki, which is usually performed at festivals and social occasions. This dance is very similar to the cha-cha-cha in both steps and music, with a softer rhythm and elegant movements, but its style is lively, cheerful and entertaining, and guests or tourists are usually invited to join the dancers in the juju. Singapore's court dance is also influenced by Hinduism, the people of Singapore attach great importance to the Indian classical court dance, this dance has a strong religious color, giving people a mysterious and unpredictable feeling. Some of the more famous Indian classical court dances are Kathak, Manipuri, Brahmaputra, and Ghatakri. Though the Indian population constitutes less than 8% of the total population of Singapore, they hold an important place in the dance scene of Singapore. The multi-talented Mr. Bhaskar, who came to Singapore in 1952, made a remarkable contribution to the popularization of Indian dance. His most important achievements were the promotion of Indian classical dance and the Kathakali dance of Kerala, a state in southwestern India, which is a typical stylized Indian classical dance drama with distinctive make-up and performances of different trades, and a very special form of performance. Throughout his nearly sixty years of teaching, he and his wife have worked tirelessly to train new dancers with high quality instruction and have always created new works using traditional dances; in the mid-1950s, he introduced Indian dances to other races in Singapore, and in 1958, he dared to use Indian classical dances in the famous Chinese love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, which attracted a large number of Chinese dance enthusiasts! He has attracted a large number of Chinese dance enthusiasts to learn Indian classical dance and appreciate Indian performing arts. To this day, at nearly 90 years of age, he remains committed to adapting Malay culture and Chinese stories, folklore and literature into kathakali dance dramas. He has successfully brought to the stage "Pansi Cave" from the Ming Dynasty novel "Journey to the West" and the Malay folklore "Tales of the Red Mountain", which continue to add to the multiculturalism of Singapore. Singapore will be different races of the court dance culture absorption, development, multicultural intermingling, for Singapore's court dance added infinite charm.
Singapore's court dance costumes continue the Southeast Asian people's meticulous art and the tradition of making gorgeous costumes and jewelry, which are very exquisite and luxurious. Costumes and jewelry of different styles, incorporating Chinese elements, Thai elements, Indian elements, etc., very distinctive. The headdresses and jewelry are carved with life-like flowers that naturally flutter with the movement of the performers' heads, and their fineness and delicacy are breathtaking. The dancers' costumes are short tops and knee-length, medium-length skirts with a certain degree of fluffiness, so that in addition to the dancers' upper and lower bodies look proportional to each other, they can also highlight the unique style.