Postcard from Singapore by Rhiannon Newton

Artist and performer Rhiannon Newton sends us a postcard from her time presenting Long Sentences (Liveworks 2025) in Singapore.

"We had the pleasure of presenting Long Sentences in Singapore last month as part of Dance Nucleus’s inaugural LATITUDES program. Designed to showcase new local and Australian work, the double-bill featured Long Sentences alongside local artists’ Norhaizad Adam and Hasyimah Harith’s new work Berahi: Holy Union.

It was such a treat to share Long Sentences in Singapore and connect again with Dance Nucleus’s community. The season was not without its challenges — last minute licensing and minor food poisoning meant things were appropriately live — but having studied alongside Norhaizad a few years ago, it was a joy to witness the local premiere of their new work. Made together with their wife Hasyimah, Berahi: Holy Union was an elegant provocation about how traditional dance forms and spirituality foster intimacy.

Long Sentences, as a work, feels very connected to the places and particularities of the residency sites where large parts of the work were developed. It's really rewarding to feel how the work moves and connects into new places and with new audiences. The post show conversations each night were a nice chance to be in discussion with the audience, and I was very moved by the responses to Long Sentences. A very heartfelt thank you to Frankie Clarke for being such an effective tour companion, and Peter Lenaerts for realising the sound design for this version of the work. Thank you also to Daniel Kok (Dance Nucleus) and Kate Britton (Performance Space) for all the work behind the scenes to support an exchange of this nature."

Long Sentences was commissioned by Performance Space for Liveworks Festival 2025 and Dancehouse for Season Two 2025 with support from Creative Australia and Create NSW. Long Sentences was created in collaboration with composer Peter Lenaerts, lighting designer Karen Norris, outside eyes Martin del Amo and Nikki Heywood, and understudy Emma Riches, with costume design by Aleisa Jelbart.