The inaugural edition of Liminal, a new platform by The Human Expression Dance Company (T.H.E.), brings together three distinct contemporary dance works while remaining rooted in the company’s characteristic emphasis on physicality.
Created to support mid-career choreographers, the programme features deeply personal works by T.H.E. artists Fiona Thng, Klievert Jon Mendoza and Anthea Seah. Their pieces reflect the transitional nature of this particular stage of an artist’s life.
Thng’s duet The Rooms Inside and Seah’s solo Ma bookend the programme, with both works exploring different aspects of motherhood. Between them sits Filipino choreographer Mendoza’s trio Laya, whose title means “freedom” in Tagalog.
Mendoza draws from his own spiritual journey in Laya, using costumes, lighting and props designed by fashion designer Angeline Oei to create a highly symbolic exploration of the tension between obsessive desire and liberation.
At the beginning, two dancers occupy the stage. Michail Logothetis Alafgrakis remains quietly positioned at the back, observing the action, while Chang En captures attention with fluid, snake-like gestures.
Clear spheres scattered across the floor catch the light, creating a striking visual landscape. Chang eventually draws dancer Carmelita Nuelle Buay into the movement, with Buay holding one of the shining spheres as she becomes increasingly absorbed into the strange world around her.
Chang eventually envelops Buay in a bodysuit covered with the spheres. As they attach themselves to her body, they resemble growths or tumours that gradually distort her appearance. The image becomes increasingly unsettling until Buay appears to rid herself of the unwanted objects, much like an infection being expelled, before finally collapsing into a state of surrender.
The opening section of Laya establishes its ideas with considerable clarity. However, once the choreography moves towards its representation of freedom, the movement becomes less defined. The reduced specificity makes the conclusion feel somewhat indistinct, diminishing the force of the work’s earlier imagery.
Chang nevertheless gives one of the evening’s most memorable performances. Her ability to adapt her physical language and interpretation allows her to move convincingly between very different choreographic worlds. In Laya, she is captivating and almost hypnotic, while in The Rooms Inside she transforms into a much more unpredictable, otherworldly figure.
Exploring Motherhood in The Rooms Inside
In The Rooms Inside, Fiona Thng turns her attention to motherhood, presenting it as a process in which both a child and a mother are born into new relationships.
The duet uses unusual and playful physical gestures to capture the experience. Rather than portraying motherhood solely through conventional images of tenderness, Thng explores the awkwardness and individuality involved in becoming a parent.
The dancers begin with their faces concealed beneath lace, their bodies appearing indistinct and almost creature-like. They merge into one another before gradually separating and taking on their own identities.
Their interactions also contain moments of humour that reflect familiar aspects of everyday relationships. Chang swats Mendoza away with irritation, while he attempts to move closer to her before eventually crawling after her. These small exchanges draw laughter from the audience while also revealing the complicated push and pull between two people.
Why Mid-Career Choreographers Need More Opportunities
The significance of a platform such as Liminal extends beyond the individual works presented on stage.
In a performing arts environment where private donations and patronage can be limited, artists often depend on structured funding opportunities. Such schemes tend to prioritise emerging artists, while larger commissions are more commonly awarded to established choreographers.
This can leave mid-career artists in a difficult position. They may have already moved beyond the early stages of their careers, yet still need opportunities and resources to continue developing their artistic practice.
Platforms such as Liminal can provide greater continuity for choreographers and contribute to the development of the wider dance scene. For T.H.E., however, creating such a platform also carries financial risk.
Mid-career choreographers may not attract audiences in the same way as well-known artists with an established following. Their productions can also demand significant investment, particularly when the work itself is still evolving alongside the choreographer’s skills and artistic direction.
Anthea Seah’s Ma Offers the Evening’s Emotional Highlight
It is perhaps fitting, then, that Anthea Seah, who was appointed T.H.E.’s resident choreographer in 2025, delivers the evening’s highlight with Ma.
Performed with sensitivity and understanding by Fiona Thng, Ma offers an intimate glimpse into the inner world of motherhood.
A single chair sits on a white dance mat, creating an isolated space for a mother who moves between exhaustion, worry, questioning and attempts to regain her composure. Thng conveys this constantly shifting internal dialogue through her physical performance.
The mother’s psychological state becomes even more visible through multimedia projections created by Artania Raharso. At various points, Thng’s shadow is replaced, multiplied or transformed, creating several silhouettes around her.
These projections work alongside the choreography, sometimes mirroring and at other times contrasting with Thng’s movements. The result gives visual form to the thoughts and emotional pressures that remain largely unseen in the mother’s everyday life.
The struggle depicted in Ma feels deeply grounded in reality. Yet the work does not end in despair. When recordings of mothers and their children enter the soundscape, the atmosphere gradually softens.
A sense of calm settles over the stage, providing a gentle and satisfying conclusion to the evening and bringing the three-part Liminal programme to a close.
Read the Original Article: T.H.E. Dance Company’s new Liminal platform showcases mid-career choreographers
