Collaborators
Dexter Tai
80-year-old Dexter is married with four sons (one demised) and has hived an ordinary life, experiencing its ups and downs. He personally believes that relationships are a big ticket item of human beings which we should invest in. Dexter has made two good friends in the last seventy-two – but added eight more in his last eight years. As he embarks on his journey towards Destination-72 (how he describes his final journey), Dexter intends to accumulate one more a year till he passes, in the spirit of investing and cultivating relationships.
Eva Tey
Eva graduated with a First Class Honour, (BA) Degree in dance from Lasalle College of the Arts in May 2014. With a Ballet and Contemporary dance background, she has been learning Bharatanatyam under the guidance of resident choreographer of MDT, Kavitha Krishnan, and trainers: Ajith Bhaskaran Dass (Malaysia) and Lakshmi Krishnan (Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore). Her philosophy is, “Dance to Connect; Move to Heal”. In the journey of teaching and sharing, she aims to empower others and to create a safe, inspiring and joyful path in dance.
Hemang Yadav
Actor, playwright, director and dramaturg. Hemang played Bhima in WeCanDoIt’s Trikon (performed in Bangalore, 2011), Godse in Elangovan’s Godse (Agni Koothu, 2013), Absalom in Andsoforth’s dinner-theatre performance Dinner in Wonderland (2016-17) and Pillay in the on-site performance part of the bicentennial celebrations, First Storeys (2019). Plays he wrote includes All The Crazy People (Wisdom of Monkeys, 2010), Maya: Demon Architect (Esplanade Raga Festival/RDG, 2014) and annual site-specific performances for Arts Walk Little India (2017-20). His trilingual (Tamil, English and Hindi) play Pongal was presented for the digital play festival Dastak in August 2021.
Kailin Yong
Kailin Yong is a musician/educator/performer and most of all, a global citizen and a tireless advocate for using the arts to promote peace. He often shares his gifts as a composer, music director and performer through his work with Flamenco Sin Fronteras, Maya Dance Theatre, Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre as well as other independent choreographers, dancers and musicians around the world. Kailin is the founding member of the following musical ensembles: Kailin Yong Peace Project, NuMundo, Y String Quartet, PLUS Trio, Qilin Group, WEBE, DoReFaSoLah, Straits Ensemble and Monsoon Intercultural Ensemble.
Lalit Kumar
Lalit Kumar is best known for a progressive world music style, and he draws inspiration from Indian classical, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Peruvian & Flamenco to cultivate a performance and improvisational style that is constantly evolving. Lalit Kumar follows in the footsteps of the modern percussion stalwarts whereby he’s constantly experimenting with ways to uphold tradition and adapt it with new genres & instrumentation to make his sound novel and relevant. He was mentored by leading Latin Jazz artist Victor Mendoza in areas of percussion repertoire and music composition.
Raghavendran Rajasekaran
Raghavendran Rajasekaran, fondly called Ragha, is a composer, improviser, and performer. He plays the Indian Classical flute in both the North and South Indian Classical styles. His musical works are thought to be unique, culturally diverse and adaptable to any form of art settings. Currently, Ragha is an Indian Classical Flute teacher at the Temple of Fine Arts Singapore, a creative collaborator-composer for music, dance and theatrical drama for arts institutes and companies in Singapore and globally.
Shahrin Johry
National Arts Council Postgraduate Scholarship recipient, Shahrin graduated from Roehampton University, UK in 2019. Trained in Bharathanatyam, Javanese and Balinese dance, Western dance like Urban forms, Ballet and Contemporary dance. He has been the principal dancer/ assistant choreographer in Maya Dance Theatre since 2007. His independently created works include: ‘The conference’ (2012 – 2016), ‘Sweet lips’ (2014), ‘KA’ (2017), ‘Re: Path’ (2018). Shahrin aims to initiate cross-cultural works that explore the relationship between dance and society, and the body as a political statement.
Sharda Harrison
Actor and theatre maker, an arts educator and a television presenter, Sharda is currently the presenter for Talking Point (Channel News Asia) where she approaches local and international current affairs with a fresh approach stemming from her theatre training. Sharda runs a company called, ‘ChapterInk’, where she coaches corporate clients in effective presentation and communication skills using Theatre pedagogy. For the community, Sharda has facilitated physical theatre workshops for Maya Dance Theatre, working closely with dancers as well as participants in Maya’s special needs and seniors program.
Shaul Hamid Shabirah
Shabirah is 73 years young, semi-retired. She looks at life in positive ways and as she grows older, she enjoys her own company and space and uses her time reflecting on the spiritual side of life, and connecting with her Creator. In this piece, she reminisces on her life journey and the adventures she has gone through since she was a little girl and how it has shaped her to grow her social circle and provide a listening ear to her friends and family whenever they need.
Subastian Tan
Subastian Tan is a graduate from Singapore Management University (SMU). He has been a dance artist at Maya Dance Theatre (MDT), performing for productions such as Anwesha: Beyond The Darkness and Pancha: Flowers Don’t Bloom All The Time which address social issues through dance theatre. He is also the programme supervisor of Diverse Abilities Dance Collective (DADC), a community initiative by MDT started in 2018 which provides a semi-professional platform for persons of all abilities. Through his craft, Subastian aims to connect across cultures and abilities to reflect lived experiences and provide a safe space for conversation and introspection.
Roar Collective
Yahssir M (Millenia Motion Pictures)
Yahssir is the Founder of Millenia Motion Pictures who leads the operation of the company. He is also a Director and Executive Producer in all of our productions. He directs the team in development, screenplay writing and directing.
For over 15 years, Yahssir has been directing and producing short films, telemovies, television dramas and commercials. He knows it all – from pre-production to post-production. While screenplay and directing is his forte, he is able to handle the camera and edit as well.
