ASSOCIATE
ARTISTS
A dancer and choreographer trained in Malay performing art forms, Ismail Jemaah (b. 1990) dives into Malay dance to make sense of his personal experiences and beliefs and explores contemporary dance through the lens of his roots as his catalyst. He believes that arts and movement provide the freedom for people to create a connection, even across differing beliefs or opinions. Ismail is also a resident instructor and choreographer in Azpirasi Dance Group, a traditional and contemporary dance group under artistic director and founder, Mr Azmi Juhari. Over the years, Ismail has enjoyed close relationships working with other companies/organisations such as Kaizen M.D., P7:1SMA and Wright Assembly to name a few.
Through his involvements as the medium, Ismail seeks to observe how the world we live in can be shared, through the body we move with.
Ismail
Jemaah
Jonit is a dance artist based in Singapore working closely with P7:1SMA Ltd. as a project artist. She graduated with a Diploma in Dance from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and has supplemented her training with the Gaga Intensive Summer Course in 2018 and the Second Company Training Initiative under The Human Expression (T.H.E) Second Company. She has had the privilege of working with and performing works by Norhaizad Adam, Anthea Seah, Lim Fei Shen, Ezekiel Oliveira and Shahrin Johry. She has also performed on local platforms such as liTHE by T.H.E Second Company, Pesta Raya and da:ns festival.Recently has had the privilege of working internationally with Ate 9 on a new creation.
Jonit On
Sharul is a versatile dance artist passionate in creating contemporary works that explore movement language of Malay traditional form. Upon graduation from BA (Hons) Dance from LASALLE College of the Arts, he would like to nurture his practice and create more choreographies.
From 2007 he has been a Malay dance practitioner with Artiste Seni Budaya, under the tutelage of Mr Rizman Kassim. He developed a well-honed craft in the various traditional and folk forms of Malay dance. He is also currently an associate artist with P7:1SMA dance company since 2018.
Currently he is the Malay dance instructor for Woodlands Secondary School and Hillgrove Secondary School. His vision for his dancers is to develop versatile performers. He is also involved as an observer with the National Instructors and Coaches Association (NICA).
Sharul
Mohammed
Xie Shangbin
Xie Shangbin (born 1982, Singapore) is active in the local community for playback theatre as well as contact improvisation. As a performer, he is a collective associate with P7:1SMA and a founding member of the Chinese-speaking Long Time No See Playback Theatre. His artistic practice includes playback theatre, P7:1SMA dance, contact improvisation, movement improvisation and six viewpoints. He adores the eclectic bunch that resides in P7:1SMA.
Sonia moves, makes and shares through varying mediums: often, she is performer, co-creator and/or facilitator in projects spanning across disciplines. She believes in exploration of the edges, in-between and unspoken to open up alternative perspectives. Sonia’s practice is driven by a fascination with the body, particularly in exploring the material(ity) of the body and how bodies relate (to each other, society, etc). Sonia holds a Professional Diploma in Intercultural Theatre (Acting) from the Intercultural Theatre Institute and Bachelor of Creative Industries (Drama) with Distinction from Queensland University of Technology. Currently, she is an associate artist with P7:1SMA and associate member of Dance Nucleus.
Sonia
Kwek
Syarifuddin
Sahari
He started out in street dance at 17 and now mainly practices HipHop, House, Dancehall & African, yet having interest in other forms of movement and performance. He believes that dance as movement is a universal language that shares vocabulary and concepts, and is open to finding new ways to move and explore in order to better communicate physically. Intrigue, fascination, curiosity, wonder and understanding are some of the fuels that drive his actions and behaviour. He is currently exploring the relation between sound and movement. He can be a bit...eccentric, at some times even more so.
Syimah
Sabtu
Syimah’s practices derive from her Contemporary Dance background and as a Malay Folk Dancer in her early years of dance experience. She believes in exploration, in not being bound by a genre, forms or disciplines. In her works, she is interested to explore and connect with elements nested in the mind and bodies she works with; their histories, textures, and beliefs, to name a few. Her current research dives into the dualities of being. On days that she is not doing anything related to dance, she loves to sing and strum her guitar or ukulele!
Valerie believes life must be spent pursuing what makes us feel the most alive. The mysteries of the human body, multi-disciplinary and immersive works deeply thrill her. Her current movement practice involves seeking discomfort by cross training in different movement practices like bouldering, breakdancing, parkour, tricking and is hoping to add muay thai and aikido to the list.
Valerie
Lim
Kow
Xiao Jun
Graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with Masters of Landscape Architecture and Bachelor of Arts (Architecture), Kow Xiao Jun works predominantly in the field of dance, theatre and design. Since her first contact with the arts scene in 1995, not only does she perform, she has also been teaching and nurturing the young since 2007. She recently started her director journey, working with CHIA on Mr Magnolia (2017) which received the Life! Theatre Award Best Production for the Young 2018 and ANG Gey Pin on The Silly Little Girl and The Funny Old Tree (2019). She continues to venture in her artistic journey by collaborating with and learning from various companies and freelance artistes.
