Guide for the Few

Singapore, Happening

Sounding Light

16 to 17 October 2026

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in Cheng Tsung-lung's Sounding Light, two evenings in the Esplanade Theatre as part of da:ns focus – Connect Asia Now.

Esplanade Theatre, 1 Esplanade Drive, Singapore 038981

The Cloud Gate dancers huddled under projected light in Sounding Light

Why it is worth going

Cloud Gate was founded by the choreographer Lin Hwai-min in 1973 and is regarded as Taiwan's leading dance company; in 2019 it received the Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Company in the United Kingdom.1 Cheng Tsung-lung, who succeeded Lin, made Sounding Light during the pandemic.21 The piece follows a single day in a forest, and all of its sound is made live on stage: the dancers breathe, sing, snap and clap alongside music by Lim Giong and Chang Shiuan.2 It premiered internationally in 2024 at Kunstfest Weimar and HELLERAU in Dresden.2 Cheng talks with the audience after each performance, with Chinese-English interpretation.2 The Esplanade Theatre is the centre's largest indoor venue, a horseshoe-shaped house.3

Dancers bowed to the floor, their backs marked with colour
Dancers bowed to the floor, their backs marked with colour
The Esplanade Theatre from the stage, its tiers of horseshoe balconies
The Esplanade Theatre from the stage, its tiers of horseshoe balconies
Sources
  1. Cloud Gate Dance Theater - Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org, read 27 September 2026.
  2. Sounding Light | da:ns focus. esplanade.com, read 27 September 2026.
  3. Venues for Hire. esplanade.com, read 27 September 2026.
  4. Visit. esplanade.com, read 27 September 2026.

Last checked 27 September 2026.