About | Choreographers
ZAINI MOHAMMAD TAHIR
Artistic Director & Resident Choreographer
Zaini Mohammad Tahir started dancing at a late age of 19 when he joined the Singapore Armed Forces Music and Drama Company as an artiste. Upon graduation from National University of Singapore, he continued his passion in the performing arts and worked as a dancer and choreographer for projects in Japan, Germany, Canada, and the United States. His noteworthy performances include memorable parts in TheatreWorks’ original productions of Beauty World and Private Parts and the role of Pouncival in Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, CATS, which toured Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul.
Trained in ballet, jazz and contemporary dance, his choreographic style is deeply rooted in traditional Asian movement, bearing testimony to his Indonesian classical training at the Bagong Academy of Dance in Jogjakarta.
As the Founder, Resident Choreographer and Artistic Director of the NUS Dance Ensemble since 1992, he has led the company of over 120 dancers to garner acclaim and establish itself as a promising contemporary dance company, evident in their annual concerts, The Next Wave (1995 – 2019, 2022) and Evocation (2002 – 2019, 2022) as well as NUS Centre For the Arts’ Dance Reflections (1995 – 2013) and the NUS Arts Festival Opening Show 'Remember When...' . To date, he has choreographed over 100 works for the company. As the Artistic Manager of Singapore Armed Forces Music and Drama Company (2001 – 2007), he directed and choreographed most of the performances and all its seasons’ repertoires, including Singapore’s National Day Parade (2001 – 2002, 2005 – 2007, 2014, 2015, 2018 – 2021).