In celebration of The Next Wave’s 30th anniversary this year, the theme of Affirmations seeks to re-evaluate Southeast Asian
contemporary in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing arts scene.
NUS DE’s Southeast Asian vocabulary - its form, aesthetics and function - has evolved over the years as NUS DE embarks on a journey of introspection and rediscovery. With the blend of traditional and urban, time stills, warps, transforms space. The NUS DE dancer’s identity - what it means to do Southeast Asian contemporary - becomes increasingly hard to pin down. Yet, at the heart of such uncertainty, the process and rigour - a boldness to challenge existing states of aesthetics - prevails.
 

In response to the questions of what constitutes Southeast Asian contemporary, The Next Wave 2022 features works from Tamie Wong (President and Dance Captain of NUS DE AY21/22), Shahbirul Zaki Ahmad (Pioneer member of NUS DE) and Zaini Mohd Tahir (Founder, Resident Choreographer and Artistic Director of NUS DE since 1992). The repertoire pays tribute to the past, the tension of being on the cusp of change, and questions on identity and themes that are irrevocably Asian. In so doing, it attempts to answer the perennial question: what is Southeast Asian contemporary?