Dr Danny Tan
Artistic Director & Choreographer,
2004 Young Artist Award (Dance)
A renowned and prolific Singaporean dance ambassador, Danny has forged strong alliances with many international organisations and artistes for 2 decades, positioning unique Singaporean identity on the world dance map. Championing for a uniquely Singaporean voice, Danny is a well-known arts practitioner and producer with remarkable milestones in dance making and production. Danny is highly commended by local and international press and media, government officials and dignitaries for his penchant of Asian Contemporary Dance works. Danny’s commissioned works by embassies, corporates, ministries and institutions have graced theatres and festivals across Asia, Australia and Europe.
As the Founder and Artistic Director of Odyssey Dance Theatre (ODT) since 1999, Danny has directed and produced more than 100 mainhouse seasons. His signature works includes 19 full-length works and more than 100 repertoire that are performed to global audiences of more than 30 cities in 20 countries. Danny is also the Festival Director of 2 notable Singapore International Dance Festivals – Xposition ‘O’ Contemporary Dance Fiesta and DanzINC –International Dancers and Choreographers’ Residency Festival, which he founded in 2001 and 2004 respectively. He is also the Festival Director for Summer DanceFit Festival since its inception in 2006.
Danny’s ability to move people with his arts and passion, have created many first in Singapore arts scene. Danny’s sincerity has earned the trust of many local and international esteemed organizations, and across different sectors. Many of his initiatives are growing strength to strength and his international circuit of friends has also grown.
Danny’s caring for the community and the under-privilege sector saw the birth of many sustainable community initiatives such as the Summer Dance Fit Festival since 2006, which has health, fitness and dance being promoted as a wholesome idea for community bonding. As the Festival Director, he has enriched engaged the social sector with close partnership with many organisations.
Wall Street Journal (Hong Kong) once cited Danny as a ‘mover and shaker’ in Singapore Dance. Danny recently received K-Fellowship awarded by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of South Korea recognising him as a Singapore's Cultural Celebrity. Danny tours ODT extensively with Singaporean works and artists. He continues to inspire the new generation of artistes and audiences with his passion for dance, charting new frontiers and confronting new boundaries, setting new impressive possibilities for Singapore dance to grow and prosper.
“Danny Tan, one of the most important choreographers in the world.” Siena Press
“I am greatly looking forward to entering Dr Tan’s world of choreography and enjoying the visual eloquence of form and vitality of movement in this new creation.” H.E. Oh Joon, Former Ambassador
Embassy of the Republic of Korea (Singapore)
“In Tan’s performance, simplicity was the key and the movement remained contained spatially within a circle of light – dynamic and expressive. He (Danny) really should dance more often” The Business Times
Odyssey Dance Theatre, as one of Asia Pacific's foremost full-time professional contemporary dance companies, brilliantly synergies dance, inter-cultural styles, live music, visual arts and multimedia. Choreographic endeavours delve into Asian themes, intercultural explorations and subtle portrayal of human relationships.
With its trademark - 'Innovation, Creativity and Precision', Odyssey Dance Theatre continues to astound global audiences with its vision and ambition, empowering Asia's promising young professional dancers, and celebrating the region's finest dance talents.
Vision
To be the foremost contemporary dance theatre in the Asia-Pacific region.
Mission
To be the foremost contemporary dance theatre through presentation of works with a distinctive Singaporean identity, alongside excellence in artistic management and strong production values.
A home-grown dance company, Odyssey Dance Theatre Ltd (ODT) has shown passion and determination in bringing dance to a wider audience. Over the years, the ODT has also nurtured Singaporean dance talents and expanded its horizons through its divisions: ODT International, Arts4youths and ODT Cares
Mr Sam Tan
Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office &
Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth
ODT’s efforts in building long-term ties with international artistes and companies are exceptional, and I look forward to more artistic collaborations in the years to come
Professor Chan Heng Chee
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ambassador-at-Large
1999
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Founding of ODT
2000
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ODT’s first mainhouse “Odyssey to the Sublime” at Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel
2000
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Awarded by the National Arts Council as the first Artiste-In-School, the first of its kind in Singapore
2001
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Seagate International, Patron of the Arts for ODT in 2001, commissioned three mainhouse seasons – “X-Treme 2”, “The White Sensation” & “Xposition ‘O’ Contemporary Dance Fiesta”
2001
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The inaugural Xposition ‘O’ Contemporary Dance Fiesta was successfully produced with more than 80 international artists from Australia’s Expressions Dance Company, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and ODT
2002
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Commissioned by The Esplanade to perform in “The White Sensation” in Esplanade Theatre.
2003
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Establishment of ODT Young Company and Arts4yoUths division
2003
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Co-presented with Singapore Art Museum (SAM) to present “Passion.Love”, ODT’s first outdoor mainhouse production
2004
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Produced the inaugural DanzINC – international Dancers & Choreographers’ Residency Festival, with international cast from Austria, Malaysia, Singapore & South Korea
2005
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International collaboration and performance of “Synesthesia” by ODT and Seo Dong Hyun Dance Company with 14 international artists performing at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
2006
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Inaugural Summer DanceFit Festival at Singapore Indoor Stadium Green
2006
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ODT’s Artistic Director Dr Danny Tan was commissioned by the Singapore Arts Festival to produce “Providence” for its choreographic dance platform – “Forward Moves”
2007
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ODT Young Company’s first mainhouse season “Dance on the Move” at Lee Foundation Theatre
2007
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First Company-In-Residence programme at ODT with Cathy Seago & Dancers (UK)
2008
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Summer DanceFit Festival 2008. Closing event was held at The Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, Singapore Botanic Gardens, with more than 520 performers
2009
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ODT celebrated its 10th anniversary with ‘Red Tears’, a uniquely Singaporean production that investigates the 400 years old Teochew Opera with Contemporary Dance
2010
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Publication of the state-of-the-art coffee table book – “Dance Odyssey – A Decade of Brilliance”, documenting ODT’s first 10 years of dance development.
2011
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ODT celebrates its young company’s 10th anniversary with “Soaring Odyssey”
2011
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ODT International continued to set new milestones by presenting 6th Xposition ‘O’ Contemporary Dance Fiesta, the first Singapore dance festival on tour in Singapore and Seoul.
2011
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ODT’s second generation of Singaporean choreographers have ventured their choreographic skills since 2008, producing many refreshing and dynamic works, such as “Silent Connexion” that have toured internationally.
2012
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Signed a three-year MOU with Dance Association of Korea & MOTUS (Italy) in May 2012, the first for a Singapore dance organisation
2012
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ODT International continues its quest with an awe-inspiring 6-month DanzINC Festival, testifying ODT’s belief in engaging the audience with new precedent in International Strategic Programming
2013
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First full-length performance by ODT’s second generation of Singaporean choreographers with full Singaporean casts – “The Art of Faking”
2014
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Commissioned by Nanyang Polytechnic to produce and direct a dance musical “Viva!” with 400 performers to critical acclaim (Esplanade Theatre)
2014
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Commissioned by the Singapore Biennale 2013 to present a site-specific work - “As We Live…” (Singapore Art Museum)
2014
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Finale of the 6th DanzINC Festival – “Moments” was held in partnership with The Embassy of the Republic of Korea, and in association with the Korea Festival 2014. Performed by ODT Main Company with live music & vocal accompaniment by 10 ODT Associate Artistes (Music). (University Cultural Centre Hall)
2014
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Completed a 3-year MOU with Korea Dance Association (Korea) with 14 major productions, showcasing 14 works in 9 international festivals in Singapore & Korea
2014
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Completed a 3-year MOU with MOTUS Company (Italy) with 12 major works and 7 festivals in Singapore and Italy
2015
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Summer DanceFit Festival 2015, more than 250 participants from 35 organisations and 40 programmes for the community
2015
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Xposition ‘O’ Contemporary Dance Fiesta 2015 has sustained continued growth as a festival on tour, highlighting performances on several international stages: Italy, Taiwan, Thailand, & Singapore.
2015
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ODT’s new initiative P.E.T graced by Minister Grace Fu during the exclusive premiere of ‘Wow! Merlion’ at the Victoria Theatre (Singapore).
2016
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Completed 6 months DanzINC festival, featuring some of the best companies and artistes in Asia and Europe.
2016
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Supported by The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Singapore for the third time, Dr Danny Tan’s full-length work “I Am Sorry!” was successfully premiered at UCC Hall as the finale of DanzINC festival, as well as Korea Festival 2016.
2017
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Cultural Diplomacy (9th Xposition ‘O’ Contemporary Dance Fiesta 2017). Completed a 4-cities tour in Italy, in partnership with 5 Italian dance companies, namely Spellbound Contemporary Ballet (Rome), Equilibrio Dinamico Dance Company (Bari), DaCruDanceCompany (Rome), MM Contemporary Dance Company (Reggio Emilia) and MOTUS Dance Company (Siena).
