Christina Chan
Dancer/Choreographer
I think I first photographed Christina Chan when she was performing as young Aurora, the titular character of The Sleeping Beauty (2004; Singapore Dance Theatre). I got closer to her years later, when she was a dance model for a photography class that I was teaching. Christina is a very accommodating subject. She’s inquisitive, and from simply dancing, has become a well-known choreographer for Frontier Danceland, Singapore Ballet (as SDT is now called), and many other dance companies.
I’ve known Ngiap Heng for half my life. We’ve shot dance and art photography, and even collaborated on an underwater shadow film.
In my mind, our professional shoots and personal interactions have blended and overlapped together into one long get-to-know-you session. I cannot quite place what was going on in this particular photograph, but we must have been talking about life and dance, as we often have over the years.