ASK! about  Performing Arts

There’s a lot of hype now about Japanese anime, like D-Grey Man, Hellgirl and so on. You can probably rattle off a longer list than me, but what about Japanese films? Do you still remember the horror hit of 1998, The Ring by Hideo Nakata, and scenes of the creepy long haired woman crawling out of the tube? Simply hair-rising experience of many of the movie-goers then.

Besides The Ring, there are several other Japanese films that cover diverse themes, such as:

Tokyo Godfathers by Satoshi Kon (2003)
Call No.: Other 791.433 TOK
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

Three homeless friends find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve and try to locate her parents.

Hana & Alice by Shunji Iwai (2004)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 HAN
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

Hana and Alice are inseparable friends until Mark, a cute boy they spot at a train station, comes between them. Tricking Mark into believing that he is suffering from amnesia, Hana claims that she is his girlfriend. A baffled Mark struggles to regain his memories as he is drawn to the prettier Alice. When their bond deepens, the girls’ lifelong relationship begins to fray, propelling them apart.

Bushi no Ichibun / Love and Honor by Yoji Yamada (2006)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 BUS
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Takuya Kimura) and his wife (Rei Dan), who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband’s honour.

Onna ga Kaidan wo Agaru Toki / When a Woman Ascends the Stairs by Mikio Naruse (1960)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 ONN
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

The widowed Keiko manages a hostess bar in Tokyo’s Ginza district. She remains faithful to the memory of her husband and supports her mother, brother and his son. The smiling mask she wears allows her to make a living, but the pressure to sell herself is unrelenting. Her business is failing and she must decide whether to raise the money to buy her own bar, or marry one of the admiring affluent patrons.

To celebrate Japanese films (and reward you for squeezing your scholarly juices), the library@esplanade has partnered with the Embassy of Japan and the Singapore Film Society to give aways tickets to the Japanese Film Festival 2008 (22 - 31 August). For more information, see here.

Contributed by Goh Peck Keong, Librarian, Adult & Young People’s Services

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ASK! about Performing Arts

Do you need resources for plays for your school drama club? Or perhaps you are looking for some books with scripts for an upcoming public performance?

Regina, an Orchard Library “citizen reporter”, recently asked our Librarians for help on locating some good books with scripts for her school drama club’s public performance, which is aimed at a general target audience of all ages.

Peck Keong, our ever-friendly Librarian at Esplanade Library, suggested these titles from Esplanade Library to Regina:

[1]
You could consider going through the following anthologies of short plays for young actors and young audiences. The plays collected in these volumes are suitable for all ages and young actors and actresses like yourself should have little difficulty with the scripts.Please note that some of these plays may be rather short in length, so what you might consider doing is present two of these plays for your performance.

So dear reader, if you are like Regina, needing help on locating any resources, we…your Librarians… are always at your service.

All images were extracted from www.amazon.com
For the availability of the above mentioned book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Posted by
Mr Justin Tan
Public Librarian
for Adult and Young People’s Services

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ASK! about Performing Arts

In today’s context, music publishing is no longer limited to just publishing of music in print. The business of music publishing has now expanded and branched out to other aspects such as the protection of copyrights of the original music by the artiste(s), record companies, online music business, compiling the sheet music, transcribers (perfect for those who have a good ear for music), and also record royalties.

Within the print business of the music publishing industry, there are 3 main areas:
1. standard music publishing in classical and serious contemporary music;
2. educational music publishing in music instructional books; &
3. popular music publishing.

Some examples of music publishers are Schirmer (classical and new music), Hal Leonard ( a compendium of music styles, including instructional), and Music Sales (songbooks and educational titles).
You can refer to their websites as cited below:
http://www.schirmer.com
http://halleonard.com
http://www. musicsales.com

Owing to the rampant spread of music being easily downloadable online and the threat of piracy, music publishers now strive to protect the copyright of the original music they own to prevent infringement, and the detrimental cause-and-effects consequences caused by music being freely distributed, be they in print, online, or sound recordings.

In Singapore, the MPS (Music Publishers) is formed to do just that. For more information, please go to http://www.mps.org.sg/

Answered by Ms Eleaner Ang, Librarian (Adult and Young People’s Services)

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Dance on Demand
This post is a follow-up of Guide to Dance on Demand: Intro. In that previous post, you’ll be able to find out how to access Dance on Demand. Here are some of the features of this new dance database:

DANCE on Demand - a digital encyclopedia combining audio-visuals and text on contemporary dance of Germany exclusive to the library@esplanade and Goethe-Institut Singapore.

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Watch videostreamings of 100 films showcasing modern dance available from the database (only available via log-ins at library@esplanade and Goethe-Institut Singapore).

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Looking for information on dance pieces, choreographers, programme notes, etc? Look no further from the database which offers a compendium of information you need.

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Profiles of established German dance companies and institutions such as the Bremen Tanztheater and the Hamburg Ballett.

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Access writeups on various themes from the beginnings of dance to choreography to dance in cinema, music, and drama.

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Contributed by Jillian Lim, Adult and Young People’s Librarian

Found this interesting? What do you think?
Post your comments, or send further questions about this or any other topic to ask@nlb.gov.sg

What is Dance on Demand?
Dance on Demand is a digital intitiative that brings the contemporary dance of Germany to Singapore. This is the world’s first digital film database of German dance. Dance on Demand contains digitally remastered films and photographs, together with textual information (eg, programme notes, details of choreographers, etc). Specifically, you will be able to access:
1. 100 films showcasing modern dance (videostreams);
2. performance pieces ranging from ballet to avant-garde;
3. highlights of key dancers and choreographers;
4. profiles of main German dance companies and institutions; and
5. dance themes

What is Dance on Demand useful for?
This database is an important and vital resource for students, dance practitioners, and anyone interested in dance or movement.

How and where can I access Dance on Demand?
Most of the information on Dance on Demand is accessible from home with minimal fuss. Simply access the NLB website and click on eResources link on the top bar. Screenshots available here. This will bring you to the eCollections page. Dance on Demand is the 2nd link on this page. However, to view the videos from Dance on Demand, you would have to access it at the multimedia stations (PCs which provide Internet access) at the library@esplanade and the Goethe-Institut Singapore Library. A Digital Libraries account is needed to use the multimedia stations, you can register for a free account at the libraries or from home. After successfully acquiring an account, proceed to log-in at a multimedia station. Usage of the multimedia stations at the libraries is charged is 3 cents per minute (or $1.80 per hour), payment is done via cashcard.

Look out for our next post highlighting the features of Dance on Demand!

Contributed by Jillian Lim, Adult and Young People’s Librarian

Found this interesting? What do you think?
Post your comments, or send further questions about this or any other topic to ask@nlb.gov.sg

ASK! about Performing Arts

“Simply put, poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they’re saying and how they’re saying it.
A poetry slam is a competitive event in which poets perform their work and are judged by members of the audience. Typically, the host or another organizer selects the judges, who are instructed to give numerical scores (on a zero to 10 or one to 10 scale) based on the poets’ content and performance.”

Source: Poetry Slam, Inc. FAQ

The idea of poetry slam (also known as slam poetry) originated in Chicago in the 1980s. More details can be found in this article at Historylink.org, the online encyclopedia of Washington State History.

Word Forward (a non-profit arts company) launched Asia’s first officially registered poetry slam venue in Singapore. In July 2006, they started a monthly poetry writing competition, in addition to holding monthly slams.

All websites last accessed 13th July, 2006.

For more resources on poetry slam and writing poetry, read on!

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ASK! about the Perfoming Arts

“Soap opera” is an American term used to describe a popular genre radio or television series, which has domestic and/or melodramatic themes. It originated in the 1930s.

Here are some online references:

“The term “soap opera” was coined by the American press in the 1930s to denote the extraordinarily popular genre of serialized domestic radio dramas, which, by 1940, represented some 90% of all commercially-sponsored daytime broadcast hours. The “soap” in soap opera alluded to their sponsorship by manufacturers of household cleaning products; while “opera” suggested an ironic incongruity between the domestic narrative concerns of the daytime serial and the most elevated of dramatic forms.”
Source: The Museum of Broadcast Communications: Soap Opera

and

“The expression soap opera refers to a radio or television series depicting the interconnected lives of many characters often in a sentimental, melodramatic way. It is also used figuratively to refer to a real-life situation that resembles the stories on soap operas, and to anything having sentimentality or melodrama.

A soap opera is so called for the less-than-thrilling reason that soap manufacturers were prominent initial sponsors of such programs.”
Source: Random House: The Mavens’ Word of the Day

All websites last accessed 9th June, 2006.

For books about soap operas, read on!

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