Dance legend Guillem's last bow

BECAUSE dancers aren't supposed to last beyond the age of 40, this year's da:ns festival at the Esplanade features a surprisingly touching theme of age and physical decline.

Last weekend saw the rare comeback performance of four respected Singaporean dancer-choreographers above 40 who have hung up their dancing shoes - Kuik Swee Boon, Silvia Yong, Jeffrey Tan and Albert Tiong. Amid jokes about increasing years and weight, they gave powerful physical performances, making several members of the audience - some of whom are ex-dancers themselves - weep again and again.

This mid-week saw the last Singapore performances of Sylvie Guillem, the greatest dancer of her generation, giving a farewell world tour before she retires in December. The former ballet star rose to glittering fame at the age of 19 under the guidance of Rudolf Nureyev. But now 50 and reinvented as a contemporary dancer, one could say she's been dancing on borrowed time.