DANCERS from different countries bring a different perspective to their work. This can be a source of inspiration when creating joint works, as two contemporary dance companies have found.

"It's interesting to learn about dance in different countries and where we have the overlaps," explains Esme Boyce, a Juilliard-trained dancer from the US who is one of six foreign choreographers involved in Maya Dance Theatre's (MDT) Release 5.0 this week. "It's important to see how other people make work and how the movement is framed and contextualised. It's really beautiful to see how much we have in common and yet how different we can be. To experience it is really powerful."

Boyce choreographed a piece of work for three of MDT's dancers last year which premiered in New York as part of the Singapore arts festival held there. The work will now debut in Singapore. Boyce - who is joined by choreographers from Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, Norway and Israel - will also perform an eight-minute solo as part of MDT's Release 5.0.