cont.act Dance festival returns as a fully live event

THE years of the pandemic dealt a severe blow to the arts, but the challenges of 2023 are shaping up to be even tougher. With the government withdrawing all financial support related to Covid and inflation taking hold, arts organisations are now grappling with diminished ticket sales as audiences tighten their belts amid fears of a global economic downturn.

Amid this difficult backdrop, T.H.E. Dance Company is preparing to launch its cont.act Contemporary Dance Festival in June, albeit with only half of the platforms and offerings compared to its 2019 edition. Kuik Swee Boon, founder and creative director of T.H.E., says: “We managed to survive during the pandemic by cutting costs and attempting to reach an audience online. Now that the pandemic is officially over, we persist in promoting contemporary dance while confronting other challenges.”

The upcoming cont.act 2023 festival marks the first fully live edition since 2019. In the interim years, several online and hybrid productions were created, reaching audiences as far as Europe and the Middle East. However, revenue from digital offerings remains disappointingly low, as online audiences are reluctant to pay a significant amount for virtual shows. Consequently, T.H.E. has temporarily halted digital productions.