The Coronet Theatre is a reimagined architectural and design jewel, originally built as a grand Victorian Playhouse, now a pioneering home for international, cross-disciplinary arts. Curated by Artistic Director Anda Winters, over the past decade it has become a significant cultural landmark.
Known for world and UK premieres, its mission is to bring artists and art forms from around the world, championing work that would not otherwise be seen. The programme enables access for diverse audiences to world-class theatre, dance, music, film and visual arts through co-productions, commissions, and invited works.
Centrally situated in London’s Notting Hill, The Coronet has two main spaces: The Auditorium and The Print Room Studio. With the additional performances and exhibitions in the bar, the atmospheric upper rooms, and basements, the whole building is a living global showcase.
SEARCHING BLUE《寻蓝》
T . H . E D A N C E C O M P A N Y
Searching Blue 《 寻 蓝 》 is a hybrid indoor and outdoor performance from The Human Expression (TH E) Dance Company, one of Singapore’s seminal contemporary dance collectives, accompanied by a live soundscape by Malaysian sound artist Kent Lee.
Starting with a full-length performance in The Coronet Theatre auditorium, five dance artists will then guide the audience to a surprising nearby venue, unfolding across a series of garden sites and a backdrop of spectacular architecture
Created by T.H.E’s founding artistic director Kuik Swee Boon, the piece is inspired by his daily commute, the relationships we have with our environment and the people around us. Searching Blue《寻蓝》offers intimate engagements between dancers and the audience here subtle gestures and li e sound shape an atmosphere of
CAST & CREATIVE TEAM
Concept & Direction:
Kuik Swee Boon
Choreography:
Kuik Swee Boon in collaboration with the performers
Incisive observations, firmly Singaporean roots, and a universal relevance make The Human Expression (T.H.E) Dance Company. Driven by a sincere desire to uncover the intricate, oft-overlooked facets of human existence, works by T.H.E steeped in T.H.E’s HollowBody® methodology of accessing deeper impulses and embodied knowledge through movement are an essential mirror to our contemporary everyday.T.H.E is dedicated to surfacing the body as a medium for exploring and reflecting on the human condition through contemporary dance. It also runs Singapore’s first annual contemporary dance festival, and regular public classes and programmes for schools and the community.
PheNoumenon《现 象》
Performed at The Coronet Theatre
Feb 2022
Photo: Crispian Chan
Photo: Bernie Ng
KUIK SWEE BOON
Founder and Artistic Direct Dance Company (est. 2008)
cont·act Contemporary Dan 2010), Swee Boon rose from Singapore People’s Associati Company and Singapore Da becoming the principal danc Compañia Nacional de Danz 2002 2007, performing in Artistic Director Nacho Dua renowned guest choreograp Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Ohad Na Vandekeybus.
Under Swee Boon’s direction become a seminal dance com signature voice derived from HollowBody methodology, d 2016.This methodology info Boon’s repertoire of works fo has toured many internation including a 360° virtual reali adaptation of PheNoumenon during the pandemic. His nu commissions include Infinite (2022) for Esplanade’s da:ns also marked the opening of t Waterfront Theatre.
Swee Boon is a 2007 Young recipient, a 2003 Benois De Award nominee, and a 2021 with the International Societ Performing Arts.
A NOTE THE COMPANY ON SEARCHING BLUE
If we all had the ability to reach a nirvana-like state of “ oneness ” with the world, and a sense of being at peace with all that happens, would you be willing to give it a try? Would you have any concerns about relinquishing your sense of self in turn?
Drawing inspiration from the Extended Mind Thesis (1) and Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s My Stroke of Insight (2), Searching Blue is an attempt at rediscovering and understanding the body’s oft-neglected capabilities of sensing and perceiving as we ponder, and reconstruct, the relationships individuals share with each other and the world.
1.Extended Mind Thesis, coined by Andy Clark and David Chalmers (1998). In philosophy of mind, the Extended Mind Thesis (EMT) says that the mind does not exclusively reside in the brain or even the body, but extends into the physical world.
2 My Stroke of Insight is a book and Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) talk by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor that shares her experiences of “ oneness ” and metaphysical connectivity with the world in the immediate aftermath of suffering from a stroke
WHERE HAS SEARCHING
BLUE BEEN?
SINGAPORE:
Goodman Arts Centre & Geylang Park Connector, Singapore (November 2023); ArtScience Museum [excerpt] (August 2024); Bhaskareeyam, SOTA Studio Theatre, Singapore [excerpt] (August 2025)
MALAYSIA:
COEX, Hin Bus Depot, Penang (December 2023); Chinese High School, Batu Pahat (July 2025); klpac, Kuala Lumpur (October 2025)
INDONESIA:
Institut Seni Budaya Indonesia (ISBI), Bandung (December 2023); Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta (December 2023)
AUSTRALIA:
OzAsia, Adelaide (October 2025)
Founded in 2008 by choreographer and artistic director Kuik Swee Boon,T.H.E has spent almost two decades developing a body of work that is rooted in Singapore but international in outlook.The company ’ s performances have travelled widely across Asia and Europe, appearing at festivals and venues in South Korea, Japan, France, Italy and beyond.
What sets T.H.E apart is not simply its choreography, but the philosophy that underpins it.
THE BODY AS A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD
At the centre of T.H.E’s practice is HollowBody™, a movement methodology developed by Kuik Swee Boon and now embedded throughout the company ’ s training and creative process. Rather than focusing solely on technique or aesthetics, HollowBody encourages dancers to access deeper instincts, emotions and embodied knowledge through movement.
The approach grew from Kuik’s long search for a choreographic language that reflected both his experiences as a dancer and a broader understanding of what it means to be human. Having danced professionally with Singapore Dance Theatre and later as a principal dancer with Spain’s Compañía Nacional de Danza, he returned to Singapore determined to develop a distinctive artistic voice of his own.
HollowBody emerged from that search.The methodology views the body as a vessel carrying thoughts, emotions, memories and energy, seeking to create a stronger connection between mind heart and
DANCE AS HUMAN EXPRESSION
From its earliest days, T.H.E has been concerned with the complexities of human experience: our relationships with one another, with society and with the environments we inhabit.
Its works often combine technical precision with an unusual sense of openness and vulnerability. Dancers are encouraged not simply to perform movement, but to reveal something of themselves through it. The result is choreography that feels intensely personal while speaking to universal themes.
This commitment to exploring the human condition extends beyond the stage. T.H.E also runs Singapore’s first annual contemporary dance festival, cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival, alongside workshops, public classes and programmes that invite wider communities into dialogue with contemporary dance.
A HIDDEN CORNER OF NOTTING HILL: DISCOVERING THORPE LODGE
Most visitors to Notting Hill know its colourful terraces, bustling cafés and busy streets. Few realise that tucked away behind Holland Park Avenue lies one of the area ’ s most remarkable hidden spaces.
For the second half of Searching Blue《寻蓝》, audiences leave The Coronet Theatre and travel together to Thorpe Lodge, a beautiful historic villa set within the grounds of Holland Park School. Usually glimpsed only from afar, the building and its gardens offer a rare opportunity to step away from the city and experience a quieter side of West London.
Thorpe Lodge is the last surviving villa of a group of grand houses built on the Phillimore Estate in the nineteenth century Over the years it has
