About
Marcus “Marzipan” is constantly developing his craft as a choreographer, educator, performer, community driver and a bridge between movement and meaning.
His roots lie within the sub-cultures of Street Dance, where his passion for it extends beyond the physicality of his craft. He is deeply invested in the socio-political implications as well as the anthropological significance of Street Dance culture.
Marzipan's style of work often crosses between the boundaries of tradition, heritage and innovation. He uses Street Dance language layered with contemporary thought and experimentation to create worlds of exploration.
His journey has taken him across borders, sharing his experiences through workshops, talks, and initiatives in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and the US. He has taught in various institutions such as the School of Dance & Theatre at LASALLE College of the Arts, University of the Arts Singapore, as well as School of the Arts Singapore.
He has presented and performed works at various platforms such as Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA), Aliwal Urban Arts Festival, Singapore Night Festival, F1 Singapore Grand Prix, Esplanade's Da:ns Festival, NAC's Got to Move Festival, SMU Arts Festival, Noise Singapore, San Francisco Hip Hop International Festival and also JOAT Festival Canada.
Alongside his partner as ScRach MarcS, he also continues to push the boundaries of what street dance can be—an art form untethered, free to exist in unexpected spheres, places and spaces.
Introducing criticality in Street Dance through the living structures of conformity and society
Current curricula in Street Dance place more focus on performative qualities and technical excellence, often prioritising a final output—perhaps driven by industry standards and societal structures that place emphasis on success.
My research aims to introduce criticality in Street Dance pedagogy which aims to help practitioners navigate the idea of conformity and societal pressures that exist in Singapore. I designed a curriculum that used participant’s lived-experiences as the key driving force in the activities. In turn, this influenced the curriculum and transformed the classroom into a space of shared learning.
I developed a Living Structures framework in which Living Structures of Conformity invited participants to challenge conformity through the concept of poses, while in Living Structures of Society, The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was used to contextualise themes of oppressive forces in the lyrics, and to express them through tableaus. Each activity also ended with the sharing of insights through dialoguing.
The findings show how systems in place reinforced conformity through various ways: state and institutional pressures, peer enforcement, classification. There is an importance and a desire for safe spaces that enable agency and autonomy, which leads to a more authentic response to the structures in place.
My research hopes to introduce a critical lens through new pedagogical approaches that would allow a deeper relationship with Street Dance and its customs and practices—giving practitioners new ways to navigate the culture, the classroom and the self.
Participants who took part in the sessions.
What are our roots beyond inheritance?
Professional practice
I believe in how life and art exist in harmony and in a dialectical manner. They inform each other, and are informed by each other; in a constant cyclical iterative web of lived-experiences. My practice is both practice-led and research-led as I believe in the balance and synthesis of learning through a living education: hence, I am developing my framework "Living Structures" which hopes to transform environments of learning into environments where living can be learnt; and learning can be lived.
Beyond pedagogical practices, I am also an active practitioner and advocate of the arts; not limited to just Street Dance, I am interested in the philosophy and ideologies of movement. My work brings be beyond just the educational space but into the creative discovery and process, as well as developing infrastructure in the arts.
Xu Yanzhe
Mu Yanyu
Simon Pike
Chng Xin Xuan
Michelle Zhang
Lai Juan-Xiang, Jesse
