Bridging Every Gap
Epic Arts Dance takes inclusive dance to Singapore
Nine days, two performances, workshops from Grade 2 to high school and a key role at a regional conference. This is what a partnership built over more than a decade looks like when it keeps growing.
In September Epic Arts Dance travelled to Singapore for a nine day tour, one of the company's biggest outreach trips of the year. Most of that time was spent with our longtime partner UWCSEA East, bringing inclusive dance into classrooms, onto stages and in front of service learning leaders from schools across the region.
Who are Epic Arts Dance?
Epic Arts Dance is Cambodia's first and only inclusive professional dance company, based in Kampot. Our dancers, with and without disabilities, draw on contemporary dance, Cambodian culture and traditional movement to create performances and workshops that show audiences what inclusive dance can be: professional, joyful and built on real skill.
Epic Arts Dance is also a social enterprise. All the income it generates supports Epic Arts' Inclusive Education Programme for children with disabilities in Kampot.
In the classroom
The heart of the tour was our schools programme at UWCSEA East, with workshops for Grade 2, middle school and high school students. In the Grade 2 sessions, dancer Savy led the transport game, teaching students Cambodian sign language and asking them to move around the room according to each sign.
“My favourite activity in the Grade 2 workshops was leading the ‘transport game’, where we taught Cambodian sign language and the students had to travel based on those signs,” says Savy.
For Sann, the best moment often comes after the workshop has finished. “My favourite part is sharing Cambodian sign language with the students. I love it when they remember and come up to me showing all their signs.”
Thoeun brought the traditional krama scarf into his sessions. “I loved sharing Cambodian culture and the krama in the workshops, as well as my skills as a person with a disability.”
The students more than kept up. “I am so excited when I meet Grade 2 students. They are so focused in their workshop,” says Phuya. “They had great teamwork and excellent communication with the Epic Arts Dance team.”
The Grade 2 workshops ended with a joyful learning share, where parents joined their children on the floor to dance together and celebrate what they had learned.
On stage
Singapore audiences saw two of our works, Buffalo Boy and The Ripple Effect, alongside a whole school assembly performance at UWCSEA East.
Buffalo Boy is shaped around Thoeun's own journey. Before Epic Arts, his only role in his community was caring for his buffalo, Mi Heng. After graduating from our Inclusive Arts Course he asked to stay on, and today he is a full time dancer with the company. The Ripple Effect is our newest piece, exploring how one small choice can change what happens next.
“I feel so happy to be back in Singapore,” says Thoeun. “I loved leading workshops with all the Grade 2 students and sharing my performance of Buffalo Boy. When I looked out into the audience I saw so many people.”
These performances are more than entertainment. Each one puts artists with disabilities centre stage, in front of audiences who may never have seen inclusive dance before, and leaves them thinking differently about what is possible.
Leading the conversation at SLEN
The visit closed with the Service Learning Empowerment Network (SLEN) conference at UWCSEA East, where Epic Arts was a key partner. Our CEO Sokny gave a speech on the Epic Arts story and our long standing partnership with UWCSEA, and the dance team led two workshops for service learning and sustainability coordinators from schools across the region.
For a room full of educators, the workshops were a chance to experience inclusion rather than simply learn about it. “With the SLEN teacher workshop everyone was so friendly and great to communicate with,” says Phuya.
The feedback from participants said it best.
“Even without speaking the same language… the music and dance bridged every gap between us.”
Ailee Chan, Teacher, Dalat International School
“Beautiful movements with respectful inclusion and lovely explanation of how we are scaffolding the movements.”
Kavita, Global Vitality Coach, Ustawi Movement
“The fun and how easy it was to get rid of my inhibitions.”
Suji DeHart, MAD Make a Difference Courses
And, in two words, Cathryn Kaye of CBK Associates: “The joy.”
Beyond the workshops
Between sessions, the team met UWCSEA's Global Concerns student groups to talk through their fundraising goals for Epic Arts, and sold Epic Creations products made by Epic Arts students throughout the visit.
There was time to connect off the dance floor too. “I really enjoyed eating burgers with all the teaching staff, and the lunches at UWCSEA are great. So many vegetables!” says Sann. “Some students also gave the team traditional gifts from their culture, which I loved to try.” Savy's highlight was a Saturday breakfast with the UWCSEA teaching staff.
Outside UWCSEA, Epic Arts Dance took part in an artist exchange with ART:DIS, sparking an exciting new collaborative project planned for 2027.
Looking ahead
The partnership is already moving forward. Within a week of the team returning to Kampot, UWCSEA asked Epic Arts to host a Grade 11 Project Week visit in May 2027, and planning with the student ambassadors is under way. Alongside it, the new project with ART:DIS will take shape over the coming year.
From classrooms to stages to new creative partnerships, this tour carried the belief that drives everything we do: every person counts. Thank you to everyone in Singapore who welcomed us so warmly.
Would you like to bring Epic Arts Dance to your school or organisation? Get in touch at dance@epicarts.org.uk.
This tour was hosted by UWCSEA East.