by Arshia Mahajan (25S06R) and Tara Teo (26A01D)

I’m someone who’s never lived the performance arts experience. I’ve never taken ballet, nor heard 90% of all technical dance terms. I don’t know what it feels like to have my entire life’s work end in a final bow. Chances are, neither do you. And yet, the entire PAC was moved to the verge of tears at the end of the showcase. Because at its most fundamental level, The Last Train is about something every human can resonate with: passion, want, and loss. 

Modern Dance’s 2025 showcase is a story of tension. Maia, a young dancer, wars between her passion for dance and the practicalities of the world’s expectations. She wrestles with her mother’s rigid expectations, juggling her studies, all while trying to chase her love for dance. Portrayed by Zhu Yixuan (25S02A), Maia’s journey is truly brought to life and we find ourselves rooting for her from the get go. Through 8 items, spanning 5 genres, The Last Train reminds us that our dreams are worth fighting for. 

The Last Train

The first act of the show, The Last Straw, consists of two items. The first is a contemporary piece that presents the confinement Maia feels in her routine 9-5 job, while the second introduces us to Maia’s dream of dancing.  

The next act brings us back to our childhood, with lighthearted pieces comprising jazz and hip hop, reminding us of a simpler time when we weren’t facing so much pressure. For Maia, dance served as a way for her to escape the stress of academics in her youth. 

Act III: The Last Storm brings Maia back to reality and we see her inner turmoil as she grapples with the numerous obstacles preventing her from taking the leap. From her mother’s disapproval, to society’s expectations, to her own desire to conform to ‘perfection’, Maia struggles to choose between maintaining the status quo and following her heart. 

The final act delivers hope as Maia finally breaks free from the shackles holding her back and catches the last train to chase her dreams. As the chorus of From Now On (The Greatest Showman) swells in the finalé, the dancers pour all their emotion into one last piece. In the dim light of the PAC, I can only see a glimpse of their faces. Some are grinning widely, holding back tears, or just taking it in. As they close Maia’s story, this is just the precipice of their new chapter. 

For those 90 minutes, the showcase brought us through the highs and lows of a dancer’s journey. The director, Genelle Gan (25S03Q), shares how each part of a dancer’s life was pieced together to build an authentic storyline. “Our instructors gave us prompts like: who inspires you? What do you want to improve about yourself?” 

The Guiding Inspiration

At 18, most student performers have been doing their craft for more than a decade. It becomes all encompassing. It seeps into your life. From weekly lessons, to daily bedroom practice, to living and breathing it. 

Even more so for Genelle, who started dancing at 5 because her mother was a ballet teacher. Ballet, with its demands and standards, didn’t just end in the studio. “I had no break from ballet… she’d teach me in class, then she’d come home and tell me more corrections”. Every dance lesson was a constant pursuit to “look a certain way, be very controlled, hit a, b, c, d”. 

“I retired (from the competition circuit) last year, and I stopped ballet completely at the start of this year.” Sitting across from me on a canteen bench, she says it matter-of-factly. But I must imagine that saying goodbye to a 13-year journey is nothing short of brave. It took courage to admit that ballet was something that she “never really liked” and even more to act on it.

The last train doesn’t wait. It is not enough to simply be carried by the momentum of your past decisions. You must take the next step out of the world’s expectations, and towards your dream. No one else can do it for you.

Beyond the Final Curtain

Although the show was over in a fleeting 90 minutes, the months of blood, sweat, and tears that went into putting it together shone through every act. The dancers went above and beyond in delivering a performance that resonated deeply with the audience, but this took dedication and attention to detail.

“It was definitely challenging finding the right audio, words, and physical cues to evoke the emotions we wanted,” shared chairperson Vera Lee (25S06P). Indeed, watching the personal montage of the performers dancing over the course of a decade struck a chord with each and every single audience member.

The audience’s response as the curtains descended was nothing short of overwhelming. There were tears being wiped away as everyone absorbed the rollercoaster of emotions they had just been through. From the crushing weight of expectations on Maia to the lighthearted bloopers reel at the end, Modern Dance knew how to deliver an impact in every scene. 

Members of the audience commented that this showcase completely changed their view on dance performances at large. Admittedly, I personally have never been a huge fan of dance either. However, this performance has truly stuck with me and made me realise that dance can be so much more impactful than one would expect. 

This showcase marked their farewell to CCA, but for some Year 6s, it also marked 6 years of dancing together. It’s bittersweet to think that this would be their last bow together as a batch in RI. Yet, as we see in Maia’s story, it is never truly the end and opportunities are always within our reach. 

Year 6s, as we approach our final months in RI, many of us start to commemorate moments as our ‘last time’ doing something. If there is one thing that The Last Train has taught me, it is that graduation doesn’t mark the end. We still have our whole lives ahead of us, and we can continue to pursue the things we love, whether it’s hobbies, knowledge, or even the people around us. Growing up doesn’t mean letting go, and just as Maia found her way back to her passion in the end, we must always remember to chase after our dreams.