Someone in Singapore must’ve had a drunken yet clever idea when they came up with making cranes out of cranes, or maybe it was just someone serious about upcycling. Does anyone even notice that they made two cranes out of actual construction cranes? The Sentosa Island Crane Dance is literally a dance of cranes made out of cranes that look like cranes! I feel like there’s a dad pun somewhere in there – I can’t quite grasp it, but I still like it.
Singapore’s Crane Dance is a nightly visual feast that combines light, music and water effects into a dazzling night show for guests to the island. It runs every night at 8pm sharp, holidays included, and even during the rain. This is a free show, so this is highly recommended to end your day at Sentosa Island.
Surprisingly, there are no big signs indicating where the Crane Dance takes place. You may see a couple of indicators on directional signs, but if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it will seem like the signs are just pointing you to the sea… subtly telling you to take a long walk off of a short pier.
Walk toward the edge of the island toward the pedestrian footbridge until you see one of these towers with red beams around them. There will be two of them with grey steps in between them that lead down into, seemingly, nothing.
When looking out towards the mainland, you should notice this ugly steel thing floating in the water. Just like a babe who looked fantastic in bar light but terrible in daylight, this rectangular metal monstrosity is the Crane Dance theatre. If you crossed over into Sentosa Island via the footbridge, you may have walked past the Crane Dance theatre without even knowing it. You might have even been a little miffed that this unsightly metal box was messing up your photo of Sentosa Island from the bridge.
The wide steps leading down is the seating area. Space fills up quickly, so show up ten to fifteen minutes early if you want to sit. It’s only about a ten-minute show anyway, so you’ll only be standing for a while if there are no seats.
The Crane Dance tells the story of two mechanical birds who are transformed by the power of love. I won’t go into the details about every minute of the show to avoid spoilers if you intend to visit to Singapore one day. However, if you have no intention of ever seeing it for yourself, you can watch my video below that I took of the show!
