NDP 2026: What it is like to be an aerialist in the parade

SINGAPORE – Standing in the middle of the stage at the centre of the 55,000-capacity National Stadium, I donned a harness and got ready to be lifted into the air.

Two wires were clipped to my sides as riggers circled me, double- and triple-checking that everything was secure. Then, take-off.

I rose 2.5m into the air, a fraction of the 30m that singer Jasmine Sokko and two aerialists will be hoisted up to during National Day Parade (NDP) 2026.

Unlike them, I did not have to coordinate my movements with the performers mid-air, dance in sync with a swarm of 300 drones flying just metres away, or sing while suspended.

All I had to do was try my hardest to keep my balance and pull off a few backflips – a stripped-down preview of one of the most technically demanding segments of this year’s parade.

The aerial segment forms part of a chapter in the NDP performance that sees Sokko descend from one of five cubes suspended from the ceiling of the National Stadium as she performs her single You’ll Be Okay.

She will be joined by two aerialists wearing harnesses resembling tutus, allowing them to spin a full 360 degrees and perform forward flips and backflips in mid-air.

The three performers will be surrounded by 300 drones putting on a synchronised light show, both acts “dancing” in synchronicity.

Behind the spectacle sits a web of precautions. Drones are kept at least 3m from performers at all times, and never fly higher than 24m – 6m below where the aerialists hang.

The wires attached to the aerialists are tested to withstand more than 10,000kg each, said choreographer Adelene Chua. A full load test of 400kg is also conducted and certified by professional rigging engineers.

A team of riggers, show management staff and medics remains on standby throughout.

“It takes a village to come up with such a big production,” Chua said. More than 200 people are involved in the aerial performance, playing different support roles so that sound, lighting, projection and stage automation run smoothly.

According to Chua, training for the two aerialists began as early as May, with rehearsals lasting two to three hours a day several times a week, including nine-hour sessions on Saturdays.

It is a level of commitment that makes the performance look deceptively simple. “They make it look effortless,” she said. “It’s because of the years of experience they have.”

The height itself also required an adjustment, said Chua. Her studio, where the two aerialists trained, has a 10m-high ceiling, while the drone-and-aerial segment required performers to acclimatise to heights three times that.

Sokko’s learning curve was steeper, although her initial fear quickly gave way to a sense of surrealness and excitement for this “once-in-a-lifetime” performance.

She began practising on June 22, roughly two weeks before the first combined rehearsal on July 4, coming in about five times a week, Sokko said, since aerial performance was entirely new to her. 

Unlike Chua’s professional aerialists, Sokko will not be performing flips during the show. Instead, she said, “I would challenge myself to... do certain poses that could be quite hard while singing.”

However, singing while airborne came with an unexpected benefit, Sokko said. With her lower body immobilised in a harness, she found she could focus more intently on her vocals.

Coordinating with everything moving around her, however, was harder to get used to, among other challenges.

“The biggest challenge is figuring out the best angle and making sure my movements align with the whole performance,” Sokko said, adding that after each rehearsal, she reviews footage of the drone formations and her fellow aerialists’ positioning to sharpen her own timing.

For Chua, as a choreographer, weather adds a further layer of unpredictability. 

She recalled one rehearsal where strong winds meant the drones could not descend as planned, forcing her to improvise a solution on the spot.

“We were told that there would be extra choreography that we need to add in if this ever happens,” she said, adding that she would tell performers to repeat certain sections so a forced pause would look deliberate.

The choreography itself also had to work from every angle. Chua’s routine uses a 360-degree harness system that lets the aerialists face each side of the stadium in turn – a first for her, she said. “I want to make sure that the performers are seen everywhere.”

For Sokko, the performance carries weight beyond the technical challenge.

Her clearest NDP memory dates back to watching the parade as an 11-year-old. To be performing in one now, she said, is “such an honour”, and combining it with her own music makes it “a very core performance and memory” in her career.

Speaking in Mandarin, Sokko said she hoped audiences would leave in awe after the performance, and with a sense of pride in being a Singaporean.

Suspended just 2.5m above the ground, I could not fully picture what it takes to hang 12 times as high, track a drone formation, hit a vocal cue and still make it look effortless.

As Chua put it, invoking a Chinese saying about years of practice behind a single minute on stage: Performers make it look easy precisely because so much is hidden from view.