Six years ago, professional dancer Fredy Kosman Kwee helped choreograph parts of the National Day Parade. Dancing in it like he did yesterday, however, was a completely different experience for the 31-year-old.
"When you're helping to choreograph... it's more of teaching the dancers what to do," he said.
"But as a performer, part of my job is to help bring up the energy of the other dancers."
Mr Kwee, who kicked off the fourth act with a solo performance, also had to ensure that all eyes were drawn to him - even though, for most of the audience, he was just a small figure on a vast stage.
"To do that, I had to do what dancers call 'stretching' your movements - use bigger movements rather than small, intricate ones," said Mr Kwee, who has been dancing professionally since 2008.
He acted as a symbolic herald of Singapore's future, welcoming 720 other performers clad in slick black suits studded with LED lights, who joined him on stage for a futuristic lightshow. On the sidelines, eight drones resembling atoms joined in the display, rising into the air and wheeling in circles.
One of the young dancers was 13-year-old Lorraine Koh from Commonwealth Secondary School, who was participating in the National Day Parade for the first time. Her outfit - a long-sleeved shirt and pants, goggles and a heavy vest - could feel "quite heavy", she said. "After a while, we got used to it. Sometimes it was tiring, but overall it was quite fun."
