West meets East, North meets South

Great news!

Phaedra, a Greek tragedy, refreshingly reinterpreted through a combination of traiditional Chinese southern and northern performing art forms (Nanyin and Peking Opera) combined with modern dance, will being screened online by Lianhe Zaobao at 2 pm on Sunday 19 July 2020 (on their Facebook, Website and Youtube channels).

Photos taken during a rehearsal at the Stamford Arts Centre on 5 April 2019.

The performance is a collaboration between the locally based Nanyin troupe Siong Leng Musical Association, and Taiwan Guoguang Opera Company, made its Singapore debut during the reopening of Stamford Arts Centre in April 2019.

A synopsis is given on the Siong Leng Musical Association’s website:

For three hundred and sixty-five nights, the Queen wrestles with entangled emotions that are impossible to unravel. In her dreams, it is he who repeatedly shoves her to the ground. She can neither get up nor maintain her balance. Before she could take a good look at his face, or barely begin to fantasise about him “biting her lips”, her dreams would end abruptly.

The object of her desire is none other than the Prince, her cold and arrogant stepson.

Painfully aware of her status and responsibilities, she keeps her emotions in check. But when news broke that the King (her husband and his father) has died on the battlefield, she could no longer restrain herself. In his presence, she bares her soul and professes her love for him, only to have her neck slashed on top of being condemned a ‘shameless slut’ in return.

With her heart shattered and dignity crushed, the Queen has a final mission to fulfil. The King is alive after all ….

(http://www.siongleng.com/productions/2019-phaedra.html)

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More photos from the 2019 rehearsal:

 

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Memoirs of Nanyang – a Nanyin Musical

It is wonderful what Siong Leng Musical Association is doing to help keep memories and culture alive not just through their promotion of Nanyin (南音) – “music from the South”, but also through their attempts at cross-disciplinary productions that make Nanyin and the various perfomance genres involved much more relatable to the modern day audience.

Their most recent attempt “Memoirs of Nanyang” brings together the cultural practices of two ethnic groups and three different cultures – a mixed that is a reflection of the mixing and intermingling of races and cultures that have made Singapore and much of the “Nanyang” what it is.

The production, which will also provide the audience with a sense of nostalgia through its musical repertoire and costumes, is commissioned by Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre. There will only be one performance on 25 May 2019 at 2.30 pm and tickets are still available at https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/csccce2019.

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Ticket giveaway

I have one (1) pair of tickets priced at $28 each for the performance tomorrow (25 May 2019) to giveaway.

First reader to drop me an email before 7pm today (24 May 2019) with your full name gets your hands on the pair of tickets. The winner will be notified by return email.

Update: the pair of tickets was given out at 12:47 pm

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A Sypnopsis 

Memoirs of Nanyang – a Nanyin Musical

A Siong Leng Musical Association’s production commissioned by Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre.

One photograph, two ethnic groups, three different cultures – this is the unique label of the Peranakan Chinese.

In the course of preserving their culture, the Peranakan Chinese, with a typical pioneering spirit, headed West in search of greater knowledge and more advanced technology Upon their return, they put their knowledge to good use and have played key roles in the enrichment of the Peranakan culture.

The performance highlights the bold fusion of Nanyin and Peranakan culture, as well as Siong Leng Musical Association’s courageous spirit to innovate and explore new horizons for their art form. We are privileged to feature the works and successors of three cultural medallion recipients, Mr Yip Cheong Fun, Mr Teng Mah Seng and Mdm Som Bte Mohd Said.

Audiences will be treated to a unique harmonisation of Nanyin, Malay cultural music and Mandarin pop, which lets them experience the deep elegance of Nanyin and the boundless artistic ambit of music.

Following the thoughts and emotions of the two generations, an immigrant came to Nanyang for a better life and married a local Malay woman. Since then, his business flourished and he had a comfortable and happy family. In spite of his success, his heart still thinks about his family in his hometown day and night, wanting to reunite with them. Realizing it may be impossible, he is deeply saddened and unable to accept the reality.

To make him happy, his grandchildren discussed how to combine two polar genres: Nanyin and today’s music. This interesting and bold attempt at fusing Nanyin with different music genres such as Malay music and Pop, helped them to create a new style of song that showcases multiculturalism and their strong spirit. This spectacle portrays the happiness of a family after reunion, leading a blessed and fulfilled life together.

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Ancient music in Jackie Chan’s ancient houses

A most delightful gift to Singapore made by Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan is the set of four structures that now grace the campus of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) at Somapah. Dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the structures were originally from Zhejiang province in China. A chance to have a look at them came with a Nanyin performance by the Siong Leng Musical Association held in the structures that I was invited to recently.

Ancient music in ancient structures. A performance by the Siong Leng Musical Association held in a main hall that was part of a house from Zhejiang.

Part of a collection of ten ancient structures purchased by martial arts star with the intention that they be dismantled and re-erected as a home for his parents, the structures were put in storage for much longer than was intended. Little was documented on the assembly of the structures, which proved a challenge when the university looked at reassembling them.

The pavilion.

The structures feature some rather interesting and previously unseen features in Singapore in which many Chinese structures are of the Minnan style. An examples of this is the exquisitely carved oversized wooden corbels seen in one of the structures, a late Qing dynasty pavilion. The pavilion, interestingly, also features a mix of styles seen in the wooden balustrades with a Suzhou flavour.

The Suzhou style is also seen in some of the features of the pavilion.

Close to the pavilion, another of the structures – an opera stage, has an interesting feature on its ceiling – a dome of sorts that acts to enhance the stage acoustics.

A feature on the ceiling of the opera stage that enhances the stage’s acoustics.

Hokkien opera on an ancient opera stage.

A close-up.

There are also two structures, complementing parts of a Ming dynasty house and a Qing dynasty house, that have been put together in the setting of a lake. Featuring a mix of old and new in the glass panels that keep the air-conditioning in, the parts which have only a small difference in width, find harmony even if they were from different houses and from different times. The parts are a main hall and an inner hall where bedrooms would have been located. An interesting contrast between the two are the finished wooden columns seen in the main hall where guests would be entertained and the coarser looking (and less costly) unfinished columns in the inner more private area.

In the inner hall.

The two parts of two houses, complementing each other in the setting of a lake.

The opera stage by night.

A carved corbel on the stage.