The Encounter of Senesino and Mei Lanfang

It is said that Beijing Opera maestro Mr. Mei Lanfang relied on the hard work instead of the born gifts to interpret the beauty of femininity. His interpretation of Dan-Role (female role) subverted the gender and sublimed the graceful and noble characteristics of female charm. And eventually, he was recognized as the 1st ranking among the Four Great Qiandan (male playing female roles) Actors since early 20th century. During 2nd World War, Maestro Mei refused to perform for the Japanophile government in Shanghai by growing beard and listed as one of the anti-Japanese heroes. Although Master Mei is a Qiandan, he perfectly embodies the characteristics of Qian (masculine) and Kun (feminine) at crucial moments in his life.

Senesino’s art was shaped along with the cruel music history of castrati being consecrated to the religion, but he developed a superb singing voice and broke away from the church to conquer the world of the newly emerged music genre “opera” during the European Baroque period. The remuneration of premiering several leading roles in London opera productions by composer G. F. Handel  was once the ceiling among performing musicians in the European music history, and marked a glorious milestone for Baroque vocal music. Transcending the limitations of the vocal range of the human body, castrato singers cross the vocal limits of gender, in another word, they combined the characteristics of both genders to heal the humanity with their voice.

The shackles of the old eras set the limits to human body’s possibility in gender expression. Could we set a contemporary dialogue between voice and body across time and space in our time by wandering in between the boundaries of the art fields, and expanding our horizon into a broader imagination?

In this production, Malaysian dancer Jack Kek will perform a set of culturally integrated choreography on music drawn from multicultural elements. Focusing on the point of departure in combining movement qualities of female and male, he wanders in dance categories embodied within him (Southeast Asian traditional dance, Chinese classical dance, modern dance, etc.), shuttling between yin and yang, femininity and masculinity, virtual and real. 

On the other hand, driven by the background of multicultural integration, Taiwanese intercultural troubadour Cheng-Ying Chuang not only plays nostagic and exotic sounds with Chinese lutes (zhongruan & liuqin), but also sings songs in diverse cultures with his countertenor voice to resonate with the audience. The encounter between these two artists led to this trans-national co-production, using sound and body as the media to memerize the audience with nostalgia and exoticism, and embarks a theatrical journey through time and space.

Programme elements in Music and Dance:
A.    Timang Burung (Malaysian “Joget Gamelan” was developed under The 19th-century Riau-Lingga empire from Java to Terengganu. This is a traditional Joget Gamelan piece remix with zhongruan Chinese lute) + Variation of Southeast Asian dance  
B.    Chinese ancient styles improv on zhongruan + Chinese Martial art, Taiji Douyin influences to Masculinity movement 
C.    Free improvisation music (contemporary extended techniques) + Improvisation Movement
D.    Greensleeves (「綠袖子」歐洲巴洛克數字低音與即興) + Contemporary Dance by Using Traditional chinese dance with water Sleeve.
E.    Ode of Ewha (The theme song from new libretto/orchestra composition of Mei Style Beijing Opera production ”Royal Concubine Yang of the Tang Dynasty”, music by Nailin Yang, lyrics by Sizai Wong. Premiered by Mei Baojiu, Mei Lanfang’s son, in Shanghai in 2003. C.-Y. Chuang arr. for countertenor, Chinese lute “liuqin” solo and Chinese lute ensemble) + Traditional QianDan Sleeve Dance 
F.    Flow, my tears (by John Dowland. An English lute song selected from ”The Second Booke of Songs or Ayres” published in London in 1600. Performed on countertenor and zhongruan) + Variation Water Sleeve dance 
G.   Ombra mai fu (aria from G. F. Handel’s opera “Xerse”, title role premiered in London in 1738) + Contemporary dance 

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話說梅蘭芳不靠天份，以苦練詮釋女態之美，因顛覆了性別，也提升了女性雍容華貴的特質，修 飾了女性的媚態，終為四大名旦之首。梅大師也有傲人的骨氣，以儲鬚拒絕為日軍演出，成為抗 日英雄之一。梅大師雖為乾旦，但他將乾與坤的特質在生命中重要的時刻，恰到好處的體現出 來。 Senesino 出身於閹伶歌手 "被獻身" 宗教的殘酷歷史，卻練就超技絕美的歌聲，脫離教會征服歐 洲巴洛克時期剛萌芽的歌劇界。在倫敦受韓德爾邀請首演歌劇男主角的價碼曾是歐洲音樂界的 天花板，為巴洛克聲樂記下了一筆輝煌。為求達到超越人體的音域限制，閹伶歌手最終超越了性 別的限制，或可說集結了兩種性別的特質，演唱出療癒世人的聲音。 舊時代的規範，框架了身體對性別展現的可能。跨越時空的聲音與身體對話，游走在藝術領域的 邊界上，能否在當代拓展更寬廣的想像? 馬來西亞舞者郭少麒藉由多元文化的樂曲，展現文化融合的身體體現，以雄性及雌性的身體特質 為出發點，游移在不同的舞蹈類別，如東南亞傳統舞蹈、中國古典舞、現代舞等。穿梭於陰陽、雌 性、虛實之間。跨文化樂手莊承穎在多元文化的交融的背景驅使下，除了以中西樂器彈撥出異域 妙音，更以假聲男高音演唱跨越文化的歌聲，牽引聽眾的共鳴。兩位藝術家的相遇促成了本次的 跨國共製，以聲音與肢體為媒介，引領觀眾游離在故鄉與異域之間，體驗一場穿越時空的戲夢旅 程。

 跨文化樂/[舞]元素: 
A. Timang Burung (「提芒鳥」，甘美朗於1885年皇室聯姻由爪哇傳入馬來西亞登嘉樓州，馬來 西亞甘美朗/中阮 remix) + [東南亞傳統舞蹈變奏] 
B. 中國古樂風中阮即興 + [中國武術與太極導引的陽剛流動] 
C. 自由即興/延伸演奏技巧 + [即興肢體] 
D. Greensleeves (「綠袖子」歐洲巴洛克數字低音與即興) + [當代肢體] 
E. “梨花頌” (新編歷史京劇《大唐貴妃》的主題曲，楊乃林 曲，翁思再 詞，梅葆玖2003年上海首 演，假聲男高音/柳琴彈唱、彈撥樂合奏編曲) + [傳統乾旦水袖] 
F. Flow, my tears (「流吧，我的淚水」John Dowland曲，選自1600年倫敦初版 ”The Second Booke of Songs or Ayres”，英國魯特琴歌，假聲男高音/中阮彈唱) + [水袖即興與水袖技法變 奏] 
G.Ombra mai fu (「在那濃密的樹蔭下」，選自韓德爾巴洛克歌劇《瑟爾斯》from Baroque opera “Xerxe”於1738年倫敦首演) + [多元文化舞蹈的融合]

Ticket Price :

Category	Early Bird (Ends on 31st July)	Regular (1st Aug onwards)	Buy 3 Free 1
Cat 1 – Standard	RM 78	RM 98	RM 294
Cat 2 – Students, Senior citizens, Disabled	RM 48	RM 48	N/A

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About the Company 

The Mythical Oriental Dance Company (MODC) was established in 2013 by Jack Kek. MODC train various types of Chinese traditional dance, for example sword dance, thousands hands dance, fan dance, drum and etc.

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Production / Creative Team

Dancer: Kek Siou Kee
Musician: Chuang Cheng-Ying
PR: Zoe Lee
Lighting design and operator：Amelia Tan
FOH：Rainow Tan