She Said

Chan Meng

25, 26/5
Saturday, Sunday
20:00
The Old Ladies’ House of the Macao Holy House of Mercy

Approximately 1 hour, without interval
Performed in Cantonese, without surtitles
Restricted to audiences aged 13 or above

Please switch off all sound and light-emitting devices. Unauthorised photography or recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Thank you for cooperating.

Artistic Team

Director: Chan Meng
Cantonese Opera Composer and Lyricist: Chu Chan Wa
Cantonese Opera Singer: Mok Weng Lam
Composition and Arrangements: Pun Kuan Pou
Sound Design: Tang Chi Kin
Dancers: Chan Meng, Yin Yina, Zhang Na, Chan Hio Cheng, Yu Bing, Xie Jiamin, Chen Chaoyi, Liu Ziyi and Yang Yueying
Musicians (Chinese musical instruments): Tang Chi Kin, Huang Zhenwen, Qin Yingxia, Song Wenwen, Wu Ziyao, Chen Ming and Zhao Jianhao
Musicians (Western musical instruments): Pun Kuan Pou, Hong Veng Kin, Chau Chin Iao and Ma Song Chit
Lighting Design: Leong Son U
Sound Design: Chan Ming Kin
Rehearsal Director: Xie Jiamin
Stage Manager: Ma Zai and Wu Yingxu
Backstage Manager: Zhang Wanqing
Font Design: Luo Chao Can
Poster Design: Zhang Jiayang
Video Production: Gao Kaixin

Programme Notes

“Today we are only searching for a missing past. By fighting against their destiny, they have successfully written a history of their own.”

In the Pearl River Delta from the late Qing Dynasty until the early Republic of China, a unique group of women chose to comb and pin their hair into a bun, resembling that of married women, earning a living and leading their lives independently without relying on family or marriage. They were the “self-combed women”.

Walk into The Old Ladies’ House, listen to a conversation between women from two different eras, and revisit a forgotten history. There will be a story about the independence, courage, freedom, awakening and beauty of women. Taking self-combed women as its theme, She Said is an environmental theatre production that combines dance, Cantonese opera songs, and Western instrumental music.

Prologue
Act I　　Under the Moon
Act II　　The Conversation
Act III　　A Brightened Mind
Act IV　　The Longings
Act V　　In Full Bloom
Epilogue

Director’s Notes

She Said stems from the female solo dance piece Comb Sister created in 2021. I chose to work on this subject due to an incidental discovery, and since then I have felt myself attracted to such a unique form of courage. After receiving financial support from the Young Artist Grant of the China National Arts Fund, I started to develop the idea into a short 26-minute dance theatre. The further I explored, the more I felt moved by this group of women, and I became more determined to relate this story when I visited the museum converted from the Bingyu Hall, a former residence of self-combed women in Jun’an

In essence, this production is not about recreating the history or encouraging women to remain single. Instead, it aims to examine our own enlightenments and feelings evoked by this historical story from a contemporary perspective. Rather than the choice to remain single, the more touching point is the power of women’s tenaciousness, courage, confidence, and resilience under the historical background. These self-awakened women allow us to see a wide spectrum of female representations today, which is the core meaning behind the creation of this work.

This production attempts to build a bridge for dialogue between self-combed women and today’s world, the traditional and the present. It was created in the hope of introducing more people to the stories and arts of our city, as well as uplifting those who are still in the midst of perplexity, encouraging more people to detect traces of the changing times inside the local historical buildings.

By Chan Meng

Biographical Notes

Chan Meng, Director and Dancer

Chan is currently a doctoral student majoring in Studies of Digitalised Theatre Arts at the Beijing Normal University and holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Chinese ethnic and folk dance performance and choreography from the Beijing Dance Academy. She has been working as a dance instructor at the Macau University of Science and Technology since 2018.

In 2021, Chan was named Top Choreographer in the Top Dancers programme for her work Comb Sister. In 2023, she was selected for a Young Artist Grant of the China National Arts Fund (choreography for dance theatre and dance) and choreographed the large production Beautiful as a Song supported by the China National Arts Fund. In 2024, she was named one of the inaugural Literary and Artistic Rising Stars of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Among her representative works are Hometown, Following, Fragrance, and Majie.

Chu Chan Wa, Cantonese Opera Composer and Lyricist

Chu is a renowned local Cantonese opera artist, vice-president of the Guangdong Provincial Musician’s Association, invited advisor from Macao for the Cantonese Opera Classics, and president of Zhen Hua Sing Cantonese Opera Association. He has participated in the Macao Arts Festival and the Cantonese Opera Day for many years, and has directed and starred in numerous operatic works including Striving through the Storm, The Soul of Macao, A Chinese Ghost Story, The Phantom of Liaozhai, Bonds of Hato, and Exploit in Silent. He has helped to foster numerous outstanding young talents for Cantonese opera in Macao.

Mok Weng Lam, Cantonese Opera Singer

Mok is a well-known young Cantonese opera actress in Macao mentored by Chu Chan Wa and the head of the Macau Greenery Chinese Opera Association. In recent years, she has participated in a series of activities for the transmission of Cantonese opera in Macao and Mainland China with Zhen Hua Sing Cantonese Opera Association, and has been actively nurturing children and teenagers as Cantonese opera performers. Mok has starred in numerous works over the past two decades. Among her opera programmes are Mu Guiying Battling in Hongzhou, Striving through the Storm, The Phantom of Liaozhai, and Bonds of Hato.

Pun Kuan Pou, Composition and Arrangements

Pun graduated with a Bachelor of Popular Music from the Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium and a Master of Scoring for Film, Television, and Video Games from the Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. In 2021, he served as the composer and music director for the musical The Ocean of Stars – Xian Xinghai supported by the China National Arts Fund. He has also composed music and theme songs for the Parade for Celebration of Year of the Pig, and the programmes The Charm of Macao and United as one Family in the City of Lotus in the Variety Show celebrating the 20^th Anniversary of Macao’s Return to the Motherland. In 2023 he was selected for the Young Artist Grant of the China National Arts Fund (music composition).

Tang Chi Kin, Sound Design

Tang studied traditional Cantonese opera routines and techniques under Chen Dawei and learnt Cantonese opera percussion from Lei Ka Weng before further studying Cantonese opera percussion and theories at the Guangdong Cantonese Opera School. He was admitted to The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2018 for a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) Degree in Chinese Opera on a full scholarship, where he majored in Cantonese Opera Music. He worked as a percussion and music designer for A Chinese Ghost Story and Bonds of Hato, participated in the script writing for Princess Cheung Ping and The Legend of the Purple Hairpin, and adapted The Random Harvest.

Leong Son U, Lighting Design

Leong graduated from the Taipei University of the Arts and has been actively making design and creative attempts in different disciplines and exploring the possibilities of theatre. His work Who We Are? was showcased at the Exhibition of Countries and Regions of the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2019, and Utopia One was shortlisted for the Professional Exhibition – Performance Design of the World Stage Design 2022. His lighting design productions in recent years include The Ocean of Stars – Xian Xinghai, Nine Soundscapes, Moderation, The Formidable Year, and The Walk-in Family, to name a few.

Yin Yina, Dancer

Yin graduated from the School of Dance of the Xinghai Conservatory of Music; during her studies she was selected for the Top Innovative Talent Cultivation Programme in the 2018-2019 school year and participated in exchange activities and performances in Busan, South Korea and the United States. Her performance Bamboo Dream won the Gold Prize in the 4^th Guangdong Lingnan Dance Contest and Message of Flowers won the Gold Prize in the 5^th Zhuhai Ocean Rhythm Dance Competition. Among her other performances are Vernal Message of Flowers and Upright Spirit of Guangdong.

Zhang Na, Dancer

Zhang graduated in Choreography from the Taiyuan Normal University and is currently a dancer at the Zhuhai Dance Company of the Zhuhai Performing Arts Group Co., Ltd. She has performed in theatre and dance productions including Forbidden Fruit under the Great Wall, Opera Warriors, The Captivating Fen River, and Boat Dwelling Bride.

Chan Hio Cheng, Dancer

Chan is a dancer in Macao with a Grade 13 Certificate in Chinese Dance awarded by the Beijing Dance Academy, with an extensive experience in stage and parade performances. She has participated in the parade of Expo Shanghai – Macao Week; Macao International Youth Dance Festival; Parade through Macao, Latin City; In/Between; ImprovFlashMob; Open Space; Dance to Ultimate; and the site-specific dance theatre Invisible Coastlines.

Yu Bing, Dancer

Yu graduated from the Dance Academy of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music and is currently a dancer at the Zhuhai Dance Company of the Zhuhai Performing Arts Group Co., Ltd. During her studies she was granted Grade 3 scholarship twice by the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. She has performed in the dance drama Boat Dwelling Bride, Cantonese operas Dawn of Southern Guangdong and The Lifelong Art of Wu Siming. Her performance Message of Flowers was awarded the Gold Prize at the 5^th Zhuhai Ocean Rhythm Dance Competition.

Xie Jiamin, Dancer

Xie graduated from the School of Dance of the Xinghai Conservatory of Music. Her performances Jiletian and Mountain Spirit were featured at the 15^th Busan International Dance Festival in South Korea. Her performance Thoughts won the Silver Prize in the Youth Cultivation Contest of the Hummingbird Youth Dance Festival in 2017, and her solo dance The Lady Weeping won the Silver Prize at the 4^th Zhuhai Ocean Rhythm Dance Competition.

Chen Chaoyi, Dancer

Chen graduated from the Xinghai Conservatory of Music and went on to participate in the Asian Culture Carnival at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing in 2019, and her performance Spring Rain won the Second Prize at the 14^th Guangdong Arts Festival the following year. She performed in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 2021, and her performance Vernal Message of Flowers won the Second Prize at the 7^th Guangdong Lingnan Dance Competition.

Liu Ziyi, Dancer

Liu’s performance Tree of Life won the Third Prize at the 10^th CCTV TV Dance Competition, and Message of Flowers won the Gold Prize at the 5^th Zhuhai Ocean Rhythm Dance Competition. She also won the Super Dancer Award for folk dance solo in the adult category and the Outstanding Instructor Award at the 6^th International TV Dance Competition for her performance Moon in the Mood. She also performed in The Ocean of Stars – Xian Xinghai.

Yang Yueying, Dancer

Yang graduated in Dance Performance from the Wuhan Conservatory of Music and received the Silver Prize at the 4^th Guangdong Lingnan Dance Competition for her performance Love for Lotus in 2014. Among her performances are Disciple Rules, Paperflower and Trollflower, Music from the Greater Bay Area, Boat Dwelling Bride, and Remmitance Documents and Correspondence from Overseas Chinese in Tang Jiawan.

Disclaimer
The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government provides liaison and technical support to the project only. Any views/opinions expressed by the project team are those of the project only and do not reflect the views of the Cultural Affairs Bureau.