New music, new movement, her stories. In this new music theatre piece combining Western Opera and Chinese sword dance by Alex Ho and Sun Keting, witness the tragic stories of two of China’s 19th century heroines: Afong Moy and Qiu Jin.

 

Growing up with bound feet in the feudal Qing Dynasty, Afong Moy in 1834 became the first Chinese woman to be brought to America, where she was displayed before the public as a ‘Chinese Curiosity’. Half a century later, Qiu Jin, a young revolutionary, challenged the stifling Manchu culture and changed the fate of women by unbinding her feet and taking up the art of sword fighting. Poet, author of manifestos, and leader of a revolutionary community, Qiu Jin was determined to save her country from the corrupt Qing government. These two women, bound and unbound, together compose a symphonic dance, a protest against the world of patriarchy into which they were born.

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The score weaves a number of bold and poetic movements together across the four acts, with a superb mix of Asian and Western fusion, melodies, operatic harmonic imagination and a deep rhythmic force driving the work... This is a masterful telling of new writing about China’s history, realised with a deep-rooted originality that is provocative throughout. Tangram’s work continues to push into new and exciting territory.
- Morning Star, August 2024

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On the left of the stage is an array of percussion – including drums, suspended gongs and resonant temple bowls – while on the other side sits a Western ensemble (string quartet and harp, players from the London Symphony Orchestra). Alex Ho and Keting Sun’s music sonically draws the two groups together to atmospheric effect, in a manner always sympathetic to the singing. It’s an aural emblem of understanding and resolution across cultures… there’s an intoxicating overall mood of poetry, restraint and elegance.
- The Stage, August 2024​

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​Alex Ho  conductor

Haegee Lee  soprano
Yining Chen  dancer
Beibei Wang  percussion
LSO Musicians

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Alex Ho and Sun Keting  directors
Alex Ho and Sun Keting  composers
Yining Chen  choreographer
Chang Meng and Ke Peng  visual designers

Sun Keting  sound design and voice-over
Xiaolu Guo, Alex Ho and Sun Keting  writers
Yilin Wang  Qiu Jin translator and consultant
Based on an original script by Xiaolu Guo

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