Dance drama 'Awakening Lion' opens in Singapore

.    Three rivers flow into the sea, carrying the cultural legacy afar; the spirit of Lingnan crosses the oceans. As the Southeast Asia tour under "2026 Guangzhou Culture Week" got underway, Guangzhou Song and Dance Theatre presented its large-scale dance drama Awakening Lion at 7:30 p.m. on 12 September at The Theatre at Mediacorp in Singapore. As the first overseas performance of this signature production, the event marked the full launch of the company's multi-country Southeast Asia tour. At the same time, a media meet-and-greet was held in Singapore, the first stop of the 2026 Southeast Asia tour. Mainstream media from China and Singapore—including Xinhua News Agency, China Media Group (CMG), ifeng.com, China Headlines News Media (CHNM), Lianhe Zaobao, Shin Min Daily News, Singapore Eye and SG Headline—were present to cover the event. Senior Singapore government officials, together with representatives from the cultural, overseas Chinese and media communities of both China and Singapore, gathered for the occasion. Amid the powerful and stirring rhythms of lion dance, they experienced the profound appeal of Guangfu intangible cultural heritage and the deep cultural resonance that transcends mountains and seas, adding a vibrant new chapter to China-Singapore cultural exchange.

The Southeast Asia tour is themed "Three rivers flow into the sea; a single letter rides the tide home. The Lion Awakens in the East; Its Roar Resounds Across the World." Opening the tour, the dance drama "Awakening Lion" takes the stage first in Singapore, with two performances at 7:30 p.m. on 12 September and 2:30 p.m. on 13 September, giving Singapore audiences the opportunity to experience this acclaimed production, which has received multiple national-level arts awards. The dance drama "Odes to Heroes" will follow. The two productions, "Awakening Lion" and "Odes to Heroes," both deeply rooted in Lingnan culture, will share the stage in Singapore, creating a distinctive cultural dialogue through performance.

Chief choreographer Qian Xin said at the media meet-and-greet that the dance dramas "Awakening Lion" and "Odes to Heroes" both draw from Lingnan culture: one embodies the spirit and character of lion dance, while the other carries the cultural resonance of Chaoshan's overseas Chinese heritage. Their meeting on an overseas stage is both a concentrated showcase of Lingnan intangible cultural heritage and a resonance across distance between the culture of the homeland and memories of Nanyang. Speaking about contemporary innovation in intangible cultural heritage, Qian said that "Odes to Heroes" boldly incorporates Teochew rap into its musical score, bringing the raw, vibrant energy of folk traditions from the public square to the theater stage. He noted that innovation must preserve the cultural core while carefully navigating the boundaries of contemporary stage expression for traditional intangible cultural heritage. He also noted that the story of "Odes to Heroes" is closely tied to the historical experience of migration to Nanyang (Southeast Asia) and the sentiments associated with qiaopi. For Singapore's Chinese community, this history forms part of their own deeply felt historical memory. Compared with audiences in China, overseas audiences may more readily recognise in the story the traces of their forebears' lives and journeys across the seas. Through the two dance dramas, he hopes to convey to overseas Chinese communities a cultural voice from their homeland.

The dance drama "Awakening Lion" is rooted in the intangible cultural heritage of Guangfu lion dance, weaving Southern-style martial arts, Lingnan folk traditions and the vibrant everyday life of Guangdong into its dance narrative. Through powerful and expressive movement language, it vividly portrays a profound sense of duty to family and nation and the indomitable spirit of the Chinese people. As gongs and drums thunder and lion dancers leap into the air, the courage, resilience and unyielding determination of the people of Guangfu shine brightly on the international stage. To better meet the needs of overseas performances, the creative team has carefully refined a specially adapted international version. While preserving the authentic spirit and character of Lingnan culture, the production incorporates an international theatrical language, enabling audiences from different cultural backgrounds to experience the majestic appeal and spiritual intensity of Eastern dance drama.

On the night of the performance, the theatre was packed. As the curtain slowly rose and the drumbeats began to build, the stage came alive with one visually striking scene after another. Southern lions leapt through the air, the dancers moved with strength and vigour, and the passionate spirit of the people of Guangdong was brought vividly to life. Lead performer Liang Qiqi, who plays Feng'er in the dance drama "Awakening Lion" and Lin Qiao'er in "Odes to Heroes," shared at the media meet-and-greet that Feng'er embodies tragic heroism and fierce resolve, representing Lingnan women who step forward in times of crisis, while Lin Qiao'er is defined more by steadfast waiting and resilience, expressing the concern and devotion of women in qiaoxiang communities. She distinguishes the two characters through subtle shifts in her gaze and breathing rhythm. For overseas audiences who may not be fully familiar with the background of Lingnan intangible cultural heritage, she encouraged viewers not to become overly concerned with interpreting every cultural symbol, but instead to experience the characters' joys and sorrows, anger and delight directly, allowing emotional empathy to bridge geographical and cultural divides. Classic folk figures such as the Big Head Buddha in the production also left a profound impression on her as a performer.

Lead performer Iliwan Umar, who plays Long in "Awakening Lion" and Chen Xinyuan in "Odes to Heroes," spoke about the emotional depth of the two roles: Long undergoes a transformation from youthful arrogance to an awakening sense of duty to family and nation, while Chen Xinyuan embarks on a journey across time and space in search of his roots. Both roles demand considerable emotional depth. Following specialised training with martial arts champions and intangible cultural heritage inheritors, he strives in his performance to balance the explosive power of martial arts with the physical beauty of dance, giving the fight sequences both dramatic intensity and artistic grace. Recommending the two productions to Singapore audiences, he said that both dance dramas offer exhilarating stage scenes while also carrying a shared Chinese attachment to the homeland, something best experienced and appreciated live in the theatre. Singapore government officials, representatives from the arts and cultural community, members of the mainstream media, and members of the Chinese community living in Singapore attended the performance. Many local audience members said that Awakening Lion vividly brings to the stage the deeply rooted memories of Lingnan passed down through generations. Through the lion dance, they felt the underlying spirit of earlier generations of Chinese who sailed to Nanyang and built new lives through hardship and perseverance, an experience they found deeply moving.

According to the organisers, Singapore is the first stop on this Southeast Asia tour. The dance drama "Odes to Heroes" will follow with two performances at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on 19 September at The Theatre at Mediacorp in Singapore. One embodies the spirit and character of Guangfu lion dance, while the other conveys the cultural resonance of Chaoshan Yingge and its overseas Chinese heritage. Presented in succession, the two acclaimed dance dramas bring two national-level representative intangible cultural heritage items from Lingnan together on the Singapore stage. Following the Singapore performances, the creative team will continue the tour in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Bangkok, Thailand, carrying forward the journey of bringing Chinese culture to international audiences.

A representative of the Guangzhou Song and Dance Theatre said that the decision to make Singapore the starting point of the Southeast Asia tour took full account of the long-standing people-to-people ties and deep foundations of cultural exchange between China and Singapore. Through these performances, the company hopes to bring Lingnan intangible cultural heritage to a wider international audience, promote mutual learning between Chinese culture and Singapore's local cultural traditions, further strengthen the social foundation of mutual understanding and emotional bonds between the peoples of the two countries, and continue to inject strong artistic and cultural vitality into friendly exchanges between China and Singapore.