(7 September 2015, Monday) This series features artists and performers at the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) 2015, who are either new citizens or from overseas and now currently based in Singapore.
Xing Xi Mao (23 years old) is from Shenyang, China, and currently in her third year at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Diploma in Theatre (Mandarin Drama). Her teacher saw a call for auditions for an original Mandarin musical, Nanyang the musical, and encouraged Xi Mao to audition. Xi Mao later landed a role as one of the Shanghai Ladies, Yue Ping.
In the first feature article, she also describes her experiences adjusting to life in Singapore as a Chinese national, and how studying at NAFA for three years opened up her eyes to the arts, and it is now her dream to be an actress. She also notes the irony that she perfected her Putonghua and dropped her native Dongbei accent here in Singapore for this role.
While Xi Mao was acting as someone else on stage, Filipino Andrea Singco, in her role in The Incredible Adventures of Border Crossers, played a role reminiscent of her real background. She said : “When we are on stage, we are acting as ourselves, telling our own stories, singing our childhood songs, thinking about the past memories, and also looking forward to the future.
In the article, Andrea talked about her childhood in Phillipines, how her grandmother brought her up, and how she eventually ended up in Singapore. The article also mentioned that she moved to Singapore when she was 7, staying with her mother, and graduated from NAFA’s Diploma in Theatre (English Drama), and has been acting and hosting. She sees Singapore as a place she is even more familiar with than her home, and talks about using English, some simple Mandarin, and even Singlish to converse in Singapore. She noted that in recent years, Singapore has organized more arts events, and there is also more awareness for arts funding, and Andrea hope to be a part of this.
Media: Lianhe Zaobao, zbNOW, Page 1
Full article here:
http://www.nafa.edu.sg/media/2015/ZaoBaoNowCrossroads07Sep15.pdf
南洋艺术学院 Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts 相关资讯;
http://www.fsi.com.my/nafa/
