Guangxi folk dance drama staged in Singapore

Menogga's Garden, a large dance drama choreographed by the Song and Dance Theatre of Guangxi, was staged at Singapore's Esplanade Theatre on Feb 8, telling the Zhuang ethnic group legend of the flower goddess to over 4,000 spectators.

For thousands of years, flowers and the God of Flowers have dominated the folk stories of the Zhuang people in South China's Guangxi. According to these stories, all the Zhuang people are flowers in the garden of Menogga, the goddess who transforms the flowers into humans and sends them to earth to experience life and death.

Menogga's Garden is about the two most beautiful flowers in the garden, Da Mian and Bu Zhuang. They grow up together and live happily after being sent down to earth. Jealous of their happy life, a specter spider disguises herself as a colorful flower and stings Da Mian.

Da Mian goes crazy and is seen as ominous after she messes up a ritual. Bu Zhuang, however, doesn't give up on her and goes on a journey to find the antidote. The kindness of Bu Zhuang and their friends helps Da Mian regain consciousness. She fights against the specter spider, eventually sacrificing herself and returning to Menogga's Garden.

Backed up with stage props like authentic rice straw, bamboo poles and bronze bells, the show portrayed the lifestyle of Zhuang ethnic group, including farming, harvest and sacrificial offerings. With dramatic ups and downs, it showed the power of love, the pursuit of goodness and the curbing of wickedness.

The cast will embark on a domestic tour after returning from Singapore.