DISAPPEARING SERIES: THE LAST EPISODE / Ding Yi Music Company / Review

The Disappearing Series concerts by Ding Yi Music Company has over the years examined local arts and traditions that are on the cusp of becoming extinct. These in-concert documentaries combining film, story-telling and original music on Chinese instruments have become art-pieces in their own right.

Ironically, this 70-minute concert conducted by Dedric Wong De Li called time on an invaluable part of the company’s creative output. With research by Jesvin Yeo, filmography by Sandra Sek and direction by Jeremiah Choy, three diverse yet often taken for granted aspects of our cultural heritage were explored.

The opening artform was the painstaking creation of lion heads used for the traditional Chinese lion dance, perfected by artisan Henry Ng. The accompanying music by Tan Yuting entitled Crafting Lions, Writing Dreams took the form of a four-movement suite, outlining the process of inspiration, fabrication, ornamention, and all the way to the final product.

Percussive beats, typically heard during festive processions dominated, before culminating in the actual dance, which was earthy and raucous in feel. Ng made a personal appearance centrestage, painting the lion head in brushstrokes of different shades but leaving the piece uncompleted, symbolic of the need for his work to be continued as long as it takes.

Alicia De Silva’s Love and Legacy dwelled on Malay songkok crafting in the hands of aged headpiece maker Abdul Wahab bin Abdullah. The use of a small gamelan set of metallophones, struck by mallets by the composer herself, lent an authentic flavour to the subject.

Ostinatos and minimalism heard on pipa and zhongruan simulated repeating patterns on the worked fabric. Although Wahab was not physically present, his voiceover established the craft as a familial heirloom passed down from his father. There was, however, an uneasy sense that he represented the final generation of this handicraft’s perpetuity.

De Silva then seamlessly moved to the angklungs, resonating wooden rattlers which accompanied the final segment focused on rattan-weaving in furniture making. This was Cultural Medallion recipient Eric Watson’s A Palm for All Seasons. His evocation of nature with solo dizi in full flight was also a salute to the rattan palm, from which pieces lying at many homes were fashioned.

The mellow marimba, whose bars and resonators are also made from wood, featured prominently in the music as well. The mood of the music became decidedly more light-hearted, reflecting the loving bond between furniture maker Chen Foon Kee and his wife Lee Joon as they plied their craft onstage together.

All three works resembled mini-symphonies in conception and execution, a conscious reaction to the synthesis represented by these living artforms hanging by a thread. As a closing gesture, a final coda to the concert - and the series - summated what we risk losing in the relentless pursuit of 21st century living. Ding Yi’s Disappearing Series will most certainly be missed.