Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep
Margaret Leng Tan
- Director Tamara Saulwick
- Musician/Performer Margaret Leng Tan
- Genre Theatre
- Date 10.24.Fri. 7:30pm 10.25.Sat. 3pm
- Language English
- Accessibility Korean surtitle
- Conversation with Artists 10.24.THU.
- Rating 13 and above
- Venue Sejong S Theater
- Duration 60 min.
- Premiere 2020 Melbourne, Australia
- Coproduction Chamber Made, CultureLink Singapore
- Tickets 40,000 won
A sensory sound performance that presents the extraordinary life of legendary music icon Margaret Leng Tan
Synopsis“The formidable doyenne of the avant-garde piano”
The Washington Post on Margaret Leng Tan
A work that sweeps across the senses, Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep is a sonic portrait of new music icon Margaret Leng Tan—an evocative exploration of memory, time, control and loss.
New York-based Singaporean pianist Tan forged a path as a major force within the American avant-garde, serving as muse to giants such as John Cage and George Crumb, and transforming the toy piano into a serious instrument. Her stellar career is a touchstone for the past 40 years of experimental musical innovation.
Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep combines spoken and recorded text, projected images and original music for prepared piano, toy piano, toys and percussion by Tan’s long-term collaborator Erik Griswold.
Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep made its world premiere at Arts Centre Melbourne as part of the Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts (Asia TOPA) on 28 Feb 2020. It won the 2021 Australian Art Music Award for Work of the Year (Dramatic category).
Margaret Leng Tan
Singaporean pianist Margaret Leng Tan is one of the most highly regarded performers in American new music. Tan, whose work embraces theatre, choreography and performance, has been hailed as the “diva of avant-garde pianism” by The New Yorker. She is renowned as a pre-eminent John Cage interpreter (her mentor of 11 years) and for her performances of American and Asian music that transcend the piano’s conventional boundaries. Tan was the featured performer in a tribute to Cage’s memory at the 45th Venice Biennale. Her Cage recordings are critically regarded as definitive performances and she performs his music in the PBS American Masters films on John Cage and Jasper Johns. Tan was also one of George Crumb’s favourite performers for whom he composed Metamorphoses (Book I), a major piano cycle that Tan has performed to critical acclaim throughout the world since 2017. She also introduced audiences to Metamorphoses (Book II), George Crumb’s final work. The first woman to earn a doctorate from Juilliard, Margaret Leng Tan is recognised as the world’s first toy piano virtuoso. Her ground-breaking 1997 recording, The Art of the Toy Piano, transformed a humble toy into a real instrument. Tan has been called “the queen of the toy piano” (The New York Times) and “the toy piano’s Rubenstein” (The Independent, UK). The BBC, CNN, ABC and National Public Radio (USA) have all profiled her career as a concert toy pianist. Tan’s curiosity has extended to other toy instruments as well, substantiating her credo: “poor tools require better skills” (Marcel Duchamp). Her iconoclastic practice has led to two feature documentaries, Evans Chan’s Sorceress of the New Piano and Chuang Xu’s Twinkle Dammit!, the latter winning Best Feature Documentary Director at NÒT Film Festival and Best Foreign Documentary at Kadoma International Film Festival. Becoming Margaret Leng Tan (Marshall Cavendish International), a 2023 children’s storybook by Lai Low, illustrated by Dan Kuah, has been acquired by Kokila Imprint (Penguin Random House). Margaret Leng Tan is a recipient of The National Endowment for the Arts’ Solo Recitalist Award (USA). In 2015 she was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s highest artistic accolade. During 2025 Tan is featured in exhibitions celebrating the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence at the National Museum of Singapore and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.
margaretlengtan.com
Tamara Saulwick
Tamara Saulwick is an acclaimed performance-maker, director and dramaturg creating work across and between artforms for theatres, galleries and public spaces. Notable for the complex interplay between sound, technology, visual design and live performance, her works have toured extensively, been adapted for radio, and have been honoured by numerous industry awards. Since 2017 Tamara has been the Artistic Director of Chamber Made, a Melbourne based company renowned for creating trailblazing works at the intersection of performance, sound and music. Recent works include, One Day We’ll Understand (2024), My Self in That Moment (2022), SYSTEM_ERROR (2021), Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep (2020) and Diaspora (2019). In her role at Chamber Made she continues to conceive and direct new works, collaborate with lead artists from outside the company, curate artist and art form development programs, and mentor emerging artists. Tamara is an Australia Council Theatre Fellow and has a PhD in Performance Studies from Victoria University.
Eric Griswold
Erik Griswold is a composer and pianist working in contemporary classical, improvised and experimental forms. His interests include prepared piano, percussion, environmental music and the music of Sichuan province. Born in Los Angeles and now based in Brisbane, Griswold has received an Australia Council Fellowship, two APRA-AMCOS Art Music Awards, two Green Room Awards and was an Aria Award finalist. His music has been performed in Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Cafe Oto, Shanghai International Festival, Melbourne Festival, among many other venues. Griswold’s Old MacDonald’s Yellow Submarine, written for Margaret Leng Tan, was selected to represent the ABC at the International Rostrum of Composers (2010). Together with Vanessa Tomlinson, Griswold directs Clocked Out, which produces original music and innovative events.
- Musician/Performer Margaret Leng Tan
- Composer Erik Griswold
- Director Tamara Saulwick
- Dramaturg Kok Heng Leun | Drama Box
- Video Artist Nick Roux
- Lighting Design Andy Lim | ARTFACTORY
- Costume Design Yuan Zhiying
- Text Margaret Leng Tan’s writings, observations and reflections.
- Video footage Tey Mun Sen (Margaret and Mum), Erik Griswold (Biscuit time), Rick Tejada-Flores (Margaret and John Cage)
- Calligraphy Mark Chan
- Co-Producers Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay and Asia TOPA
- Technical Stage Manager Yap Seok Hui | ARTFACTORY
- Administration Jocelyn Chng
- Executive Producer Goh Ching Lee | CultureLink Singapore
- Coproducer Kylie McRae | Chamber Made
Chamber Made is dedicated to exploring the intersection of music, sound, and contemporary performance, while challenging and redefining art forms. It speaks directly to a 21st century Australia enriched by the meeting and intersection of cultures. The company provides opportunities for promising Australian composers, sound artists, and musicians to collaborate with theatres and performing arts professionals in the field.
The company provides opportunities for promising Australian composers, sound artists, and musicians to collaborate with theatres and performing art professionals on the scene. It is also known for its commitment to exploring new possibilities in art. It is dedicated to making lasting contributions to the Australian performing arts sector by providing spaces for research, collaboration, and innovation across music and the performing arts, and by pursuing projects that explore experimental art forms encompassing music, technology, and performance.
CultureLink Singapore, an arts consultancy and creative producing agency led by Goh Ching Lee (Executive and Artistic Director), was founded following Goh's transformative decade leading the Singapore Arts Festival (2000-2009) and shaping the arts sector at the National Arts Council.
Committed to bridging compelling ideas, people, and places across cultures and continents, CultureLink serves as a cultural catalyst, igniting and realizing imaginative programmes and meaningful artistic encounters for a wide spectrum of partners including artists, festivals, arts academies, cultural venues, national and international cultural institutions It has facilitated, curated, and produced over 200 performances and gatherings in Asia, Australasia, and Europe.
-
★★★★★‘[Tan] remains a vital and energetic performer, and Dragon Ladies provides us with a rare insight into that which drives her passion as an explorer and pioneer of new musical territories.’
- Limelight -
★★★★★ “...much like any composition played by Margaret...[Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep] evoke an abstract but undeniably powerful resonance in audience members, through the act of presenting something so genuine, personal, and artistically crafted.”
- BAKCHORMEEBOY (SG) -
“...visually breathtaking, with minimal yet awe-inspiring staging...simple yet profound... Watching Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep makes you quickly realize that you are in the presence of greatness, witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime performer delivering a meticulous, pitch-perfect, and stunningly moving piece of work.”
- GLAMADELAIDE -
You may wish to add one more review from London:
★★★★★ “Dragon Ladies Don’t Weep is a captivating performance that masterfully blends music concert stage play, and visual art installation. Tan’s ability to reflect on her life and work while engaging the audience with humour and depth makes this piece a must-see.”
- A YOUNG(ISH) PERSPECTIVE