Roles in Cantonese opera are known as hong dong. In recent years, the industry has evolved to adopting the generic ‘six-pillar (role) system', which includes the roles of the zing jan fa dan (the female lead, who is dignified and gentle, and focuses on singing and performing), the yi bong fa dan (supporting the female lead, usually a clever maid or a shrewish concubine of a king) but excludes the once staple role of mo dan (the female role who excels in acrobatics). Veteran stage performers from periods such as Yu Lai-zhen, Fung Wong Nui, Law Yim-hing, Ng Kwan-lai and Chan Ho-kau were all all-rounded, dexterous dan who excelled in dramatic roles with equal acrobatic brilliance. Revered as the ‘Queen of the Art of Dan', Yu Lai-zhen was renowned for her bound-feet feat; Fung Wong Nui was accomplished in traditional operatic movements; Law Yim-hing honed and mastered her craft under the tutelage of Luo Pinchao, a sang (the male lead) maestro; Ng Kwan-lai and Chan Ho-kau were trained in northern-school acrobatics under the wing of Beijing masters, and all were prolific in film as they were on stage. Films chosen for this thematic programme highlight Yu, Fung and Chan in a celebratory showcase of their operatic talents and dazzling acrobatic displays on the silver screen. Regrettably, due to the unavailability of film copies, neither the film of Law nor Ng could be selected to complete the listing. In their places are films starring the Beijing opera maestros and famed daoma dan (young female warrior role) Fen Ju Hua and Yu So-chow. The consummate performance of northern- school acrobatic manoeuvres from the duo is so stunning that their professionally dubbed singing and reciting lines can be easily accepted as a necessary trade-off. Together, the films demonstrate the convergence of northern and southern cultures in Cantonese opera, an exemplar of an operatic art form that embraces a plethora of cultural and social influences and brings out the best of them.

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