🎭✨ Introducing the cast of Wow Time Show ✨🎭
We are delighted to welcome Sook Kuan / @tangbubbles to Wow Time Show.
Sook Kuan is a Malaysian dance and theatre practitioner based in London, with over a decade of international experience across the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia.
She holds an MA in Theatre Lab from RADA and a Master’s in Creative Arts from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and works across performance, choreography, early childhood education, and theatre-making.
Her artistic practice explores dance and theatre as immersive, sensory experiences that nurture empathy, imagination, and human connection. Influenced by ritual and traditional movement practices from Sabah, her work is grounded, expressive, and deeply human.
Sook Kuan’s choreographic work has been recognised internationally, including selections and awards at:
✨ MASDANZA (Korea)
✨ Yamagata Documentary Dojo (Japan)
✨ Visions du Réel (Switzerland)
@tangdanceprojects
In Wow Time Show, Sook Kuan brings her rich physical language and experience in early years education to create a gentle, engaging, and imaginative space for children and families to explore movement, sound, and connection together.
We are very excited to begin rehearsals and share this journey with audiences soon. 💛
📸 Photo credit: Sook Kuan
#wowtimeshow #theatreforearlyyears
We’re thrilled to introduce the ensemble of #PrayersForAHungryGhost when we bring it to @tobaccofactorytheatres this Spring 💮🌸
In order of appearance:
Elisabeth Gunawan 吳金蘭 @elisabettygun
Tang Sook Kuan 邓淑君 @tangdanceprojects
Vinna Law 刘芸伶 @vinnalaw
Ting-Ning Wen 温庭凝 @gladyswen
In the nightmarish underworld of hungry ghosts, a migrant family confronts the true cost of their choices. Mother left her home in Singapore to follow her husband in pursuit of the American dream. When he leaves her, she survives and raises her two daughters through hard work and sheer determination. Meanwhile, her daughters' lives spiral in opposite directions: Little Sister ascends to classical piano stardom, while Big Sister is ravaged by a mysterious illness. Each path eventually leads them to the same pit of despair and insatiable hunger, unless their familial bond can somehow transcend the cycle of inherited trauma.
Following a sold-out premiere at the Barbican Centre in 2025, this haunting ensemble production #PrayersForAHungryGhost arrives in Bristol at Tobacco Factory Theatres. Performed by an all-East Asian cast in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Malay, and created by a female-led majority East and Southeast Asian creative team, the company brings to life the complexities of migrant and diasporic experiences with the criticality and inventiveness that underpins KISS WITNESS’ critically acclaimed and award-winning works.
KISS WITNESS is an independent global-majority-led company, hailed for their "distinctive and ambitious" (The Stage) work that "leaves an indelible mark on its audience" (The Stage & Theatre Weekly). Their work has been platformed at the Barbican Centre, Summerhall Edinburgh and the Pleasance.
🗓️ 19–20 May
📍 Tobacco Factory Theatres
🎟️ Tickets from £12
Book now via the Tobacco Factory Theatres website
“★★★★ Utterly intoxicating.” – Everything Theatre
“★★★★ Evocative, hard-hitting, haunting.” – Broadway World
@PeopleofTheatre – Top 25 Shows of 2025
5 Nominations Fringe Theatre Awards, including Best Play, Best Ensemble, Best Production
#Theatre #BristolTheatre #LiveArt PhysicalTheatre NewWork TheatreMaker ChineseMythology DarkComedy WhatsOnBri
In Spirit
This work-in-progress was developed as an intimate, one-hour long performance set within a traditional Lotud house in Tuaran, Sabah, in collaboration with @tangbubbles . Drawing from the idea of ritual as a shared human practice, the work explores the body as a vessel of attention, endurance, and presence rather than a representation of any specific belief system. Within a close and limited space of audiences, performers engaged in structured improvisation using symbolic materials such as a woven tikar mat, water, incense, bell, gongs, and blindfolds. These objects functioned not as ritual tools, but as "material companions" that guided movement, sound, and sensory awareness. The proximity between performers and audience created a heightened state of witnessing, where subtle actions, breath, and physical effort became central. The work sought to open a space for reflection on spirituality beyond religion, grounded in the lived experience of the body, the environment, and the shared act of being present together.
Photography by @ivanhiewsm and YellowBrick Team.
In Spirit
I'm so happy and excited to share moments captured during our work-in-progress showing in the Traditional Lotud House!
The concept started when I moved back to Kota Kinabalu, I wanted to create a dance or performance that pulls inspiration from the belief systems of Sabahan. I want to explore what people of the present time actually believe in the spiritual contexts from different religions or traditions. From there, create a new perspective on the existence of the soul in the format of contemporary ritual.
The first person that came to my mind was my long time friend @tangbubbles . From her extensive research on shamanism, dance, and theater, I believed she is the one that can push this project to the next dimension. As fate lines up, she was visiting Malaysia for Chinese New Year this year so she decided to make a quick stop in KK to push this project forward.
We only had three days to rehearse and put ideas into actions that can be presented in an hour time frame with limited space and resources. We are also lucky enough to spend some time interviewing Odun Gading, one of the last Bobohizan existing in the fading culture of shamanism in the Suang Lotud tribe.
Huge thanks and respect to @ivanhiewsm and his YellowBrick team for capturing these moments. Dance is an art form that constantly disappears after the purpose served and they managed to catch it in such limited space with no power outlet available. They are the reason I'm able to share these fleeting movements.
This is just the beginning of this project and I hope to move this forward to bigger stage and wider audiences in the future. Cheers 🥂
Created by @johnchin22@tangbubbles
Videography by @ivanhiewsm and the YellowBrick team
Edited by @johnchin22
From today we will be introducing our festival line-up!
Sook Kuan, Tang will be bringing The Last Shaman to life — a dance theatre work tracing the journey of the final priestess of the Lotud people of Sabah, Malaysia.
Blending ritual, memory, and movement, it questions what survives when cultures migrate and histories fade.
@tangbubbles Sook Kuan is an independent Malaysian dance and theatre practitioner based in London, currently pursuing her MA Theatre Lab at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She holds a Master’s in Creative Arts from Universiti Malaysia Sabah and has over a decade of experience as a lecturer, choreographer, and performer.
Deeply inspired by ritual and shamanic practices from Sabah, her work explores authenticity, spirituality, and the confluence of body and story through deeply human expression. Her choreography Tapang Tree gained international recognition as a finalist at MASDANZA (Korea, 2017), and was selected for Yamagata Documentary Dojo (Japan) and Visions du Réel (Switzerland).
🎟 Alternative Roots — a one-day festival of live art, film, and conversation by ESEA artists.
📅 8 November 2025 | Hoxton Hall, London
🔗 Tickets via link in bio
#AlternativeRoots #ESEAartists #LiveArt #HoxtonHall #MingStrike
✨ The Other Shore (彼岸) ✨
| A Pleasance Scratch | 17th April 2025
Photo credits: Josh Barnett
What a journey. Presenting this early sketch of “The Other Shore” at A Pleasance Scratch in April has been such a gift. The devising process was both enlightening and full of flow—I’m deeply grateful to work with the incredibly talented, open-minded, intuitive, and generous @will_edelson .
This collaboration has truly sparked something, and we would definitely love to build on this inspiration into a longer work. 🦾🦾
A huge thank you to The Pleasance for offering a platform where new ideas can take physical shape. The professional insights from the organising team, paired with the heartfelt responses from the audience, have shed light on the potential of this piece.
💬 Some highlights from the audience:
🌊 “This was easily one of the best things I’ve seen in a while. So moving, so expressive—so beautiful. The moment the brother used the sister as a bridge was very powerful. The soundscape really added to the experience. Loved every second.”
🌊 “I was captivated and incredibly moved. The part when the sister was protecting the brother while he balanced himself on her body was truly a masterpiece.”
🌊 “This piece was so beautiful! I particularly loved the moment when they were holding each other’s arm and walking away from the audience while also leaning away from each other… then the sister started falling slowly. It was so moving!”
Feeling encouraged, seen, and excited for what’s next. 🙏🏻❤️😇
#TheOtheShore #dancetheatre #newworkinprogress #APleasanceScartch #Gratitude #Collaboration #TheatreMaking #trancendence #storytellingthroughmovements
What a rewarding time diving into back-to-back R&D intensives with such beautiful souls in Hull. Grateful for all the effort, generosity, and passion everyone brought into the room. Truly inspiring and creatively demanding in the best way. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Can’t wait to see how both projects blossom from here.
#researchanddevelopment #hull #newprojects #devising #joy #dance #movements #theatre #making
We are mere channels—
sometimes, images shine through us,
especially when we least expect it…
A new duet in progress, in collaboration with talented @will_edelson 🙏🏻
#images #devising #discoveries #inprogress #dance #theatre
First project in London!! 😇😇🤗🤗
Grateful for the opportunity to be part of the 2nd R&D for this amazing work “Prayers For a Hungry Ghost” by @elisabettygun ❤️❤️
As much as I am inspired by the work and working process, the short residency is eye-opening for me as a new person in the UK. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Curious Directive, a Norwich-based theatre company led by Artistic Director, Jack Lowe hosted our residency. Jack himself and the space has been incredibly inspiring for me, the space was beautifully redesigned and refurbished from an old church. 🤩😇
And definitely love Norwich, the cathedral city’s calmness and solemnity.
Would love to be here again in the future. 😇
I’m truly flattered and grateful for the opportunity to be entrusted with choreographing Merlion The Musical, a President’s Challenge-supported, non-profit charity production by Musical Theatre Live MTL on 20th & 21st December 2024.
This is an inclusive community project, where cast members come from a wide range of backgrounds, including Gen X, Y, Z, professionals, amateurs, students, and special-needs artists. Looking back, it was indeed a challenging task, but with the support of a caring, understanding, and creative team, both on stage and behind the scenes, we managed to bring everything together with great openness, patience, resilience, and respect. ❤️❤️
This entire journey crystallized one of my core passions and principles as an independent choreographer and performer: while striving for artistic excellence in our work, the growth and transformation of each artist involved is both vital and invaluable. It sparked joy, true passion, and fulfillment in the process, which in turn gives an intrinsic “power” and “beauty” to the spectacle and the presentation on stage.
The beautiful connections and striving moments we shared in the rehearsal studios and black box warm my heart every time I recall them. It reminds me why I do what I do.
Every crossing of paths is significant to me, regardless of how long we work together. Thank you to everyone with whom I had the privilege of exchanging ideas, thoughts, creativity, energy, care, and support. I truly appreciate each one of you. I will continue my journey with all the “presents” you’ve given me in my heart and share them with more people.
Wishing all the best to everyone. 😇😇🥰🥰❤️❤️
A Dance Theatre Double Bill
Up next, production team member Xue Li will perform in the collaborative piece Bonding.
Xueli is a dedicated dance artist currently active in the realms of theater art creation and research. She is now based between Malaysia and Singapore. In 2023, Xueli graduated from the Nanjing University of the Arts in China, majoring in Contemporary Dance Choreography. She collaborated with various choreographers and has also presented her own dance experimental theatre piece ‘Vital insights’ , dance piece ’The Sounds’ ‘Yearning’ and ‘Lonely Boat’ which have won championships and gold awards in dance competitions. Xueli is also the founder and leader of ‘ToGather,’ a contact improvisation community activity aimed at promoting community interaction and connection through contact improvisation. She actively explores different somatic practices and integrates various elements into dance, expanding the possibilities of the body‘s expression in her creations.
Date: 28th December 2024 (Sat)
Time: 3pm or 8pm
Venue: G Six Studio
#01-10, Blok A, Akademik Suite, Jalan Austin Heights
Utama, Taman Mount Austin, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Tickets: RM60 / SGD20h
online booking form:
https://5xr31gqr.forms.app/tangdanceprojects-ticket-reservation-form
