"Mya Chay-Gyin" Ma Ngwe Myaing ( my, မြခြေချင်း မငွေမြိုင်, ; born Ngwe Hlaing; 21 November 1894 – 20 September 1959) was a Burmese dance performer of the twentieth century, in the tradition of Ma Htwe Lay. She is said to be a mother of the Mandalay's third dramatic arts era. Unlike her contemporary dancers– Awba Thaung and

Liberty Ma Mya Yin Liberty Mya Yin ( my, လေဘာတီမြရင်; 21 April 1904 – 29 April 1945) was a Burmese anyeint dancer and singer, best known during the pre-World War II period. She gained the moniker "Liberty" from college fans who advocated B ...

who were ''

anyeint Anyeint (; ; my, အငြိမ့်; also spelt a-nyeint) is a traditional Burmese entertainment form that combines dance with instrumental music, song, and comedy routines, in theatrical performances.Seekins, Donald M. (2006) "Anyeint (Anye ...

'' dancers– Ma Ngwe Myaing was a '' zat pwe'' dancer.

Biography

Early life

Ngwe Hlaing was born in 1894 to U Aung Ba and Daw Nyein Zan at Obo ward, Kyimyindaing Township,

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

, and had nine other siblings. Being passionate about singing and dancing, her father made her learn traditional dance when she was nine.

Career as a dancer

After studying for three years, she started her own career as a dance performer with the stage name ''Mya Chay Gyin Ma Ngwe Myaing'' at

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

. At her age 19, she entered into the anyeint industry. But after two years, she transferred to her original career– zat dancer. Her most-partnered duet dancer was Aung Si Bala. She also partnered with Sein Oak, Ba Lun, Ba Tun and Ba Hlaing in duets. She and the Great Po Sein were also popular partners. But she was the main draw as audiences came to see her in the duets. Her peak of popularity was when she danced with Ba Hlaing and

Sein Beda Sein Beda ( my, စိန်ဗေဒါ; also spelt Sein Baydar; 10 November 1882 – 8 October 1942) was a prominent Burmese classical musician based in Mandalay, Burma (now Myanmar). Career Sein Beda was known for his expertise in the hsai ...

at the age of 30.

Shwe Man Tin Maung Shwe Man Tin Maung ( my, ရွှေမန်းတင်မောင်, 21 December 1918 – 29 November 1969) was an influential Burmese dancer and founder of the Shwe Man Thabin family dance troupe, the last of its kind in Burma. He was con ...

was one of her students.

Later life

At her age 40, she retired from professional dancing, and started her life as an agent of Naga Daw Oo's Naga cigar chain. Ngwe Myaing died on 20 September 1959 in Mandalay.

Works

Her Aung Bala style dance was renowned. She performed well-known songs composed by

YMB Saya Tin YMB Saya Tin ( my, ဝိုင်အမ်ဘီဆရာတင်, ; 11 February 1894 – 8 August 1950) was a Burmese composer. He was one of three well known pre-war composers with the name Saya Tin. The others were and . He is best known f ...

, Nandawshe Saya Tin and Sagaing Saya Kyi such as ''Shwe Kyee Nyo'' (The Golden Crow), ''Sandaku Myaing'', ''Arkarthazoe'' and ''Saungdawku'', and in stage plays, including "The History of Shwethalyaung Temple", "Phawt Phyu Mg Yaw", "Chaepawa Tahtaung Mg Me Gaung", "

Aṅgulimāla Aṅgulimāla ( Pāli language; lit. 'finger necklace') is an important figure in Buddhism, particularly within the Theravāda tradition. Depicted as a ruthless brigand who completely transforms after a conversion to Buddhism, he is seen as the ...

" and "Hathtilinga".

Family

She was married to sub-inspector Ko Ko Gyi at 21 but had no children. She adopted two children: Maung Maung and Sein Sein.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngwe Myaing, Mya Chay Gyin Ma Burmese dancers 20th-century Burmese women singers 1959 deaths 1894 births