Po Sein ( my, ဘိုးစိန်, ; 18 April 1882 – 11 January 1954) was an influential 20th-century traditional leading

Burmese dance Dance in Burma (since 1989 known as Myanmar) can be divided into dramatic, folk and village, and nat dances, each having distinct characteristics. Although Burmese dance resemble the traditional dancing style of its neighbours, in particular ...

actor in Myanmar Drama Event and singer, who has been credited with innovating and modernizing Burmese performance arts, in dance, song, costumes, and stagecraft. He also established the Mandalay-based performance troupe, "Sein Maha Thabin" (), which remained family-run until 1993, when it was closed by his grandson Ye Sein.

Innovations

Po Sein was particularly successful at introducing a variety of stage innovations, by explaining the changes to audience and interacting with them throughout the performance. Also, he adapted the Buddhist

Jataka The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is ...

tales, which had previously been exclusively performed by marionette puppets, for live actors, by creating dances and songs as part of the performance repertoire. Until the late 1800s, it was considered taboo for live actors to depict such sacred stories of the previous lives of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

. His innovations led to a decline in the popularity of the marionette theater troupes, by breaking their monopoly on Jataka plays. Furthermore, he revolutionized Burmese stagecraft by incorporating a raised stage for dramatic performances, which had been previously confined to marionette theater, which uses a raised platform (hence the name ''amyint thabin'' or ). He modernized the classical dance drama form, ''zat pwe'' (), by adding variety acts, chorus lines, introducing admission. He was also the first male lead to have intimate onstage interactions with the lead actress, which has since become a norm in couple dances.

Costumes

Po Sein is credited with introducing

stocking Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transparen ...

s and

slipper Slippers are light footwear that are easy to put on and off and are intended to be worn indoors, particularly at home. They provide comfort and protection for the feet when walking indoors. History The recorded history of slippers can be traced ...

s as part of dancers' costumes; they had previously danced barefoot. He also introduced the modern costume worn by comedians (''lupyet'' or ''lu shwin daw''), which consists of a checkered Taungshay-style paso (sarong) and a loose jacket (previously, comedians had performed shirtless).

Controversy

During the 1920 national boycott against the British administration, he was involved in a controversy for dubbing Mandalay boycotters as "young rebels" in a local newspaper. Students in Mandalay and Yangon responded by boycotting his performances, forcing him to later apologize.

References

{{Authority control 20th-century Burmese male actors Burmese male stage actors Burmese dancers 1882 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Burmese male singers

Innovations

Costumes

Controversy

See also

References