Soldier M.I.A. is a collaborative dance performance that attempts to re-imagine a Chinese queer feminist future, through the story of the female soldier, Hua Mulan (花木兰).  According to the classic legend, Mulan is a young woman who disguises herself as a man, in order to join the army and go to battle in her father’s place. On the surface, the story seems to advocate woman empowerment and emancipation; however at its root, it actually instrumentalizes female representation and body for patriarchal and nationalist purposes.

Framed as a fictive search-and-rescue mission, Soldier M.I.A. plays with the idea that Mulan has somehow gone missing in action (M.I.A.). Four “experts” with diverse Chinese backgrounds – a dancer, a dramaturge, a sound artist and a costume artist – join forces to find Mulan, using a mix of literary references, video footage of Chinese opera and personal stories. Together with the help of the audience, they will try to reconstruct the story of Mulan through a queer and feminist lens. Their task is to bring forth a new Mulan-in-action (M.I.A.). What battle will Soldier M.I.A. join in today? Whose flag will she be flying… or burning?

Video trailer
Reviews
Dramaturgical notes

Co-production  : English Theatre Berlin / International Performing Arts Center & MIFRUSH Production (Berlin, Germany)
Funded             : Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion
Premiere          : 23rd – 25th November 2023

Team
Artist direction & choreography : Ming Poon
Dance & Performance                 : Lee Mun Wai
Dramaturgy & Performance        : Dandan Liu
Sound Design & Performance     : Sum-Sum Shen
Costume Design & Performance : Tin Wang
Costume Assistant                       : Elin Laut
Stage Design                               : Jennis Li
Light Design                                : Hanna Kritten Tangsoo 
Video Design                               : Harshini J. Karunaratne
Graphic Design                            : Duy Hung Kieu
Movement Coach                         : Gizem Aksu
Technical Direction                      : Klaus Altenmüller
Video Documentation                  : Isabelle Schmitt
Photo Documentation                 : Olivia Kwok
Production Assistance                : Nur Bildik
Production Management            : MIFRUSH Production (Micaela Trigo & Urszula Heuwinkel)