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For National Coming Out Day, read a FREE extract from Yang-May Ooi’s coming out story as told in her memoir Bound Feet Blues, the book

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To celebrate National Coming Out Day tomorrow, Sunday 11 Oct, writer/ performer Yang-May Ooi shares an extract from her memoir Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes, the book that is inspired by her solo theatre piece of the same name. Bound Feet Blues is as much about Yang-May’s journey to discovering her sexual identity as it is the story of the women in her family. 

Here is the extract from the chapter entitled “Biker Boots” from the book, Bound Feet Blues:

Coming out is a rite of passage.

In the world of debutantes and high society, it is an ancient tradition going back generations. When a young woman comes of age, she is invited to a coming out ball to introduce her to society – and  in the aristocratic classes in Britain, to present her to the monarch. It is her “debut” into the world as an adult – or, rather, as a fertile virgin of a marriagable age. This custom continues to this day among the elite not just in Britain but also, surprisingly, in the ideally classless societies of Australia and the United States.

The coming out ball is the moment when high society gathers to view the future of their dynasties. Debutantes customarily wear white ball gowns, sometimes with long white Cinderella gloves and sometimes with tiaras or both.  If you Google images of  “debutante ball coming out”, you will see that the styles of the ball dresses have changed little since Victorian times and often the young women are indistinguishable from each other in their demure, beautiful uniforms. The eligible young bachelors gather round them in white tie and tails and suddenly, we are back in the world of Jane Austen and Downton Abbey and fairy tale princesses.

For a young woman in that society, to come out is to emerge from Continue reading →

Meet the Sponsors of Bound Feet Blues

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To put one person on stage for a solo theatre show like Bound Feet Blues, you need a team of other talented professionals working behind the scenes to make sure a range of components are all in place – from the creative vision, to production and business matters, set and lighting design, costume and the running of the show every night. There is also of course the theatre space that is the foundation of the whole project.

Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to the creative team here on this blog. Today, we would like to introduce to you – and thank – our supporters and sponsors without whom this 3 week production of Bound Feet Blues would not be possible.

Arts Council, England

This production of Bound Feet Blues – as well as research and development for the showcase performance in Oct last year – is generously supported by funding from Arts Council, England. We are grateful for their support.

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. We believe that art and culture make life better, helps to build diverse communities and improves our quality of life.  Great art and culture can inspire our education system, boost our economy and give our nation international standing.   – See more at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/#sthash.VUv8wa3X.dpuf

The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC)

We are indebted to The Housing Finance Corporation, which is match-funding this production of Bound Feet Blues.

Piers Williamson, Chief Executive, says: “THFC is proud to sponsor this intriguing piece of theatre. Bound Feet Blues is a show with an impassioned message about personal empowerment, acceptance of diversity and the relationship of an individual within her community. These themes are consistent with our corporate values as an independent mutually owned finance company and our core business of funding affordable housing in diverse communities. We hope that you will enjoy this innovative and thought-provoking theatre piece.”

 

THFC is an independent, specialist, not-for-profit organisation that makes loans to regulated Housing Associations, that Continue reading →

Do our shoes shape who we are? [video] – Yang-May Ooi, writer/ performer of Bound Feet Blues, thinks so

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Yang-May Ooi, writer/ performer of Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes, talks about how shoes and bound feet in her extra-ordinary theatre piece are a metaphor for who we are – and who we long to be.

Bound Feet Blues – A Life Told in Shoes is a solo story performance written and performed by Yang-May Ooi and directed by Jessica Higgs. A memoir of the same name by Yang-May Ooi is also being published.

ABOUT THE SHOW
In an epic journey from China via East Asia and Australia to England, British-Malaysian writer-performer Yang-May Ooi explores female empowerment and desirability through the oral histories of three generations of her family and the shoes in her life. Yang-May uses the ancient Chinese tradition of footbinding experienced by Continue reading →