Dancing girls, sexy outfits and provocative lyrics have been largely absent in the images coming from Myanmar in recent years, but that is about to change with another voice of the country's youth finding an audience, the Me N Ma Girls _ this time on an international stage.
Now signed to Los Angeles label Power Music, the country's first all-girl pop group was the brainchild of Australian dancer Nicole May and local entrepreneur U Moe Kyaw. They formed in 2010, and were originally called the Tiger Girls, not long after the skateboarding short film Altered Focus: Burma was made and well before today's relative freedoms were even considered a possibility.
"Burma [Myanmar] started to change a lot soon after we formed our group," say Me N Ma Girls members Cha Cha, Htike2, Ah Moon, Wai Hnin Khine and Kimmi in a joint interview via email. "We can speak freely now, about policy, the government, everything. Censorship has been loosened."
The group have been working hard for creative freedom, cutting their own path to success through the political and cultural red tape that has wrapped the country for decades. "When we started as a group, everybody thought that we were just dancers because there weren't any five-member girl bands before us. And the internet was not widely used. But now people are starting to support girl bands."
In 2011, the group of girls in their early twenties renamed the band, a pun on the country's name, to be more culturally relevant and present the new face of Myanmar's youth. At the end of the year they released an album of original songs called MinGaLarPar (Greetings), which included only one cover. While this was an important development for popular culture in the country, it also drew criticism.
"We've been told we're arrogant because we don't sing cover songs any more.
"The new generation, who know popular music, dislike covers too. People are all starting to realise how important it is to do original music. It's changing gradually."
The group have generated other cultural frictions through their comparatively liberated attitudes and behaviour. Cultural practices have held strong under years of military rule, at the same time preserving traditions and social norms while also deterring Westernisation or other change.
"In our culture, girls are supposed to be polite, quiet and shy. But we're loud and brave to get what we want. We have to push the boundaries by showing our people that we can be loud in a good way, even though we're wearing traditional longyi. Before, the future of young Burmese was in the hands of the old. Now, the future holds better education, chances and choices for young Burmese."
The Me N Ma Girls' underlying theme of promise through newfound freedom is what defines this important new cultural voice of Myanmar.
"We love our culture. We have a lot to say."
