"The two are known as U Shwe Yoe and Daw Moe, and are some of Myanmar’s best known dance characters. They have been popular in Myanmar for generations, but not everyone knows exactly where they come from – or why they are so popular. Some believe that they have survived for generations, their mannerisms and moves handed down from performer to performer. But the pair have a more modern genesis, first emerging from early 20th Century movies. The creator was a man called U Bakalay, also known as Shwe Ta Lay – a cartoonist, and the advertising director at the Myanmar Aswe Department Store on Sule Pagoda Road. Despite his work in advertising and other media, it was his Shwe Yoe creation that was most enduring. U Bakalay first started acting in the films of U Nyi Pu, with makeup and wearing a smart dite pone ein gyi (traditional dress shirt). He assumed the name “Shwe Yoe” for these movies, where he would perform exaggerated moves that gradually built up to a dance routine. The U Shwe Yoe character became popular in a film called Taw Myaing Sone Ka Lone Aung Phan (Nostalgia at the Edge of the Deep Forest), directed by U Nyi Pu. But earlier than that U Bakalay appeared in a movie called Myittar Nae Thuyar (Love and Liquor), where he acted as a servant to the film’s main protagonist Maung Ba Htay. The servant’s name was U Shwe Yoe, who flirted with a maid, Daw Moe..."