Every minute of a Peking Opera stage performance can be linked
to 10-years of practice, according to a famous saying, and one
recent opera class presentation unveiled step-by-step how an opera
veteran was born.
Presented by students and teachers from the reputable Beijing
Chinese Opera College, the show started with feats of athleticism.
Dozens of bear-faced boys in black training clothes practiced like
the way they did back in school. One by one, they twirled around on
the stage center, rolled like a powerful engine in the air, and
threw themselves on the ground.
Their dazzling stunts drew thunderous applause from the audience
at Renmin University, including college students, Peking Opera
enthusiasts and eminent opera artists.
"Wow! Cool!" said students, mostly first-time viewers of Peking
Opera. They shouted and clapped lustily in amazement, mouths and
eyes wide open. They looked curious as teenage performers practiced
graceful hand movements and recited monologues in a unique fashion,
following their mentors' demonstrations.
The performance inaugurated a campus activity, titled "Peking
Opera goes with the Olympic Games", which will tour 10 universities
in the capital until October.
Organizers wish to promote the long-standing opera tradition to
an extensive population of students by adopting the lively class
presentation.
"When I visited the Grand Chang'an Theater, I found something
quite alarming: At least 95 percent of the Peking Opera viewers are
white-haired," Wang Minzhong, an official of Beijing Municipal
government, said before the presentation show.?
An opera enthusiast himself, Wang said the cultivation of loyal
younger viewers is vital to the development of Peking Opera.
"I don't think that students dislike traditional operas, as many
people assume," said Zhou Tong, deputy director of the Beijing
Peking Opera Association for College Students. Zhou has been an
amateur opera performer since college. He is quite experienced in
popularizing Chinese operas on campus in collaboration with
students' opera associations.
"Once they enter the world of Peking Opera, many will fall in
love with it. Even for those who don't appreciate the opera, they
still think it an enchanting art form and want to know more about
it.
"All they need is a more interesting and dimensional method to
learn the opera. And I think the class presentation is a good
example," Zhou added. Zhou's association is one of the main
organizers of "Peking Opera goes with the Olympic Games".
They also hope that as the students deepen their understanding
of the Peking Opera, these volunteers-to-be will provide better
cultural service during the Beijing Olympics.
"Volunteers are cultural envoys. If we know little about and
take no pride in our folk arts, how could we display the most
distinctive part of Chinese culture before the rest of the world in
2008?" Zhou said, adding that the project is part of the training
program for the Olympic volunteers.
The model was invented by a French director after his first
visit to the Beijing Chinese Opera College in 2004. It was applied
in the college's performances during its four trips across Europe
from 2005 to 2007. It was hailed as a golden key to the magical
world of Chinese operas by local audiences. Zhou and his colleagues
plan to readapt the model to the audience at home.
During the presentation, two 11-year-old boys concluded the
presentation with a highlight from Sanchakou (The Crossroads). The
highly rated piece features amusing and skilled acrobatic fights
between a thief and a constable. The audience erupted into laughter
from time to time at the boys' whole-hearted performance.
Zhou noted that the current class presentation is tailored for
performances abroad. There are too many martial pieces like
Sanchakou because of the language barrier.
"We should balance the program by adding pieces with more
singing and talking," Zhou said, emphasizing explanations on why
performers pose the gesture, what their movements indicate and how
to distinguish different characters by their make-ups and
costumes.
He said amateur student performers should be involved in the
presentation and performance. And the audience on campus will feel
more attached to the art.
"We want to develop an entirely new model that we can apply to
traditional art forms other than Peking Opera," Zhou said.
(China Daily May 9, 2007)