2 | Wednesday, November 11, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PAGE TWO
OPERA: TRAINING STARTS AT YOUNG AGE
From page 1 in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. al, not only from the director, but also should be dropped.” Qinqiang Opera performers not only from performers and musicians. Wang Zhiqiang, a 29yearold drum To better develop the art form and need to master the rhythm and high Qu, a Shaanxi native, said: “There is mer with the troupe, treasures the make it increasingly relevant for pitched singing, they also have to use always someone to learn from. One opportunity to work with it. presentday audiences, the troupe is their bodies to express their characters’ director told me how my singing “We have a great atmosphere for artis seeking moreoriginal librettos, Hui moods in different situations. needed to be adjusted. When the tic creation and rehearsals, and I feel ful said. The Yisu Art Troupe’s rehearsal room musicians feel they have become dis filled when I see the reaction of Inspired by the Xinhai Revolution in is a hive of activity. connected from my singing, they audiences. Through our devotion to Qin 1911, launched by Sun Yatsen, the Yisu Every day at 8 am, students begin immediately point this out during qiang Opera, many of us have become Art Troupe, also known as Yisushe, was their basic skills training. Starting with each rehearsal. friends away from the stage,” he said. founded the following year by Li Tong singing practice, 19 young hopefuls “It’s a process of mutual cooperation xuan and Sun Renyu, two librettists spe exercise by kicking their legs and per through communication, and just Renovation work cializing in Qinqiang Opera. forming somersaults, before running because I’m the actor, this does not Yisushe has come to symbolically rep Hui said, “Different from other art around a field. mean I’m right every time.” resent Qinqiang Opera in Xi’an and troupes, Yisushe was founded with the The session lasts for about an hour. throughout Shaanxi. aim of making a difference for the coun However, for He Yuxin, 19, the youngest Every role matters In 2005, the Yisu Grand Theater and try by educating poor people who Qinqiang Opera student with the The Yisu Art Troupe has a tight daily the art troupe established Yisushe Co, couldn’t afford an education.” troupe, another two hours of training schedule. Rehearsals for a new show are with 123 employees under the manage She said this principle is still deeply has just started. sometimes completed in less than a ment of the Xi’an Performing Arts Corp, a engrained in the minds of every mem Influenced by her grandparents, the month, with the production immediate stateowned enterprise. Hui, the theater ber of the troupe. teenager has learned opera at home ly taking to the stage. president, was named general manager “Originality and literariness have since childhood. When she was 3, she The troupe currently comprises 55 of Yisushe Co. served the troupe well, and more than hummed part of an opera for the first performers. For each production, nearly The theater closed for renovation last 880 original scripts in over 1,000 volumes time, before being sent by her family to every performer from the group month. The work is expected to take are preserved at the theater,” Hui added. study Qinqiang Opera at the Shaanxi appears on stage in different roles. about 10 months and will transform the Wang Zhi, deputy director of the Art School in Xi’an. Qu said: “There is a tradition among courtyard housing the venue into a cul Xi’an Intangible Cultural Heritage Pro She was hired by the Yisu Art Troupe in performers at Yisushe. No matter how tural street named after Yisushe. tection Center, said: “The librettos 2015, when it decided to recruit new important your role was in the previous “I am looking forward to seeing this penned by writers from the Yisu troupe members to pass on the art form. Previ production, if now you are only playing place, which will have the full flavor of years ago were realistic and mirrored ously playing qingyi, or graceful female a minor part, you must still do your Yisushe,” Hui said. social issues and traditional Chinese roles, after joining the group, He switched best.” However, she added that the priority values. Preserving them is crucial.” to wudan — brave and skilled roles. When more than one production is for the troupe is finding Qinqiang The libretto for Three Drops of Blood, “Two or three years ago, my teacher at From top: A makeup artist pre due to be staged, rehearsals take place Opera librettists to recompose tradi the bestknown Qinqiang Opera in Yisu Grand Theater said that as I was still pares Qu Peng, a skilled at the same time. tional scripts or write new ones. Northwest China, tells of a case of young, I could master more martial roles. Qinqiang Opera performer, for “At our busiest, we rehearsed for Over the years, many ancient libret wrongful conviction in which justice As a result, I started learning skills to play the stage; a performer puts on three productions. Preparations for one tos for the art form have been shortened finally prevails. The original manu wudan parts,” said He, who practices makeup; He Yuxin, a 19year took place in the rehearsal room, for from four and a half hours to two and a script has been preserved and is on dis with swords, whips and spears every day. old actress, performs basic another in a shack, while a dressing half hours. play at the Museum of Yisushe in Xi’an. Like He, most Qinqiang Opera per martial arts skills outside a room was used for the third,” Qu said. “The difficulty is that there are many “For future studies and protection formers with the troupe began their rehearsal room. He believes that Qinqiang Opera good librettists who are not necessarily work, we should make more efforts to training at a young age, with early PHOTOS BY HUO YAN / CHINA DAILY offers a special way to connect Shaanxi familiar with the culture of Shaanxi or research Qinqiang Opera scripts that morning exercises usually accompany culture and the public. with Qinqiang Opera. At Yisushe, there have been preserved,” Wang added. ing them throughout their lives. “Traditional Chinese opera has rules is a strong sense that we need to find Qu Peng, a skilled performer specializ “Some retired artists who specialized to follow. In every aspect of a Qinqiang those who can inherit our traditional Heritage listing ing in laosheng (elderly male roles) and in the art form occasionally visit the production, from costumes and stage culture and write stories based on it,” In 2006, Qinqiang Opera, which is xusheng (roles for middleaged males courtyard at the Yisu Grand Theater to designs to performance, the authentic Hui said. performed in the Shaanxi dialect and requiring beards), and who starred in a take us through the operas scene by elements should be preserved well,” Qu The last words are left to Qu, the per known for its intense rhythm and high recent Yisushe production, began learn scene,” he said. “Once, when I was not in said. former. When he is ready to go on stage pitched singing, was listed as a National ing Qinqiang Opera when he was 13. the theater, they were anxious to know The stage designer for the Yisu Art before each show, he folds his hands in Intangible Cultural Heritage. In addition to basic skills, every per where I was.” Troupe, Zhang Zhaohui, a native of front of him. The art form, which dates to the Qin former needs to practice daily, Qu said The 40yearold, now starring in a Xi’an in his 50s who joined the Yisu “In this way, I feel very secure and am Dynasty (221206 BC), is widely believed that by following in the footsteps of newly written Qinqiang Opera as Li Bai, Grand Theater in September 1995, said: more confident that the performance to be the first type of Chinese Opera. renowned artists with the Yisu Art a renowned poet during the Tang “Every part in a Qinqiang Opera should will go well,” he said. Developed during the Ming Dynasty Troupe, he can master the essence of Dynasty (618907), responds to con be vividly portrayed and blend into the (13681644), it mainly found popularity Qinqiang Opera. structive criticism during each rehears performance. If not, it’s redundant and Zhao Rui contributed to this story.
Left and right: The Travels of Li Bai to Chang’an, the latest production by the Yisu Art Troupe, is staged in Baoji, Shaanxi province. PHOTOS BY HUO YAN / CHINA DAILY Center: Yisushe, an original production by the Yisu Art Troupe, focuses on the group’s history. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
FIRST PERSON I’m stretched to the limit learning a painful lesson the hard way at arts school
Liu Nana, role for a middleaged male that arrived in the city. The people legs and performing somersaults. also had some fun. Every week, there joined the troupe, I realize there are 26yearold student requires a beard) in the Yongdeng looked a lot different to those in However, my leg muscles felt was a class where the teachers told us many techniques and much experi with the Yisu Art county art troupe. Gansu. In addition, I found it hard quite tight, and when I stretched how to put on makeup. This was usu ence I need to learn, and also just Troupe inheritance To ensure I received the best to understand the local dialect, and them, it was so painful that tears ally my happiest time at the school. how important it is for us to practice class education for Qinqiang Opera, my the first few classes I attended at the welled in my eyes. In 2015, I had the opportunity the basic skills every day. parents sent me to the Shaanxi school were a real challenge. We had a lot of time in class, to join the Yisu Art Troupe to con I hope I can learn more from the was born to a family in Lan Provincial Arts School in Xi’an, Students new to Qinqiang starting at 7 am and finishing at 9 tinue learning qingyi (graceful troupe, and make my performances zhou city, capital of Gansu pro capital of Shaanxi province, in Opera were required to stretch pm, so I basically spent the entire female Qinqiang Opera roles). really come alive. vince, that loves Qinqiang Opera. 2010, when I was 16. their muscles to better master day in the training room. Having seen many wellknown I My father played xusheng (a I was somewhat nervous when I basic skills such as kicking their Although the work was hard, we exponents of the art form since I Liu Nana spoke to Xin Wen.