The modern Qi opera "Seed Ark" debuted at the Hunan Provincial Arts Festival. Photo by Chen Yigui
Changsha, 4 Jan (Xinhua) -- As one of the repertoire of the 7th Hunan Provincial Arts Festival, Zhong Yang, a botanist, "model of the times" and "outstanding communist party member in the country", collected seeds on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, performed at the Hunan Opera Performance Center on 4 January.
Zhong Yang, a native of Xinning, Shaoyang, Hunan Province, was the dean of the Graduate School of Fudan University, and has been assisting Tibet for 16 years since 2001, trekking hundreds of thousands of kilometers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, collecting tens of millions of seeds from thousands of plants, and storing genetic treasures for the country and mankind. On September 25, 2017, Zhong Yang was in a car accident while teaching ethnic cadres in Inner Mongolia and unfortunately passed away at the age of 53.
The modern Qi opera "Seed Ark" was performed in Changsha. Photo by Chen Yigui
Qi opera "Seed Ark" is created and produced by hunan qi opera protection and inheritance center, with national first-class screenwriter Feng Zhi and national first-class director He Xijuan as screenwriters and directors; Yue Zhihui, a young actor of Hunan Qi opera protection and inheritance center, and Xiao Xiaobo, a national first-class actor and winner of the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award, starring Xiao Xiaobo.
Qi opera is a traditional local drama genre in Hunan Province and one of the national intangible cultural heritage. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, yiyang cavity was introduced to Qiyang, which was integrated with the local folk song minor key, and evolved for a long time to form Qi opera. In order to create and arrange the "Seed Ark", the crew went to Tibet, Shanghai, Wuhan, Shaoyang and other places to collect styles, organized and held a symposium on Zhong Yang's advanced deeds, a meeting with relatives, and organized experts to discuss and revise the repertoire for many times.
During the performance for more than an hour, the actors on the stage performed with emotion, wonderful stories, vivid characters, and touching moments, which immersed the audience under the stage. "I didn't expect Qi opera to be able to perform like this, it's very exciting." Yuan Ye, a young actor at the Xiang Theater in Hunan Province, said after watching the performance that Qi opera is an old drama genre, and many traditional repertoire performance techniques and gongs and drums make people understand its "antiquity" at a glance and listen. "Seed Ark" is a modern drama, which has been improved and innovated in the form of expression, such as the pace of the dramatic characters is very lifelike.
Cast members for a group photo. Photo by Deng Xia
Xiao Xiaobo, the lead actor and director of the Hunan Qi Opera Protection and Inheritance Center, introduced that as a modern Qi opera, "Seed Ark" has done a lot of exploration in Shouzheng innovation, which not only integrates the traditional performance skills of Qi opera, but also gives the atmosphere of the high cavity era, and has improved the rhythm and singing method, so that the audience has a refreshing feeling. The arrangement of the repertoire is small and large, showing Zhong Yang's 16 years of hardships in aiding Tibet, the belief in the supremacy of the country, and the feelings of selfless dedication. "This is very much in line with our spirit of inheriting Qi opera, and we hope to leave more seeds for Qi opera through our efforts." (End)
Source: China News Network