BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Today is World Theatre Day. As a commemorative day of the founding of the International Theatre Association, the festival aims to draw attention to the art of theatre among people all over the world. In Western countries, theatrical arts are mainly defined as cabarets, musicals and dramas. In China, most people believe that opera is the traditional Chinese theatrical art.
In recent years, traditional Chinese opera culture has been continuously promoted, not only by the elderly, but also by the younger generation. This national essence gradually transformed into a new national tide.
Opera Culture: I bumped my back with pop music
"Shengdan Net End Ugly" refers to the five major trades in opera.
"The blue-faced Dou Erdun steals the royal horse, the red-faced Guan Gongzhan Changsha", this familiar lyric is from the "Rap Face", which combines Peking Opera with popular music, which is quite ingenious. In fact, there are many examples of the combination of opera and song, such as Murong Xiaoxiao's singing of "Huangmei Opera" with the classic singing section of "Female Pony Horse" "Leaving Home to Save Li Lang", and singer Tao Zhe quoted the famous Peking Opera section "Yutang Chun Su SanQi Xie" in "Susan Says".
More singers choose to integrate elements of classical Chinese opera into the pop genre than direct quotes, and Jay Chou and Li Yugang are among the best. The former's "Huo Yuanjia", "Hair Like Snow", "Lanting Preface", the latter's "New Noble Concubine Drunk", "Just Met You", and "Wanjiang" all borrow the singing voice of the opera, making the whole song sound very charming.
Li Yugang. Photo by Jin Shuo, a reporter from China News Network
With the development of the Internet and the rise of short video platforms, the "drama cavity" songs have gradually moved closer to the mainstream of the Internet, and a large number of popular fusion songs such as "Silk Drama", "Prison Division", "Bo Hu Said", "Unique in Life", "Exploring the Window" and so on have been born. In 2019, the opera version of "Blue and White Porcelain" adapted by a small onion group became popular, and the climax part of the old Dan qi foot singing voice depicted the elegant and leisurely "azure and other smoke and rain" in the original song as particularly magnificent.
Opera elements often become the finishing touch to a song. Xu Cui, vice president of the Beijing Vocational College of Opera Art and a famous Peking opera artist, believes that this is inseparable from the charm of opera culture itself, "Through thousands of years of cultural accumulation, opera itself is a broad and profound art." As long as all cultures are stained with opera, it is easy to have 'color', and the brilliance of opera has become a new popular art through the transmission, adaptation and packaging of elements. ”
It is said that the layman looks at the bustle, and the insider looks at the doorway. The singing segments in these popular songs are not strictly speaking "opera", but "drama". "Although they don't sing Peking Opera, I think there's nothing wrong with it." Xu Cui smiled and said, "It reflects the style of an era. Art is a thing, you have to have to watch the doorway, but also have to watch the liveliness. I hope that everyone will use opera elements a lot and widely spread opera culture. ”
Xiqu Culture: Innovating the Old Adapting to the trend is an inevitable trend
Recently, the "40 Years of Influence List of Chinese Contemporary Small Theater Drama" was released, including "I Am Not Li Bai", "Donkey Get Water", "Hello, Crazy Man!" "Desperate Love" and other drama works. Therefore, how to make the opera culture innovate in content, singing style, adapt to the trend, has become the focus of breaking the situation.
The Peking opera "ShaJiabang", adapted from the Shanghai opera "Ludang Tinder", has always been a classic play that audiences like to hear. In July 2021, teachers and students from Beijing Vocational College of Opera Arts and Beijing Peking Opera House brought this legendary story to the stage in the form of modern Peking Opera performances, with many changes. For example, the singing voice: the traditional Peking Opera is HuGuangyin, Zhongzhou rhyme, it is difficult for the audience without a basic to understand, and "Ludang Tinder" is changed to mandarin pronunciation; for example, the duration: the original version is up to three hours, the rhythm is slower, the new version of the rhythm is faster, and the length is compressed to two hours; for example, the performance mode: the original version emphasizes the actor's Peking Opera body and shape, and the new version of the performance is closer to life.
Stills from "Ludang Tinder". Courtesy of Beijing Vocational College of Opera Arts
Xu Cui believes that "in order to achieve new performances of old plays, we must reprocess and sort out the content." Opera itself needs constant innovation and reform. ”
In addition to adapting on the basis of the original repertoire, there are also many creations of "old songs singing new words". On the Bilibili video platform, which is dominated by young audiences, a drama version of Harry Potter reached 3 million views with its magical melody and lyrics.
Screenshot of the video website
In addition, the mixed works of The Lord of the Rings in the Jingyun big drum version, "Holwartz in Chaoyanggou" in the Yu opera version, and the Peking Opera singing section "Three Churches to Judge Galileo Galileo" also made netizens can't help but be amused.
Xiqu culture: short video platform or opportunity
"She sang about his hometown encounters, step by step is lovesickness." Relying on a drama song "Exploring the Window", five girls from the Shanghai Theater Academy, namely Bian Jingting, Yang Huai, Zhu Jiayin, Zhu Ibis, and Cheng Xuechen, became "Internet celebrities". On the short video platform, the "416 Women's Group on the Drama", which includes Lao Dan, Qingyi and Hua Dan, has a total of more than 50 million views and more than 2.5 million likes.
Played on the 416 girl group. Courtesy of respondents
Speaking of the experience of becoming popular, Xiao Huai'er (Yang Huai), a member of the "416 Women's Group on the Drama", told China News Network that it was a beautiful accident, "It was 2019, the self-media was just emerging, and there were many young people on major platforms uploading their daily lives. As Peking Opera students, practicing is our daily routine, at that time I wanted to follow the trend like everyone else, but I didn't expect to receive the attention and likes of so many people. ”
The only "Lao Dan" Bian Jingting in the group said that the age of their audience is very wide, as young as 4 or 5 years old children, as old as 60 years old grandparents, "We have been explaining to you that what we sang on the video platform is not the opera itself, but the use of some related techniques, some fans have therefore consulted a lot of relevant materials and information, for this I am really very happy, I hope that everyone through this interest to understand the traditional culture." ”
Yes, with the development of the Internet, short video platforms have gradually become a window to communicate opera culture and the general public. This is an opportunity to push opera to a new generation of young people.
Yang Wei believes that opera people should take the initiative to keep pace with the times, take the initiative to follow the trend, and constantly integrate the elements of opera with other elements in a variety, "In the past, many people would think that opera was a solidified and old thing, but now we have proved that opera has more possibilities." This is also an encouragement for us Peking opera students, encouraging us to continue to make more contributions to the inheritance of opera. ”
In addition, many opera people will also post some videos of teaching, practicing, filming and makeup on the platform to share the daily life in the pear garden, which is also loved by everyone.
Xu Cui lamented that the attention of opera people through short video platforms also means more choices for practitioners themselves, "The popularity of short videos has broadened us a lot of roads." The opera industry is in a big wave, and it is very successful to have two or three corners in a class. Therefore, the performances, fashions, and live broadcasts derived from the opera culture are worth encouraging, and in the process of popularization of opera, everyone can explore together and maybe explore some better things. (End)