Beijing, 28 Nov (ZXS) -- Wei Haimin, a disciple of Taiwan's Mei Pai, recalled the grand occasion of Mei Baojiu's visit to Taiwan: Opera has always been young between the two sides of the strait
China News Agency reporter Li Hanxue Li Xuefeng
Not long ago, a "dialogue between famous drama teachers on both sides of the strait" brought together opera artists from both sides of the strait who were difficult to get together under the epidemic and were on the same stage for a long time. The famous duet singing without rehearsal between the conversations, the unforgettable exchange of past stories, and the wisps of friendship with the same family, show the special kindness of this dialogue. The lively scene of the mainland theater troupe going to Taiwan for the first time in the 20th century suddenly came to life, and the aesthetic resonance between the two sides of the strait seemed to have never diminished.
The data picture shows Mei Baojiu (right) and Wei Haimin in Hong Kong in 1988. Photo courtesy of interviewee
"Cultural exchanges seem to have made the hearts of people on both sides of the strait more connected." Recently, a reporter from the China News Agency interviewed Wei Haimin, a Taiwanese Peking Opera artist who studied under Mei Baojiu, a descendant of the Mei Pai, and once again talked about the past of cross-strait opera exchanges and her confidence in the development and continuation of opera on both sides of the strait.
Taiwan has never lacked ticket holders. Wei Haimin said that in the 50s, there were many box offices and ticket clubs in Taiwan, and there were also "Chinese Opera Clubs" in schools, and professional actors would be invited to make up for teachers and students during performances. Among the ticket holders, there are many who love Mei Pai. Wei Haimin had the opportunity to become familiar with Master Mei Lanfang's voice since he was a child, and he had the credit of Mei Pai opera fans. When she was a teenager and had not graduated from drama school, she was liked by many ticket fans because she was a rookie of Mei Pai, and ticket fans gave her Mei Lanfang's records, cassettes, and guidance on her singing voice. Wei Haimin believes that he can take off the "milk yellow taste" of singing before visiting Mei Baojiu, and his ticket friends have contributed a lot.
The picture shows Mei Baojiu (left) taking a group photo with his disciple Wei Haimin during his performance in Taiwan in 1996. Photo courtesy of interviewee
"Taiwanese audiences miss the opera genre, Master Mei Lanfang, and traditional arts, and this longing reached a peak in 1993 (when mainland Peking Opera performance groups went to Taiwan)." Wei Haimin explained that her teachers in Taiwan have been performing traditional and old operas since they came to Taiwan from the mainland, so that the precious Chinese culture of opera can be vividly preserved in Taiwan. However, most of them were around 20 years old when they came to Taiwan, and after coming to Taiwan, they all relied on what they had learned before, and they had to explore and face different audiences, and it was very difficult to grow, so they may lack the "authenticity" of specific genres. Therefore, after the mainland restored its traditional old opera in the 80s of the 20th century, Taiwanese audiences were hungry for mainland opera. When mainland celebrities came to Taiwan in 1993, "the audience was simply endless."
Wei Haimin recalled that at that time, the audience watched the play during the day and visited the hotel where the actors stayed at night. Mei Baojiu, Ye Shaolan, Zhang Xuejin... Every celebrity has a large number of fans. Whenever Wei Haimin went to the hotel, Mei Baojiu's room was full of people, and as long as there was no drama, he was invited to dinner. "It was like a big celebration, everyone was so happy, the hotel was full of people and the rooms were full of people. We have so many horns, such superb art, raise our eyebrows! ”
Wei Haimin said that Teacher Mei was so tired that her voice was dumb, but the enthusiasm of the fans did not refuse once. "The teacher said that Master Mei Lanfang would like to come to Taiwan, but he never had the opportunity; Now that he can come to Taiwan on behalf of his father, there are so many audience friends who like him, so he must give them all his time. ”
The data picture shows Mei Baojiu (left) giving a lecture at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology in 2008. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Later, Mei Baojiu has been interacting continuously with Taiwanese opera fans. During the New Year, he would always go to the photo studio to wash the stills, write the New Year's message and sign it to send to relatives, friends, and fans, some of which were sent to Taiwanese theater fans and friends. Wei Haimin helped transfer it several times, including to the famous Gu Zhengqiu and the politician Gu Zhenfu. Wei Haimin said that many of them had seen Mei Lanfang's plays when they were young, so they watched Mei Baojiu very closely.
After studying under Mei Pai for 20 years, Wei Haimin slowly realized why Mei Pai art makes everyone like it so much. She said that the first thing is that Master Mei Lanfang portrays women in a silky way, "He is not just playing a woman, but a woman with a feminine taste." "Peking Opera is the essence of Chinese culture, representing the aesthetics of Chinese, and when Mei Lanfang narrates female characters, a circular gesture can show the feminine characteristics in oriental aesthetics." He reached the extreme in gender transition, establishing 'immortal or post-post', stylized performances. ”
Wei Haimin said that the younger generations have been stained with a lot of light from their predecessors and have been using their art to communicate with the audience. However, while the new generation of actors aims at the artistic height of their predecessors, they must also inherit their creative spirit and move forward with the times.
The data picture shows that in 1993, Mei Baojiu (second from left) went to Taiwan to perform, and his disciple Wei Haimin (first from left) greeted him at the airport with many friends and fans. Photo courtesy of interviewee
For her, this means interpreting more diverse and rich images of women. In recent years, she has created images such as Wang Xifeng, Loulannu and Cao Qiqiao who have broken through traditional female roles in new Peking Opera, which have dazzled the audience. She happily told reporters that her new play has many young fans in the mainland, and they think her performance is different. Unfortunately, the current pandemic has prevented more communication with them. She hopes to hold a meeting for fans in the mainland and talk to young friends about her thoughts on inheriting Mei Pai and understanding the inner workings of different female characters.
"Today's young people are a very popular ethnic group for me. Young audiences are familiar with opera, but they do not have the baggage of seeing the portal, as long as they step into the theater and think it looks good, they will fall in love at first sight. Peking Opera is very rich, and it contains our history, literature, music, and the taste of life, which is worth scrutinizing. Young people are not afraid of scrutiny, and they absorb faster as soon as they scrutinize. Wei Haimin said that in Taiwan, she has also seen the rejuvenation of the opera performing arts team and audience, and the new ideas of young people are bringing "unexpected joy" to opera.
"Don't forget that in Master Mei Lanfang's era, there were many young people watching and acting." Wei Haimin said with a smile: "Opera has always been very young. (End)