China News Service, Hefei, March 16th, title: Anhui Lu Opera "takes over", inheriting and revitalizing young actors from the professional troupe accounting for nearly half
China News Agency reporter Zhang Qiang
"There are 6 state-run Lu Opera Troupes in Anhui, with more than 230 performers and young actors accounting for nearly half. The annual performances exceed 1,400. More and more young people are beginning to take the lead." The third Anhui Province Duan Tingting, president of the Lu Opera Research Association and Dean of the Lu Theater in Hefei, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency recently.
Lu Opera, which has a history of more than 200 years, is popular in the Jianghuai area and the Dabie Mountains. It is listed as the four outstanding opera types in Anhui alongside Hui Opera, Huangmei Opera, and Sizhou Opera. It is included in the first batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage list.
The singing voice comes from folk songs, the performance is simple and lively, with a strong rustic flavor, and has a large audience base.
In recent years, in order to strengthen the protection and inheritance of opera, Anhui has implemented local opera revitalization projects. Activities such as "sending operas into ten thousand villages" and "sending operas into campus" have been carried out in various parts of the province, which provides a broader space for the development of Lu opera. .
Nowadays, the Lu Theater Troupe of Anhui Province creates about 10 new large and small dramas every year, with an average of 2 to 3 traditional large and small dramas. It has performed and exhibited in various parts of China, actively participated in national and regional competitions, and has repeatedly won Honor.
Duan Tingting introduced that as the "leader" of the state-run Lu Theater Troupe, Hefei Lu Theater has successively trained two groups of Lu opera young actors and bands in urgent need in recent years.
"We plan to build a team that can create and perform large-scale high-quality plays, and create more plays that the public loves to see, so that Lu Opera can go further."
Compared with the State-run Lu Theater Troupe, the Anhui Private Lu Theater Troupe has also achieved remarkable results.
According to Xuan Xiangyou, general manager of Hefei Yuzhongyu Culture Media Co., Ltd., there are more than 200 private Lu Theater groups in Anhui, mainly in Hefei, with nearly 4,000 employees and more than 20,000 performances per year.
"The privately-run Lu Theater Troupe is a'light cavalry','main attack' small-scale repertoire creation and grassroots performances."
Xuan Xiangyou said that in recent years, Anhui has helped private institutes to alleviate the problems of older employees, low business standards, and lack of follow-up talents through a series of measures such as government purchases of services and establishment of exhibition exchange platforms.
"As the government and society pay more and more attention to the development of opera, the private Lu Theater Group will definitely develop better and better in the future."
The rejuvenation of Lu opera is inseparable from the three generations of "Lu opera people" silently persisting and "taking over" inheritance.
Recruiting disciples, teaching in 4 senior universities, leading performance teams through the streets... The 91-year-old "Queen of Lu Opera" and the non-genetic inheritor Ding Yulan are still active in the inheritance of Lu Opera.
In order to better spread the Lu opera and reach out to young people, Ding Yulan also opened WeChat and live broadcast accounts.
“I clocked in at 8:30 in the morning. There is no weekend. Overtime is the norm in the evening. I just had a sickness some time ago, but my time is still full.” Ding Yulan said: “Basically, I haven't taken a day off after retirement. Because of love, I want to devote everything I have to do more for the heritage of Lu Opera during my lifetime."
"Post-90s" Hefei Lu Theater director and actor Chen Shengchao has a positive attitude towards the future of Chinese opera.
He said: "Chinese opera culture has a long history and is a complex of traditional Chinese culture, including singing, dancing, poetry and painting and other artistic categories. It has long been rooted in the bones of the Chinese and cannot be lost."
As a new generation, Chen Shengchao believes that the development of Lu Opera should dig deep into the classic traditional repertoire.
The classics left by the historical wave of Taoism must have shining points and are worth learning.
Ancient costumes and accessories in traditional plays are also popular among young people.
At the same time, we must keep pace with the times and make good use of new media platforms and new technologies such as 3D, light and shadow special effects.
Especially the self-media, not only provides a lot of display platforms for young actors, but also narrows the distance between ancient operas and young people.
"We should be culturally confident. After so many years in the industry, we often hear people say how good Western Shakespeare plays are. In fact, in China at the same time as Shakespeare, there were also Tang Xianzu and "Peony Pavilion". His plays were not only It is loved by the Chinese people and has spread to many countries such as Britain, Japan, Germany, and Russia, and is regarded as a treasure of the world's drama art." Chen Shengchao said.
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