China News Service, Beijing, March 27 (Liu Yue) Today is World Theatre Day.
As an anniversary of the founding of the International Theatre Society, the festival aims to draw attention to the theatre arts among people all over the world.
In Western countries, dramatic arts are mainly defined as musicals, musicals and plays.
In China, most people think that opera is the traditional Chinese dramatic art.
In recent years, the traditional Chinese opera culture has been continuously promoted, not only the elderly like it, but also the younger generation is being subtly influenced.
This national quintessence has gradually transformed into a new national trend.
Opera culture: I collided with pop music
"Shengdan Jing Mo Chou" refers to the five major acts in opera.
"The blue-faced Dou Erdun steals the royal horse, the red-faced Guan Gong fights in Changsha", this familiar lyric comes from "Rap Mask", which combines Peking Opera and pop music, which is quite ingenious.
In fact, there are many examples of the combination of opera and song. For example, Murong Xiaoxiao's "Huangmei Opera" added the classic aria "Leaving Home to Save Li Lang" from "The Concubine", and singer Tao Zhe quoted Peking Opera in "Susan Says". The title is "Yutangchun: The Three Soldiers of Su".
Compared with direct quotations, more singers choose to incorporate elements of Chinese classical opera into popular music styles, and Jay Chou and Li Yugang are among the best.
The former's "Huo Yuanjia", "Fresh Like Snow" and "Orchid Pavilion Preface", and the latter's "New Concubine Drunk", "Just Met You" and "Wanjiang" all borrowed the singing of opera, making the whole song sound very charming. .
Li Yugang.
Photo by China News Service reporter Jin Shuo
With the development of the Internet and the rise of short video platforms, "play opera" songs have gradually moved closer to the mainstream of the Internet, and a large number of songs such as "Dragon Silk Opera", "Prison Secretary", "囍", "Bohu Talk" and "The One in a Lifetime" have been born. ” and “Exploring the Window” and other popular fusion songs.
In 2019, the opera version of "Blue and White Porcelain" adapted by a group of scallions became popular. The climax part of the old dan's energetic singing, which depicts the elegant and leisurely "azure and other misty rain" in the original song is extraordinarily magnificent.
Opera elements often become the finishing touch of a song.
Xu Cui, deputy dean of Beijing Opera Art Vocational College and a famous Peking Opera expert, 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. Opera, it is easy to have 'color', and the brilliance of opera has become a new pop art through the transmission, adaptation and packaging of elements."
It is said that laymen watch the fun, and experts watch the doorway.
The arias in these popular songs are not strictly speaking "drama", but "drama".
"Although what they sing is not Peking Opera, I think it is understandable." Xu Cui said with a smile, "It reflects the style of an era. As for art, you have to watch the doorway and the fun. I hope everyone A lot of elements of opera are used to spread the culture of opera widely.”
Opera culture: it is an inevitable trend to innovate and adapt to the trend
Recently, the "40-Year Influence List of Chinese Contemporary Small Theater Dramas" was released, including "I Am Not Li Bai", "Donkey Gets Water" and "Hello, Crazy!"
""Desperate Love" and other drama works.
Therefore, how to make the opera culture innovate in content, singing, and style, and adapt to the trend, has become the focus of breaking the game.
The Peking Opera "Shajiabang", adapted from the Shanghai drama "Ludang Tinder", has always been a classic play that audiences love to hear.
In July 2021, teachers and students from Beijing Opera Art Vocational College and Beijing Peking Opera Theatre put this legendary story on the stage in the form of modern Peking Opera performances, with many changes.
For example, singing: the traditional Peking Opera is Huguang and Zhongzhou rhyme, which is difficult for audiences without basic knowledge to understand, while "Ludang Fire" has been changed to mandarin. Quick, the duration has been reduced to two hours; for example, the performance mode: the original version emphasizes the actor's figure and style of Peking Opera, while the new version's performance is closer to life.
"Reed Dang Tinder" stills.
Photo courtesy of Beijing Opera Art Vocational College
Xu Cui believes, "To achieve new performances of old operas, the content must be re-processed. The opera itself needs continuous innovation and reform."
In addition to the adaptation based on the original repertoire, there are also many creations of "old songs and new words".
On the Bilibili video platform, which is mainly for young audiences, a drama version of "Harry Potter" has reached 3 million views with its magical melody and lyrics.
Screenshot of video website
In addition, Chinese and Western mashup works such as the Beijing rhyme drum version of "The Lord of the Rings", the Henan Opera version of "Horwarts in Chaoyang Ditch", and the Peking Opera aria "Three Churches Trial Galileo" also made netizens laugh.
Opera Culture: Short Video Platforms May Become an Opportunity
"She sings about encountering an old friend in a foreign land, and every step of the way is lovesickness." Relying on an opera song "Exploring the Window", Bian Jingting, Yang Xi, Zhu Jiayin, Zhu Xi, and Cheng Xiaochen, five girls from Shanghai Theater Academy, became "Internet celebrity".
On the short video platform, the "Shangxi 416 Girls Group" video, which includes Lao Dan, Tsing Yi and Hua Dan, has more than 50 million views and more than 2.5 million likes.
416 women's group in Shanghai.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Talking about the experience of becoming popular, Xiao Xier (Yang Xi), a member of the "Shanghai Opera 416 Girls Group", told Chinanews.com that this was a beautiful accident, "It was 2019, the self-media was just emerging, and there were many young people on major platforms. People upload their daily routines. As Peking Opera students, practice is our daily routine. At that time, we wanted to follow the trend like everyone else, but we didn’t expect to receive so many people’s attention and likes.”
Bian Jingting, the only "Old Dan" in the group, said that their audience has a very wide range of ages, from children as young as 4 or 5 to grandparents as old as 60, "We have been explaining to everyone that we are on the video platform. What I sing is not the opera itself, but some related techniques, so some fans have gone to check a lot of relevant materials and information, I am really happy about this, I hope everyone can gain a deeper understanding of traditional culture through this interest."
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 promote opera to a new generation of young people.
Yang Xi believes that opera people should take the initiative to keep pace with the times, actively follow the trend, and constantly integrate opera elements with other elements. It proves that opera has more possibilities. This is also an inspiration for us Peking Opera students, inspiring us to continue to make more contributions to the inheritance of opera.”
In addition, many opera people will also publish some videos of teaching, practice, filming and makeup on the platform, sharing the daily life in Liyuan, which is also loved by everyone.
Xu Cui sighed that the attention of opera people through the short video platform also means more choices for practitioners themselves, "The popularity of short videos has opened up a lot of paths for us. The opera industry is a big wave, and there can be two or three characters in a class. It was very successful. So the performances, fashion, and live broadcasts derived from the opera culture are all worthy of encouragement. In the process of popularizing opera, if we explore together, we may be able to explore something better.” (End)