China News Service, Guangzhou, September 14th, title: Chen Yunhong, a famous Cantonese opera actress: Building a bridge for the exchange of Cantonese opera in the Greater Bay Area
Author Cheng Jingwei Xu Ziming
Chen Yunhong, who has been with Cantonese opera for half her life and has passed her destiny, has the elegance that has been accumulated over the years on the stage.
When the Cantonese opera sounded, as long as she opened her mouth and gestured, she could still see the demeanor of a master Huadan.
Looking back on her career in art, Chen Yunhong believes that "the experience is very simple".
She grew up in Guangzhou and loved Cantonese opera since she was a child. She was admitted to the Guangdong Cantonese Opera School and worked in the Guangdong Cantonese Opera after graduation.
In fact, as early as the 1980s and 1990s, Chen Yunhong's performances became popular in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
In 1991, at the age of 26, she won the first Wenhua Performance Award. Three years later, she won the highest award in China's theater industry - the Plum Blossom Award for "Lotus Lantern", becoming the first Guangdong Cantonese opera industry to win this double award. actress.
When her career was in full swing, she chose to get married and have children and moved to Hong Kong, leaving the stage for more than ten years.
In 2011, she took over the "Hydrangea" of the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera House, played the role of the leading actress, and returned again.
Across Hong Kong and Guangzhou, the life of Cantonese opera star Chen Yunhong reflects the integration and exchange of Cantonese opera in the Greater Bay Area.
Recently, Chen Yunhong was interviewed and told her story of building a bridge for the exchange of Cantonese opera in the Greater Bay Area.
Photo courtesy of Chen Yunhong's Cantonese opera performance
Promoting Cantonese Opera on Hong Kong Campuses
In the second year of winning the Plum Blossom Award, Chen Yunhong reluctantly bid farewell to the stage amid the regrets of the fans, and moved to Hong Kong to be her husband and son.
However, during her more than ten years as a housewife, she did not stop paying attention to Cantonese opera. Instead, she had the opportunity to act as a bridge for Cantonese opera communication and to promote Cantonese opera in Hong Kong.
When her daughter was in kindergarten, Chen Yunhong noticed that there was a wind band on campus.
"With a band, there is an opportunity for students to get in touch with Cantonese opera." So she made a bold attempt and adapted the classic Cantonese opera song "Zhaojun Out of the Border" into a symphony version.
The kindergarten children couldn't understand the musical notation of Cantonese opera, so Chen Yunhong invited a Guangdong musician to translate the musical notation into staff notation, and corresponded the lyrics to the notes one by one.
Children who have never been exposed to Cantonese opera cry secretly during rehearsal because they are always not good at practicing.
She gently encouraged the children.
Unexpectedly, the first campus performance, the response was very enthusiastic.
A child hugged Chen Yunhong happily and said, "Aunty, I didn't expect Cantonese opera to be so good." This made her very happy.
"It can be said that it was my happiest performance in Hong Kong, because it directly affected the younger generation and planted the seeds of Cantonese opera in the hearts of children."
When her daughter was in junior high school, Chen Yunhong discovered that Cantonese opera had been written into textbooks and entered the Hong Kong campus.
"My daughter came home from school one day and suddenly asked me: 'Mom, how do you sing kunhua?' I was happy for a long time." Chen Yunhong believes that the introduction of Cantonese opera into textbooks is a great encouragement to Cantonese opera workers.
To develop Cantonese opera, it is very urgent to cultivate audiences.
After returning to Guangzhou, whenever she had the opportunity to speak, she would appeal everywhere to vigorously promote the integration of Cantonese opera resources into the campus.
In recent years, activities such as Cantonese Opera entering the campus and Cantonese Opera training classes have been carried out vigorously, which makes her very gratified.
Her five apprentices are often invited to the school to give lectures and performances.
"The government is really supporting Cantonese opera," she said.
Build a Cantonese Opera exchange platform regardless of cost
In addition to popularizing education, Chen Yunhong also often watches dramas and occasionally makes cameos.
She has collaborated with Hong Kong Cantonese opera artists such as Leung Hon Wei, Long Guantian and Li Juming, and has been able to observe the development of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong in depth.
"Hong Kong's Cantonese opera is more free on stage performances, and the rhetoric is lifelike." Chen Yunhong believes that the Cantonese opera circles in the two places have their own characteristics and can draw on the strengths of each to jointly promote the development of Cantonese opera.
In 2009, she established "Yue Yun Hongmei Personal Drama Studio" in Hong Kong.
The studio cooperated with the Guangdong Cantonese Opera House, and jointly arranged more than ten plays including "Hu's No Return".
Peng Chiquan, Ding Fan, Ou Kaiming, Li Junsheng, Zeng Xiaomin and other famous Guangdong artists have all performed in Hong Kong.
From planning, setting the venue, to inviting actors, Chen Yunhong did everything herself.
For every performance, she insists on hiring professional actors.
Chen Yunhong said with a smile: "We don't care about the cost, we just hope to have a social effect."
Chen Yunhong also noticed that in recent years, under the promotion of famous Hong Kong Cantonese opera masters such as Luo Jiaying, Cantonese operas with innovative expressions such as "Happy Cantonese" and "Der Ling and Cixi" have also appeared in Hong Kong, which are welcomed by the audience.
In addition, with the commissioning of modern performance venues such as the Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Cantonese opera troupes also have more room for performance and play.
The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is a good opportunity for the development of Cantonese opera.
Chen Yunhong said: "Now with the government's encouragement and support, the exchanges between the three places are gradually deepening, which will be conducive to the inheritance, innovation and development of Cantonese opera." (End)