China News Service, Hefei, February 3rd: Title: The New Year is approaching and Huizhou troupes are busy with performances. "Generation Z" gives new vitality to Huizhou dramas.
China News Service reporter Zhang Qiang
As the New Year is approaching, Huangshan City, Anhui Province is gradually becoming lively. Hui opera performances allow tourists at home and abroad to "immerse" the flavor of the ancient Huizhou New Year.
Hui Opera, formerly known as Hui Diao, is one of the main local operas in Anhui. It has a history of more than 300 years. It not only gave birth to Peking Opera, but also, due to the promotion of Hui merchants, dozens of local operas in China are inseparable from it. "blood relation". In 2006, Hui opera was included in the first batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage list.
At the open-air ancient stage in Tunxi District, Huangshan City, after more than two hours of preparation, 16-year-old Huangshan Hui Theater actor Xu Yijie, dressed in gorgeous costumes and exquisite makeup, was greeted with applause and cheers from the audience as soon as she appeared on the stage. Voice.
Xu Yijie started learning Anhui opera at the age of 10, focusing on Wudan. In 2018, Huangshan City implemented the "Anhui Opera Revitalization Project" and cooperated with Anhui Art Vocational College to set up a five-year college-level Hui Opera inheritance orientation class. Xu Yijie, who had studied Hui Opera for less than a year, was successfully admitted. Recently, 25 students from this orientation class officially joined Huangshan Hui Theater. Among them, Xu Yijie is the youngest and the best in professional courses.
"Nowadays, young people are exposed to Anhui opera through mobile phones, and offline audiences are basically grandparents." When talking about the future, Xu Yijie said that she must first learn the opera well and consolidate her basic skills. At the same time, we hope to "open" Huizhou opera digitally and find more connection points between Huizhou opera and young people.
Zhu Juntao, a 17-year-old actor from Huangshan Hui Theater, plays the leading role in Xiaosheng. He was born into a local Liyuan family in Huangshan. He said: "Huangshan is an international tourist city. We often meet foreign tourists during performances. They are very interested in Anhui opera. Some of them even visit the Anhui Opera Museum after watching the performance. The more national it is, the more global it is. I will work hard to improve my professional level and cultural accomplishment, and hope to be able to show the charm of Anhui opera on foreign stages in the future."
Jiang Xianqin, the representative inheritor of Hui Opera, an intangible cultural heritage project of Anhui Province and deputy director of Huangshan Hui Opera Theatre, is Xu Yijie’s aunt and a leader in the industry. Jiang Xianqin said: "The arrival of young people like Xu Yijie has given new vitality to Anhui opera."
"The performance market around the Spring Festival this year can be regarded as the 'first test' for this 'Generation Z' Huizhou troupe after joining the company." Ji Wulin, director of the Huangshan Huizhou Theater, said, "These children have endured hardships. With their participation, now We could easily pull off an excerpt show.”
Ji Wulin introduced that at present, the only professional troupes of Hui Opera in China are Anhui Province Huijing Theater, Huangshan City Hui Theater, and Jiangxi Province Wuyuan County Hui Opera Troupe, which also belongs to the ancient Huizhou area. The entire professional Hui opera troupe only has about 150 people.
"Fuling Village, Jixi County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, which belongs to the same ancient Huizhou region as Huangshan, also has an Hui opera children's class. Currently, there are hundreds of children enrolled in the class to learn Huizhou opera." Ji Wulin believes that at present, the inheritance and development of opera There are still many difficulties, but what is gratifying is that governments at all levels have begun to pay attention to traditional opera culture, and people, especially young people, are becoming more and more fond of traditional Chinese culture. This allows him to see the hope of inheriting and protecting Hui Opera.
The Anhui Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism recently issued the "Implementation Plan for the Hui Opera "Recruiting Famous Teachers and Apprentices" Activity", which proposes that through three years of hard work, it plans to launch a group of outstanding young talents in Hui Opera and re-perform about 20 plays. This is another special opera talent cultivation project in Anhui after the local opera "Famous Teachers Pass on Operas" project.
Wang Yongxing, chairman of the Chinese Culture and Art Federation in Argentina, has his ancestral home in Huangshan. He has been committed to integrating Chinese classic traditional culture with South American culture for many years, and his works are deeply loved by local people. "One of the purposes of my return this year is to bring Anhui opera and other 'Anhui elements' to Argentina." Wang Yongxing said. (over)