China News Service, Beijing, March 10 (Tong Xiaoyu) Culture is the soul of a country and a nation.
As a treasure of Chinese culture, the art of opera is undoubtedly an excellent spokesperson for cultural self-confidence.
Yue Opera, which originated in Zhejiang, is the second largest type of opera in China and is known as "Chinese Opera" abroad.
At a time when traditional culture is advocated to "live up" and "go out", how can Yue Opera maintain its core soul, open up a channel of empathy with modern audiences, and continuously expand its overseas influence?
This time, China News Agency and China News Network's "Foreign Anchors Watching the Two Sessions" column specially invited Wu Fei (Chinese name), an international student from Romania, to come to Zhejiang Xiaobaihuayue Theater to talk to representatives of the National People's Congress and Zhejiang Xiaobaihuayue Theater Dean Wang Binmei visited the cultural history of Yue Opera and the new ideas for the development of Yue Opera in the new era.
Wang Binmei introduced Yue Opera to special foreign anchor Wu Fei.
Photo by Zang Chengeng
Wang Binmei is the winner of the Plum Blossom Award, the highest award in Chinese drama. She has been committed to the inheritance of traditional culture for a long time. In view of the current difficulties faced by Chinese opera troupes, she has done many researches in various places, and proposed to increase investment in the creation of literary and art troupes and reform the troupe. and other suggestions.
She hopes to make good use of the platform of Yue Opera and digital platform to express Chinese stories internationally and promote Yue Opera non-governmental diplomacy.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
Wang Binmei:
Is this "Qiu Jin" (I played it) like it?
Wu Fei:
Like, very beautiful.
Wang Binmei:
The Yue Opera drama "Qiu Jin" won the "Five One Project" award from the Central Propaganda Department. This award has achieved zero breakthroughs for Chinese opera dramas.
I also starred in "Red Romance" and "Nine Jin Girl".
Nine-jin girl was born with nine-jin weight, so it was named "nine-jin".
This "My Mother, My Mother" starred me, and also won the "Five One Project" award from the Central Propaganda Department.
Do you usually watch a lot of stage plays?
Wu Fei:
No.
Wang Binmei:
In the future, if you have the opportunity, you can enter the theater and experience it.
Wu Fei: Which role do you like the most?
Wang Binmei:
I still prefer "Qiu Jin".
I was 25 years old when I acted in Qiu Jin.
But what I want to create is the image of a heroine, which is still a little difficult.
Qiu Jin is an advocate of Chinese feminism and women's studies. Although her story happened in modern times, there is still a big gap between it and now.
In that era, China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and women still had to bind their feet.
But Qiu Jin can still have such a spiritual realm, which is very admirable, admirable and surprising.
Special foreign anchor Wu Fei interviewed Wang Binmei.
Photo by Zang Chengeng
"Nine Jin Girl" is a kind of self-challenge for me.
She is a 16-year-old girl, so when I act, I need to break through the limitations of my own appearance, which is a certain difficulty and a challenge for me.
But as an actor, it is actually very lucky to be able to try different characters and walk into their lives.
This is our band rehearsal room with lots of instruments next to it.
When they are not training, they are kept in the instrument case.
Here is a recording studio.
In many music productions now, including backing vocals or rehearsals, we will first record the music here.
Because when I first got the piece, I usually needed to rehearse the position and design the movements, and I didn't know the singing for a while.
In this case, we will record a demo first, and when it comes to rehearsal, we will sing more accurately.
There is also a small rehearsal hall, where some actors who rehearse excerpts or small pieces of opera will practice their exercises here.
Now some young actors are rehearsing here.
Did you also try throwing water sleeves just now?
Special foreign anchor Wu Fei experienced the water sleeves of Yue Opera.
Photo by Zang Chengeng
Wu Fei: I think it's difficult, so it's really not easy for opera actors. Mr. Wang, what are your suggestions for the National People's Congress this year? Is it about culture?
Wang Binmei:
This year's two sessions, my suggestions are still around digitalization and cultural transmission and inheritance.
Compared with 2020, the current performance market is slowly recovering. At the beginning of this year, our various troupes advertised exhibition performances and tours. However, due to the repeated epidemics, theater performances are highly variable, and performances that have already sold tickets are temporarily postponed or cancelled. happened many times.
Combined with this problem, traditional operas are also looking for new ways of dissemination.
For example, increase the use of network means such as short videos and live performances.
Judging from the data and income of our new account on the short video platform of Xiaobaihuayue Theater in 2021, we can see the breadth, openness and inclusiveness of network communication, as well as the ability to monetize traffic.
But in the process of network promotion, many potential problems were found.
The first is the problem of the platform. Currently, the platform for public domain traffic is short, frequent, and fast, but the supervision is not professional, and the rights and interests of works are also lacking protection; secondly, the entry threshold is low, and there are many eye-catching and shoddy works.
We innovate the way of communication, the purpose is to carry forward the essence of Chinese tradition, the premise must be to keep upright, uphold the roots of tradition, and uphold the soul of opera.
Therefore, in this two sessions, I have two specific suggestions on how to spread traditional culture more scientifically and professionally.
First, online, it is suggested that the government should put forward requirements to let various digital media platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou increase the promotion of excellent traditional cultural content and certify professional traditional cultural and art groups.
The platform needs to increase the flow of content launched by these certified groups throughout the year, achieve certain targets, attract more young people to love traditional culture, and maintain the intellectual property rights of fine art creation.
The second is offline. It is suggested that the government should increase the guidance and supervision of outdoor advertising in public areas such as buses and subways.
In the annual advertising, it will fully connect with cultural authorities and professional literary and art troupes, increase the proportion and coverage of outstanding traditional cultural publicity content, and fully publicize outstanding works and artists.
Through these offline channels, traffic can be channeled to realize traffic conversion, so as to better and more scientifically realize the dissemination and promotion of excellent traditional culture.
Wu Fei: How do you think traditional culture can be passed on and spread, and how to better "go out"?
Wang Binmei:
The inheritance and promotion of traditional culture, especially our opera art, needs to rely on the support of government policies.
In recent years, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government have attached great importance to it and issued a series of support policies, which have greatly promoted the protection and revitalization of our traditional culture in terms of financial security, facility construction, and talent support.
In terms of talent echelon training, our governments and academies at all levels attach great importance to the cultivation of talent echelon. In the enlightenment stage, relying on the teaching and training of art colleges, the young actors who enter the unit rely on the continuous creation of the youth version of the repertoire, the "Xin Song Plan", etc. The tempering of art competitions and special sessions, as well as the creation of young top talent projects, etc., ensure the inheritance and development of artistic talents.
In terms of dissemination and popularization, Zhejiang has cultivated young audiences and cultivated the market through various methods such as elegant art entering campuses, art festivals and performances, and cultural auditoriums.
In addition, we also make full use of the Internet, build a digital media platform, and carry out online dissemination, so that opera can enter the daily life of ordinary people and achieve the effect of popularization.
In terms of foreign cultural exchanges, I believe that as long as we strengthen our cultural self-confidence, maintain integrity and innovation, and inherit the traditional Chinese culture, we can establish the most Chinese and classic image in the world.
At the Geneva Conference in 1954, Premier Zhou Enlai also invited foreign journalists to hold a film reception with the newly released Yue Opera film "The Liang Zhu", which won wide acclaim.
We should have confidence in the large number of excellent works in our own country, and we don't have to cater to them deliberately.
We must let Chinese traditional culture exude its own charm and attract overseas audiences.
While establishing cultural self-confidence, we must continue to uphold the spirit of craftsmanship, based on the work itself, put the creation of high-quality products first, create high-quality content, and carry out innovative expressions. Only in this way can we truly realize the ultimate goal of "going out" of Chinese culture. Purpose.
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