Anqing Huangmei Opera Troupe, Anhui (Mainland China)
Saturday, March 20, 2004 16:00
Ruins of St. Paul's
Free admission
Huangmei
Opera Excerpts:
The Heavenly Match
Teasing Mao Tan
Lamp Festival
The Market
The Journey of Zhao Jun
Anqing Huangmei Opera Troupe, Anhui (Mainland China)
Huangmei opera is one of China’s main regional opera forms. A
traditional art form that is accessible to all, it is well adapted as an
artistic medium to the ample expression of emotion. Huangmei opera contains both
song and dance, and is renowned for pleasant singing and fresh, natural
performances. Performers often adapted local folk songs and ditties for the
stage, and the stories usually depicted local life, in particular, peasant life.
Huangmei opera was originally known as Huangmei melody
and tea-picking opera. It originated in the region where the three
provinces of Hubei, Anwei, and Jiangxi meet and in its early form was created by
peasants for their own entertainment. In the 1920s, Huangmei opera became a
distinct art form that offered an employment opportunity to professional
performers. At the same time, it gradually migrated from the village streets to
the urban stage.
Known for gentle and beautiful singing, many Huangmei operas
have been made into films in Taiwan and Mainland China, the most popular being
The Heavenly Match, The Butterfly Lovers and The Emperor’s Female
Son-in-law.