Next generation sets the stage for art genre's future

From centuries of being passed down through mentorship, to the modern day, when the youth edition of The Peony Pavilion ignited fervor among university students, Kunqu Opera's history has been closely connected with the continued effort of generations of young people.

As China places a greater focus on traditional opera education, and more young people are taking part in learning and promoting the art form with their modern interpretation and innovative vision, the legacy continues.

Gu Sike's encounter with traditional opera was a matter of serendipity. As a child he had a weak constitution, and his parents heard that Peking Opera training could help him keep fit.

With his teacher recognizing his physical attributes and vocal abilities, Gu was admitted into the Kunqu Opera class at the Beijing Opera Arts College in 2013, and continued onto undergraduate studies at the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts.

"The more I learned about Kunqu Opera, the more I started to appreciate its beauty. It takes time to savor its artistry, intricacy and cultural depth," says Gu, 22.

Distinct among traditional Chinese opera styles, Gu says, Kunqu Opera is characterized by its poetic lyrics that follow fixed rhythmic structures, and the correspondence between its movements and sounds.

He plays laosheng, or elderly male roles, often marked by virtue and perception, which requires him to constantly enrich his knowledge and cultivate his character.

In his opinion, learning and performing these roles has probably exerted a subtle influence on him, so that, despite having an extroverted personality, he tends to have a calm and sensible approach when dealing with problems.

"Kunqu Opera is an authentic embodiment of Chinese culture, with the costumes, movements, singing and stage designs. All these elements have the power of influencing the aesthetic appreciation of the audience," he adds.

For another student Geng Kairui, who specializes in playing huadan (vivacious young female roles), there seems to be an inner connection with the characters in Kunqu Opera's stories that transcends time and space.

While her previous opera education stressed fundamental physical and technical training, since getting enrolled in the academy, she has devoted herself to studying her characters in order to represent them more vividly onstage.

She has performed the character of Chunxiang in The Peony Pavilion, a maid of the protagonist Du Liniang, whose candidness and naivety are in contrast to the latter, a character initially gentle and docile as a result of her upbringing.

"Although she is not the protagonist, I quite like her as she is like a confidante, or in modern terms a 'bestie'. She may be too young to understand the sentiments of Du, but she is always there to support Du," Geng says.

Another character she feels an affinity for is the nun Sekong from the monodrama Sifan, who runs away from the nunnery with the longing for a worldly life.

"To me, this character represents female power and the ability to break free from the constraints of societal norms to pursue what the heart desires," she says.

Despite these ancient characters only existing in texts, she feels closer to them by reading, studying with teachers and watching the renditions of them by other performers.

While students like Gu and Geng are training to become experienced Kunqu Opera performers, others are also exploring more contemporary ways of presenting the art form, graduate from the academy Zhu Xiandong being one of them.

By taking courses in traditional Chinese opera appreciation and attending live performances, he developed an affection for Kunqu Opera because of its graceful singing and refined performance style.

When studying The Peony Pavilion, he was inspired by Du's exclamation "how does one realize the beauty of spring if not by entering this garden "and decided to re-create the garden in the virtual world.

"The Peony Pavilion tells the story of a dream, which is quite surreal and ethereal. So I thought about how to bring the viewers into such a dream garden, for other young people like myself to feel its beauty," Zhu says.

Therefore, he adopted virtual reality technology to create the garden, drawing from the styles of classical Chinese gardens from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the era in which the story takes place.

By putting on the VR headset, the audience will find themselves standing on a narrow bridge winding its way through a lake. Take a few steps and the viewers will arrive at a pavilion in the center of the lake, facing a stage on the bank, where two performers are delivering a scene from the Kunqu Opera.

"As young people from the academy, we feel a sense of mission to explore new ways for the general public to learn about, and develop a liking for, traditional Chinese opera, such as using modern and advanced technology, while still preserving the productions' essence," he adds.

Another student Yang Xuhan, with a similar fascination about the art form and a slightly different approach, has been working for more than two years on a short animated film of The Peach Blossom Fan, a classical script written by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) playwright Kong Shangren.

To present in merely five minutes the tragedy of 44 scenes with its grand historical narrative, Yang zoomed in on the love story between the two protagonists and adopted a slightly surreal style of visual expression, while inviting a student in music to compose the soundtrack using entirely traditional Chinese instruments.

Comparing the two art forms of Kunqu Opera and animation, he says that he can see certain commonalities between the two, including the twists and turns of plots, and the balance between movements and stillness.

It is also essential to consider the differences, he says. "Animation requires a lot of time and effort, and it is hard to match up to the intricacies of the Kunqu stage and costumes, so I used the level of freedom offered by animation to tell the story."

What he strives for with his animations is to present Chinese culture in a way that is authentic and true to its roots, he says.

Wang Zhenyi, professor from the academy, says: "Many troupes are now experimenting with these modern, innovative projects that adopt multimedia technology and stage designs.

"I think such projects are beneficial in promoting the art form to the general public. Kunqu Opera is a living heritage that is being performed for contemporary audiences, so it is important to uphold tradition while promoting innovation."