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1、,Unit 18 Peking Opera: Artistry of Performers,Lead-in,Text study,Exercises,Content,Lead-in,Peking Opera Mask,2.1 Introduction,2.2 The Delights of Peking Opera Masks,2.3 Peking Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,2.4 The Beauty of a “Virtual World”,Text study,2.5 “Watching a Play Is Watchi
2、ng Famous Actors”,2.6 Mei Lanfang, Great Peking Opera Artist,Introduction,Many foreign friends first learn about Chinese culture through the numerous Chinese restaurants found all over the world, and soon discern that China is a country with delicious cuisine (菜肴).,The second impression of Chinese c
3、ulture is often Peking Opera, whose masks are now almost emblematic (标志性的) of China. Many countries design posters using Peking Opera masks to signal a “Year of Chinese Culture”. To understand Chinese culture, therefore, some knowledge about Peking Opera is indeed indispensable.,Introduction,The Del
4、ights of Peking Opera Masks,Chinas Peking Opera radiates with the beauty of resplendent (华丽的) color-vivid, intense and glamorous. This artistic beauty comes not only from the costumes but also from the masks of exaggerated, dazzling designs, gleaming with reds, purples, whites, yellows, blacks, blue
5、s, greens, every diverse color imaginable.,Masks, applied to the two roles of the “jing” or “painted-face role” and the “chou” or “clown”, serve two purposes. One is to indicate the identity and character of the role. The other purpose is to express peoples appraisal of the roles from a moral and ae
6、sthetic point of view, such as respectable, hateful, noble, or ridiculous, etc.,The Delights of Peking Opera Masks,Jing,Chou,The Delights of Peking Opera Masks,A “red face” means the person is loyal and brave.,A “black face” signifies the person is straightforward.,A “white face” identifies the pers
7、on as crafty and evil.,What do these colorful masks mean?,Peking Opera masksan art of beautiful colors and designs for aesthetic appreciation. The intriguing beauty of the color and design of Peking Opera masks adds to the attractive spectacle on stage.,The Delights of Peking Opera Masks,Many Chines
8、e folk handicrafts (e.g., kites, dough and clay figurines, carpets, tapestries), posters, advertisements, and fashions adopt Peking Opera masks as a source element in their designs.,The Delights of Peking Opera Masks,To Chinese people, going to the theater to enjoy Peking Opera or other artistic per
9、formances is known as “seeing plays”. What is a “play” in the Chinese context? In Peking Opera, “a play” is not so much the story or plot but a world of images created onstage, a wonderful arena of harmony between sentiments and settings.,Peking Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,Peking
10、Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,How do you understand Mei Lanfangs remark that the feature of the art of Peking Opera is “actors being at the center”?,The “play” or “world of images” created by Peking Opera naturally relies on the plot provided by the script, and more importantly on t
11、he performance of the actors. However, to form a “world of images” in Peking Opera, the plot of a story provides only the framework and background, while the charm is produced by the actors performances. Peking Opera actors are the crux (关键) in creating a world of images onstage.,What are the four b
12、asic aspects of the performance of a Peking Opera actor?,Peking Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,The performance of a Peking Opera actor can be summarized into four basic aspects, of singing, speaking, acting, and fighting, the core of which is a combination of song and choreography.,S
13、inging It is of utmost importance in the performance of Peking Opera, because first of all, Peking Opera is a singing art. Any famous Peking Opera boasts several wonderful arias (曲调) that are well-known and popular with audiences. The charm of the melodies usually embodies the sublime realm of the a
14、rt of Peking Opera. Unable to appreciate the magic of Peking Opera arias, one would fail to enjoy the profound beauty of the art itself.,Peking Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,Speaking It refers to character monologs and dialogs, which serve to propel the development of the story. Spe
15、aking, like singing, needs to be executed in an appealing way.,Peking Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,Acting It includes body movements and eye movements, solo dancing or group dancing, etc. Most of the dancing is choreographed movements from everyday life. Fighting It is choreographe
16、d martial arts and acrobatics (杂技) to depict fight or battle scenes.,Peking Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,Acting and fighting mean that actors employ physical movements to express the emotions of the characters and the circumstances. As the art of Peking Opera depends on movement to
17、 depict events, actors are given much room to perform on the stage.,Peking Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,Peking Opera Performance: Sing, Speak, Act, and Fight,In this sense, the world of imagery created in Peking Opera mainly relies on the singing, speaking, acting, and fighting of
18、actors, especially in the performance of the famous plays. This is the biggest difference between Peking Opera and other forms of performing arts in terms of aesthetic appreciation. And the remark“Peking Opera is the art of performers”well describes its quintessence (精髓),Peking Opera Performance: Si
19、ng, Speak, Act, and Fight,Depicting a “virtual world” is a distinctive feature of Peking Opera.,The Beauty of a “Virtual World”,What does its virtuality consist of?,Its virtuality consists of two aspects: one is virtual movements, and the other virtual settings.,Virtual movement refers to imitating
20、actions onstage. For example, riding a horse. Onstage, an actor cannot ride a real horse, but can only hold a whip and imitate the movement of galloping by walking around the stage, turning the body, wielding the whip, and pulling the reins.,The Beauty of a “Virtual World”,A virtual setting means cr
21、eating an imagined environment onstage. For example, rowing a boat. As there is no water or boat on the stage, an actor usually takes an oar (桨) and, through actions, makes the audience “see” the rowing of a boat on water.,The Beauty of a “Virtual World”,The setting of the stage is very simple. Usua
22、lly there is only one table and two chairs. The table, besides functioning as a table, may also symbolize a bed when an actor acts asleep by sitting at it with one hand upon it propping (撑住) up his head. If he stands on the table and looks into the distance, it tums into a city gate tower. Simply pu
23、t, changes in the stage setting follow the performance of the actors.,The Beauty of a “Virtual World”,The effectiveness of virtual movements and virtual settings lies in their giving prominence to the actors performances, helping the audience feel the rich connotations of the opera and its infinite
24、appeal. Let us take two highlights from two operas as examples.,The Beauty of a “Virtual World”,At the Crossroad,Autumn River,These examples describe the function of the “virtual world” in the art of Peking Opera, which provides limitless room for the performances of actors; and in return, performer
25、s present the audience with a world of images full of appealing wit.,The Beauty of a “Virtual World”,The features of appreciating Peking Opera are decided by the characteristics of image creation in Peking Opera. Features of appreciating Peking Opera: “Watching a play is watching famous actors”. the
26、 audience always separates the beauty of the beauty of the craft and form of the performance from the world of imagery.,“Watching a Play Is Watching Famous Actors”,“Watching a Play Is Watching Famous Actors”,How do you understand the popular saying“Watching a play is watching famous actors”?,Viewers
27、 of Peking Opera go to the theater with the purpose of not only seeing “a play”, but more of watching the “performance”, since they know the “play” (or stage imagery) is to be ”acted out”, and the significance of the “play” is located in the singing, speaking, acting, and fighting of the performers.
28、,When enjoying an opera, they bear in mind not only the protagonists (主人公) of the story but also the performers who play the roles. And the performances of the actors are what they have come to the theater to enjoy, especially when the performers are well-known. This is the meaning of “Watching a pl
29、ay is watching famous actors”.,“Watching a Play Is Watching Famous Actors”,Another observation from Peking Opera audiences is that, “the more familiar an opera, the more enjoyable.” However, when a person watches a vignette (插曲) of Peking Opera, the more one is familiar with it, the further the back
30、ground and plot of the story recede (后退) into the distance, and the more one focuses on enjoying the performances of the actors, and feels, grasps and enjoys the deeper meaning and magic of the actors performances.,“Watching a Play Is Watching Famous Actors”,The second characteristic of Peking Opera
31、 appreciation is that the audience always separates the beauty of the craft and form of the performance from the world of imagery.,“Watching a Play Is Watching Famous Actors”,As the famous German dramatist Bertolt Brechtl (1898-1956) once remarked. when we watch a Chinese actor perform onstage, we s
32、ee at least three characters at the same time: one being the performer (the actor), and also the two roles being performed (the actor and the role). He thus calls performance in Peking Opera a “dual performance”, an important feature in the appreciation of Peking Opera.,“Watching a Play Is Watching
33、Famous Actors”,Mei Lanfang,He was an actor who played the role of young women (dan). Together with Cheng Yanqiu (1904-1958), Shang Xiaoyun (1900-1976) and Xun Huisheng (1900-1968), they were acclaimed (称赞) the “four famed Peking Opera female-role performers.”,Mei Lanfang, Great Peking Opera Artist,M
34、ei Lanfang had a melodious voice, a beautiful stage appearance, with elegant dancing and movements onstage. He crafted a noble and natural image, reaching the zenith of female-role performance.,Mei Lanfang, Great Peking Opera Artist,Mei Lanfang,Mei Lanfang made innovations to the art of Peking Opera
35、 in different aspects: He composed many new melodies, introduced facial expressions, movements and the technique of dancing to the accompaniment of singing, from Kunqu Opera to Peking Opera; he also created various dances, such as the silk dance, sword dance, sleeve dance, and duster dance (拂尘舞).,Me
36、i Lanfang, Great Peking Opera Artist,He was the first to use the erhu to support the jinghu (traditional stringed instruments), to accompany singing by the female role, thus musically enriching Peking Opera. He also made innovations to masks, hairstyles and costumes.,Mei Lanfang, Great Peking Opera
37、Artist,His representative operas include The Drunken Concubine, King Chu Bids Farewell to His Concubine, The Lance of the Universe, and Woman General Mu Guiying. Mei Lanfangs performances fully demonstrated Chinese classical beauty with everlasting allure (魅力). He is worthy of the title of “master a
38、rtist of Peking Opera”.,Mei Lanfang, Great Peking Opera Artist,Exercises,Comprehension,Communication,Application,l. Skimming and Scanning Go through the passage quickly and judge whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) according to the passage. _ 1) Peking Opera masks have been re
39、garded as a symbol of Chinese culture by many countries. _ 2) The beauty of Peking Opera lies in the diverse colors of Peking Opera masks. _ 3) One purpose of Peking Opera masks is to help people learn about the characters of the roles.,Comprehension,T,F,T,_4) The example of Zhang Fei in Paragraph 4
40、 is to show how varied the designs of Peking Opera masks are. _5) In appreciating Peking Opera, the plot of the story may not be the most important. _6) The most important aspect of Peking Opera performance lies in the singing. _7) Acting and fighting help propel the development of the story. _8) Ea
41、ch Peking Opera gives prominence only to one or two actors. _9) The virtual movements and virtual settings in Peking Opera are effective because the actors performance offsets the drawback.,Comprehension,F,T,T,F,T,T,_10) Viewers of Peking Opera go to the theater mainly to watch the famous actors. _1
42、1) The old Peking Operas are not so popular as the new ones because the viewers cannot feel the excitement. _12) When appreciating Peking Opera, the audience can see three characters: the actor and the two roles being performed. _13) Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun and Xun Huisheng are the
43、four most famous Peking Opera performers in China. _14) Mei Lanfang played the role of a pretended mad woman in King Chu Bids Farewell to His Concubine.,Comprehension,T,F,T,F,F,II. Careful Reading,1. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each of the following questions.,1) Why is
44、Chinese cuisine mentioned in the first paragraph? A. To show the great influence of Chinese culture on the world. B. To demonstrate the popularity of Chinese food all over the world. C. To introduce another impressive form of Chinese culture, Peking Opera. D. To indicate that Peking Opera is as impr
45、essive as Chinese food to foreigners.,Comprehension,C,2) According to Paragraph 3, what mask should the actor of Qin Hui wear in Peking Opera? A. A red one. B. A black one. C. A white one. D. One in the shape of a butterfly 3) The word “evocative” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to _. A. convin
46、cing B. imaginative C. stimulating D. suggestive,Comprehension,C,D,4) Which of the following statements is true of Peking Opera? A. The real charm of Peking Opera is created by the actors B. The actors usually stand at the center of the stage. C. There must be famous arias in any Peking Opera. D. Sp
47、eaking is designed to attract the audiences attention. 5) Which of the following is mentioned as involved with acting and fighting in Paragraph 10? A. Eye contact. B. Kung fu. C. Aerobatics. D. Gymnastics.,Comprehension,A,B,6) What is implied but not stated about the setting of Peking Opera? A. The
48、setting is all virtual without any real props. B. The setting of the stage is very complex. C. One prop can serve different purposes. D. Actors are in charge of changing the stage setting.,Comprehension,C,7) According to the examples in Paragraphs 17 and 18, the benefits of virtual movements and set
49、tings are that _. A. they save the cost of the performance B. they save the labor force of changing the stage C. actors have more room on the stage for their performance D. they highlight the actors performance,D,Comprehension,8) What can we learn about Peking Opera through the saying “watching a play is watching famous actors”? A. The viewers go to the theater to see the actors instead of the play. B. The famous actors are good-looking and perform well. C. The actors are good at all of the four basic a