Author: Alexandra B Bonds Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1351380451 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 632
Book Description
Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture illuminates the links between theatrical attire and social customs and aesthetics of China, covering both the theory and practice of stage dress. Distinguishing attributes include an introduction to the performance style, the delineation of the costume conventions, an analysis of the costumes through their historical precedents and theatrical modifications, and the use of garment shape, color, and embroidery for symbolic effect. Practical information covers dressing the performers and a costume plot, the design and creation of the make-up and hairstyles, and pattern drafts of the major garments. Photographs from live performances, as well as details of embroidery, and close-up photographs of the headdresses thoroughly portray the stunning beauty of this incomparable performance style. Presenting the brilliant colors of the elaborately embroidered silk costumes together with the intricate makeup and glittering headdresses, this volume embodies the elegance of the Beijing opera.
Author: Alexandra B. Bonds Publisher: University of Hawaii Press ISBN: 0824829565 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 378
Book Description
Focusing on the costumes of Beijing opera, this comprehensive volume provides both theory and analysis of the costumes and the method of selection for the roles as well as technical information on embroidery, patterns and construction.
Author: Xing Fan Publisher: Hong Kong University Press ISBN: 9888455818 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 307
Book Description
Staging Revolution refutes the deep-rooted notion that art overtly in the service of politics is by definition devoid of artistic merits. As a prominent component shaping the culture of the Cultural Revolution, model Beijing Opera (jingju) is the epitome of art used for political ends. Arguing against commonly accepted interpretations, Xing Fan demonstrates that in a performance of model jingju, political messages could only be realized through the most rigorously formulated artistic choices and conveyed by performers possessing exceptional techniques. Fan contextualizes model jingju at the intersection of history, artistry, and aesthetics. Integral to jingju’s interactions with politics are the practitioners’ constant artistic experimentations to accommodate the modern stories and characters within the jingju framework and the eventual formation of a new sense of beauty. Therefore, a thorough understanding of model jingju demands close attention to how the artists resolved actual production problems, which is a critical perspective missing in earlier studies. This book provides exactly this much-needed dimension of analysis by scrutinizing the decisions made in the real, practical context of bringing dramatic characters to life on stage, and by examining how major artistic elements interacted with each other, sometimes harmoniously, sometimes antagonistically. Such an approach necessarily places jingju artists center stage. Making use of first person accounts of the creative process, including numerous interviews conducted by the author, Fan presents a new appreciation of a lived experience that, on a harrowing journey of coping with political interference, was also filled with inspiration and excitement. “This fascinating study is ground-breaking and timely. Xing Fan masterfully demonstrates how the creative choices made by playwrights, directors, musicians, actors, and designers intersected with one another in creating an aesthetics of the model theater during the Cultural Revolution. A must-read for anyone interested in Chinese literature and drama, theater studies, and comparative literature.” —Xiaomei Chen, University of California, Davis “Though no longer in fashion, the model revolutionary operas of the Cultural Revolution are still occasionally performed. Xing Fan has done us a great service by analyzing them in detail and reminding us of their merits. I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging book and learned a lot from it. I recommend it strongly.” —Colin Mackerras, Griffith University
Author: Elizabeth Wichmann Publisher: University of Hawaii Press ISBN: 9780824812218 Category : Music Languages : en Pages : 376
Book Description
"[Wichmann's] writing has authority rarely encountered.... Not only a comprehensive study but [a] study of Beijing theater. A marvelous overview, a virtual encyclopedia." --Choice "Overall, this is a pathbreaking book in terms of contributing to our understanding of the important Chinese art form that is the Beijing opera. It is a model of production. Its wealth of detail does not prevent it from being eminently readable. The author has unparallelled mastery of knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of her subject. The book will certainly help not only to make Beijing opera better understood in the West but also to make it more widely performed and appreciated." --China Review International, Spring 1994
Author: Ruru Li Publisher: Hong Kong University Press ISBN: 9622099955 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 369
Book Description
"This book will act as a powerful introduction to the story of Beijing Opera over the course of the twentieth century with a particularly strong emphasis on the Communist period and its influence on contemporary performance. Using excellent oral history research and with a strong focus on practice and performance techniques, Li Ruru places the genre in both its historical and global context: not a timeless Chinese tradition, but a product of China's turbulent twentieth century and the global interactions that were a key part of that history." Henrietta Harrison, Harvard University "This meticulously researched and colourful account of the highly complex performance form, jingju, will be of interest to a wide constituency of theatre scholars and cultural historians. Writing from the unique dual perspective of`insider/practitioner' and academic, Li Ruru deftly weaves oral and cultural histories together with detailed performance analyses, including a fascinating chapter on the secrets of jingju training. This book promises to raise significantly the profile of this Chinese total theatre for English-speaking audiences."Jonathan Pitches, founding co-editor of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training "Li Ruru's unique and valuable perspective combines the critical eye of the imaginative researcher with the intimate perspective of a true jingju insider-the daughter of one of the twentieth century's leading female performers. Impeccably researched, passionate and personal, this aptly titled book provides readers with an exciting and thought provoking look at jingju history and performance practice through its focus on the lives and work of six controversial leading artists." Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak, University of Hawai'i at Manoa Any traditional theatre has to engage the changing world to avoid becoming a living fossil. How has Beijing Opera --- a highly stylized theatre with breath-taking acrobatics and martial arts, fabulous costumes and striking makeup --- survived into the new millennium while coping with a century of great upheavals and competition from new entertainment forms? Li Ruru's The Soul of Beijing Opera answers that question, looking at the evolution of singing and performance styles, make-up and costume, audience demands, as well as stage and street presentation modes amid tumultuous social and political changes. Li's study follows a number of major artists' careers in mainland China and Taiwan, drawing on extensive primary print sources as well as personal interviews with performers and their cultural peers. One chapter focuses on the illustrious career of Li's own mother and how she adapted to changes in Communist ideology. In addition, she explores how performers as social beings have responded to conflicts between tradition and modernity, and between convention and innovation. Through performers' negotiation and compromises. Beijing Opera has undergone constant re-examination of its inner artistic logic and adjusted to the demands of the external world.
Author: David Rolston Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 9004463399 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 817
Book Description
What was the most influential mass medium in China before the internet reaching both literate and illiterate audiences? The answer may surprise you...it’s Jingju (Peking opera). This book traces the tradition’s increasing textualization and the changes in authorship, copyright, performance rights, and textual fixation that accompanied those changes.
Author: Liana Chen (Assistant professor) Publisher: ISBN: 9781621965480 Category : China Languages : en Pages : 340
Book Description
"Theatrical performance occupied a central place in the emotional and political life of the Qing dynasty imperial household. For over two centuries, the Qing court poured a tremendous amount of human and material resources into institutionalizing the theatrical arts for the purposes of entertainment and edification. The emperors and empresses were ardent patrons and key players in establishing an artistic form that the court theatre called its own. They went to great lengths to cultivate a discerning taste in theatre and oversaw the artistic and managerial aspects of court theatrical activities. In the imperial theatrical spaces within and outside the Forbidden City, which were designed and built with the capacity to produce stunning visual effects, theatrical productions were staged to entertain imperial family members and to impress obeisance-paying guests from near and afar. Treating Qing dynasty court theatre as a unique site in which to examine important but uncharted realms of Chinese theatrical experience, Staging for the Emperor examines two distinct and interlocking dimensions of the Qing court theatre-the vicissitudes of the palace troupe and the multifaceted functions of court-commissioned ceremonial dramas-to highlight the diverse array of views held by individual rulers as they used theatrical means to promote their personal and political agendas. Drawing on recently discovered materials from a variety of court administrative bureaus, memoirs, diaries, and play scripts written for court ceremonial occasions, this study places the history of Qing court theatre in the broader context of Qing cultural and political history. Staging for the Emperors would appeal to readers interested in China studies and performance studies. It would also appeal to those outside the field of China studies who are interested in developing a cross-cultural perspective on the interplay between state rituals, power, identity formation, and theatrical experiences"--
Author: Alexandra B Bonds
Author: Alexandra B. Bonds
Author: Xing Fan
Author: Elizabeth Wichmann
Author: Chengbei Xu
Author: Chengbei Xu
Author: Ruru Li
Author: David Rolston
Author: Liana Chen (Assistant professor)
Author: Jacqueline Ayer