The traditional Chinese Shaoxing opera celebrated its centennial
on Monday but behind its glorious history and grand official
celebrations, one could detect its loneliness in the face of modern
crazes.
Shaoxing opera was born in China's eastern province of Zhejiang,
a coastal city that has always boasted one of the most developed
economies in the country and where new fashions and ideas
originate.
Opera borrowed many themes from drama and the movies, which were
both brand new art forms, and made itself the representative of the
pioneer culture about 100 years ago.
But nowadays, as pop music from the America and the Europe
become the rage in China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) and
Japanese movies and TV series are fighting for the prime-time
evening slot, Shaoxing opera is struggling for survival.
The market of the opera is shrinking dramatically as it remains
popular only with the older generation.
According to the Zhejiang provincial cultural department, the
majority of audiences of China's second largest traditional opera
are above 40. And Many teenagers know nothing about Shaoxing opera
and have never been to the theatre.
Yang Jianxin, head of the department, said it is understandable
that the youngsters are crazy for other art forms but not the
traditional operas because "there are abundant artistic and
cultural products and the young people have many different
choices."
The official acknowledged that the largest problem for Shaoxing
opera today is how to become acceptable to the young.
"Shaoxing opera is losing young audience and one of the major
reasons is that the art forms of our traditional operas are not
familiar to this group."
Not only the Shaoxing opera but all the Chinese traditional operas
are endangered by the current crazes.
China's famous scholar Yu Qiuyu said the opera was also a kind
of craze which merely met people's aesthetic demands during a
certain period.
Yu said it is inevitable that the traditional art forms are
substituted by some new ones and people do not have the right to,
and actually will not, place traditional culture ahead of the
latest crazes.
"Just like the Yuan opera, though it only existed for 75 years,
it still enjoyed a remarkable status in China's cultural history,"
Yu said.
Yet people still do not want to see its extinction.
To save the Kunqu Opera, the forefather of all the Chinese
traditional operas, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization added it to the list to be the first batch of
the world oral and nonmaterial legacy.
"Looking back over the past century, experience tells us that
the revitalization of Shaoxing opera will only hinge on innovation
and reform," said Mao Weitao, the ace actress of the Shaoxing opera
in China today.
She said her success is down to a successful round of innovation
in Shaoxing opera in the 1990s.
The traditional opera should incorporate fashionable elements,
which will bring it new vigor and enable it to survive and even
thrive, Mao said.
So, on her 100th anniversary, Shaoxing opera, for the first time
in history, entered the pub, which was seen as a good attempt to
appeal to the youth.
Shanghai Shaoxing opera troupe opened a Shaoxing opera blog on
the Internet inviting people, especially the young, to express
their opinions toward this traditional art form.
"No matter what the outcome of the attempts are, we will never
give up our trying efforts," said Mao, adding that her biggest
aspiration is to see Shaoxing opera regain its charm and beauty in
this special year.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2006)
