2 July 2019
On the morning of 17 June, the opening ceremony of the “Peking Opera Cheng School Performing Talents Training Program”, sponsored by the China National Arts Fund and hosted by the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA), was held in the Lianhua Road Campus Theatre of STA.
Yang Yang, Vice President of STA, Teng Junjie, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of the Shanghai Media Group, Mao Shi'an, Vice Chairman of the China Critics Association, Luo Huaizhen, Vice Chairman of the China Theatre Association, Cui Wei, Secretary General of the China Theatre Association, Cheng Shouheng, grandson of Cheng Yanqiu and other leaders, experts and scholars from many different places of the country, as well as Dean Li Peihong and Party Secretary Jiang Xiaohong of the STA College of Chinese Traditional Opera, i.e. the organizer of the program, attended the opening ceremony. Huang Tunwei, Vice Dean of the STA College of Traditional Opera, presided over the opening ceremony, and introduced the participants, provided an overview of the program and extended the welcome to the 25trainees from all over the country.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Yang Yang, Vice president of STA, expressed his gratitude to the China National Arts Fund and the experts present, and affirmed and put forward further expectations towards the work of the program organizer. Subsequently, Jiang Xiaohong, Party Secretary of the STA College of Chinese Traditional Opera, and Cui Wei, Secretary-General of the Chinese Theatre Association, made speeches in succession.
Mr Cheng Yanqiu was a famous dramatist, educator and scholar in our country. In the long-term theatrical practice, he had formed his own style and school, as well as his own views of theatre and reform. He had not only made remarkable achievements in Peking Opera performance, but also made great contributions to the spread of Peking Opera both on the stage and in teaching, and made great contributions to the inheritance and development of Peking Opera art.
The teaching repertoire of this training program “The Dream of a Lady” is a representative repertoire of Cheng School's artistic style when it became mature, and also a classic repertoire that artists of future generations must learn in order to learn comprehensive Cheng School art. In the training program, Li Peihong, the famous Peking Opera Cheng School artist and Dean of the STA College of Chinese Traditional Opera, will personally teach the essence of the Cheng School performing arts to the students. At the same time, many experts and scholars will conduct teaching and lectures in an all-round way covering the performance characteristics, accompaniment style and art theory research of the Cheng School art, so as to improve the students' skills and also enable them have a deeper understanding of the spirit and rules of the Cheng School art.
As soon as the enrollment brochure of the “Peking Opera Cheng School Performing Talents Training Program” was issued, it attracted the attention of various Peking Opera troupes and schools, and there were a large number of applicants. After the selection by experts, 25 trainees were finally admitted. They come from the Zhejiang Peking Opera Troupe, Tianjin Art Vocational College, Heilongjiang Peking Opera Theatre, Fujian Peking Opera Theatre, Jiangsu Theatre School, Yantai Peking Opera Theatre, Qingdao Peking Opera Theatre, Tianjin Peking Opera Theatre, Zhejiang Wuju Opera Art Research Institute, Shanxi Peking Opera Theatre, Chinese Traditional Opera School affiliated to STA and other major troupes, theatres and schools of Chinese traditional opera. During the opening ceremony, Yang Jiadi, a young trainee from the Heilongjiang Peking Opera Theatre, expressed his attitude and determination to learn as a representative of the trainees.
Thanks to the support of the China National Arts Fund, the Shanghai Theatre Academy has the obligation and responsibility to spread the charm and elegance contained in the Cheng School art to the troupes, theatre and schools of Chinese traditional opera across the country, promote the exchange and interaction within the industry, and push forward the inheritance and development of Chinese traditional opera art.
