14 May 2019
On the evening of 11 May, the Peking Opera The Legend of White Snake was staged in the Great Theatre of China as one of the performances during the “STA Shows” Shanghai Theatre Academy Art Season. The play was performed collaboratively by students majoring in Performance (Peking Opera) and Performance (Music for Chinese Traditional Opera) from STA’s College of Chinese Traditional Opera.
The production of the Peking Opera The Legend of White Snake was directed by Professor Song Jie, a national first-class director. The College of Chinese Traditional Opera also invited many famous teachers to teach to the play. It took more than half a year to prepare the play for a successful performance on stage, with the care and support of the leaders of STA, and with the coordination of the different majors involved to bring together the greatest efforts. The most distinctive feature of “Legend of White Snake was that it relied on the regional culture of Shanghai and combined Peking Opera with Kunqu Opera to achieve localization and diversity in the teaching of Chinese traditional opera.
The Legend of White Snake, as a graduation production, had already been successfully performed in the STA Experimental Theatre, and had been well received by all parties. This time, as one of the performances during the “STA Shows” STA Art Season, it stepped out of the campus and was staged at the Great Theatre of China, which not only gave the students a precious opportunity for practice, but also demonstrated the teaching achievements of the College of Chinese Traditional Opera. The emotional state of the audience when they watched the performance was in itself a genuine praise to this audiovisual feast and also a full appreciation of the efforts of the College of Chinese Traditional Opera in cultivating talents for Chinese traditional opera.
The main actors in “The Legend of White Snake” were all graduating students of the College of Chinese Traditional Opera in 2015. The students were grateful for the valuable platform that STA had provided, and were grateful to the leaders of the College for the attention and cultivation, and were grateful to the teachers for the earnest and tireless teaching and guidance all the way along the road to success. For them, this would be a new starting point.
As a brand project of practical teaching in STA, the “STA Shows” STA Art Season demonstrates the overall style of the STAers. STA Shows takes the inheritance and innovation of art as its responsibility, and also contributes to the goals of culture serving the society. The College of Chinese Traditional Opera has always worked to put the principle of cultivating talents and creating works into practice, and to make great efforts for the inheritance and promotion of Chinese traditional opera. The Peking Opera The Legend of White Snake was a performance practice completed by cross-major collaboration of teachers and students, as well as a test and a report on the teaching results of the undergraduate training of the College of Chinese Traditional Opera. The students were able to demonstrate themselves through the platform of “STA Shows” STA Art Season, at the same time, the full play of their energy and capabilities has added to the success of the STA Art Season.
