From 16 October to 17 November, the doctoral and postdoctoral students majoring in historical theory of Chinese opera visited Kunshan for more than a month to observe the performances of many varieties of Chinese operas. Year 2020 is the concluding year of the three-year showcase program of the Chinese Operas Gala (Kunshan). During the 42-day gala event, 116 Chinese operas and 129 pieces of Chinese opera highlights from all over the country gathered in Kunshan for exchange and showcase, realizing the first-ever "Reunion" of 348 existing Chinese operas and the two theatrical forms of puppet play and shadow play.
Professor Ye Changhai's online course "Appreciation of Chinese Operas" was selected into the first batch of national first-class undergraduate courses this year. The course has been signed up for 70,500 times cumulatively, and has recorded 425,000 interactions cumulatively. His vivid online teaching aroused students' strong interest in Chinese opera and set off an upsurge of watching Chinese opera among students. Professor Ye’s online course mainly covered the widely-know Chinese operas, most of which are familiar to people. Offline, he personally led the students to the Liangchenyu Theater and the Culture and Art Centre in Kunshan to enjoy the performances of the Chinese Operas Gala. This time, he elaborately selected the highlights from Chinese operas from remote areas in Sichuan, Qinghai, Shandong, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan and Jiangxi provinces. These less-known Chinese operas are really rare to see. With seven days, Professor Ye led the students to observe 31 troupes and 31 operas from remote areas. This was a once-a-life "benefit" for either Chinese opera researchers or beginners. This unique offline observation class truly broadened students' horizons, and enabled them to experience different folk customs, and acquired a more intuitive understanding of Chinese operas.
From inviting teacher Li An, the winner of Shangkun Plum blossom Award and Magnolia Award, to Professor Ye's wonderful online course, from inviting famous scholars such as Professor Wang Xiaodun and Professor Liu Shuiyun to lecture on the theoretical literature of Chinese opera, and then to taking all the students to Kunshan for offline observation, multiple resources for Chinese opera studies were brought together, which gave full play to the unique advantages of Shanghai Theatre Academy in Chinese opera education, and not only enabled the students to have a deeper understanding of Chinese excellent traditional culture, but also demonstrated the cultural confidence of Chinese people and Chinese opera practitioners.
