On the afternoon of April 18, Tongji University staged the classical Kunqu opera the Palace of Eternal Youth jointly with Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe (SKOP) on a Tongji mobile live program of "Listen to them". Students from Tongji University joined hands with artists from SKOP to perform the classical work of the Palace of Eternal Youth. The live broadcast of the performance, an online promotion of traditional culture to college students, was planned jointly by the University and SKOP. It marked the start of this year's cooperation between both organizations to create the students’ version of the Palace of Eternal Youth.

During the almost two-hour live broadcast, nearly 200,000 people watched the performance online through various media platforms of Tongji University and SKOP. The audience commented and clicked “like” in real time. "Excellent performance! I also want to learn Kunqu Opera!", "Looking forward to the students’ version of the Palace of Eternal Youth! ", "I want to participate in the performance! ", "We should inherit the Kunqu opera!" were some of the most common comments made by the students on the bullet screen.

The famous Kunqu artist ZHANG Jingxian and Tongji alumnus WANG Yueyang were invited as special guests to direct the young Kunqu opera actors on stage and explain to the audience how to appreciate this classical opera. Mr. CAI Xiaojun, a student from the College of Arts and Media of the University and a new horn of Kunqu opera on campus, played the female character in the opera. He partnered Mr. NI Xuhao from SKOP to perform “Going to the flowers hand in hand”, an act from the Palace of Eternal Youth. JIANG Yunong who used to be the backbone of Tongji Kunqu Society went on stage to perform the act of ‘Banquet’ from the Palace of Eternal Youth. The online live broadcast showed the classical opera to the audience from different perspectives and led them to the unique charm of traditional art together.

The "Listen to them" live broadcast program is a new endeavor of Tongji Universtiy to transfer regular campus cultural activities onto an online platform during the pandemic. Young people can be creative online with their own perspective, language and means in whatever way they wish to take.

Source: https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1002/73444.htm