Under the theme of "Inheritance and Innovation of Opera Education in the New Era", the Workshop for Exchanging Work Experience in Constructing the Excellent Chinese Traditional Culture (Opera) Inheritance Base in Colleges and Universities kicked off on May 16th at Siping Campus.
Experience exchange workshop themed on "Inheritance and Innovation of Opera Education in the New Era" at Siping Campus
The workshop was attended by: CHEN Hua, Director of Sports, Health and Arts Division, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission; GU Haohao, President of Shanghai Dramatists Association, President and Party Secretary of Shanghai Center of Chinese Operas and Director of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe; CAI Zhengren, a prestigious Kunqu Opera artist; RONG Guangrun, a well-known opera critic and former President of Shanghai Theatre Academy; WU Guangming, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of Tongji University; and experts and teachers from the Excellent Chinese Traditional Culture Inheritance Bases housed in Anqing Normal University, Chongqing University, Guangxi University, Hangzhou Normal University, Huanggang Normal University Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Xi'an Jiaotong University and other colleges and universities. Attendee deliberated on how to pool efforts to push ahead the construction of traditional opera inheritance bases.
In his speech, WU Guangming said that Tongji University has always regarded the construction of university culture as an important part of its resolve to build a world-class university, and that boasting off-the-charts inheritance of Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, Tongji attaches great importance to the progressive construction of its own inheritance base. He added that the student version of Palace of Eternal Youth marks a novel model of the collaborative education between universities and professional institutions, and that Tongji will strike deep roots in the fertile soil of and further explore the precious value of excellent Chinese traditional culture to further enhance the cultural awareness and self-confidence of teachers and students and greet the centenary of CPC.
WU Guangming delivering a speech
GU Haohao applauded the successful premiere of the student version of Palace of Eternal Life, a play co-presented by Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe and Tongji University, and hailed the cooperation between the two over the past year as a pacesetting move to explore the ways and methods for spreading excellent traditional culture. Likening the campus to the fertile soil for sowing the seeds of Kunqu Opera, she said that the attempt of showcasing the classic essence from the perspective of college students marks not only a comprehensive inheritance of Kunqu Opera, but also a stellar example of re-interpreting and reproducing the Kunqu Opera by mixing the deep and unique modern aesthetics, as well as a preservation-oriented innovation to the Kunqu Opera in the new era. She hoped that this captivating and youthful play performed by students will blossom and bear fruits on campuses all over the world, and looked forward to seeing the seeds of Kunqu Opera exert influence on more young people and burst with new vitality.
GU Haohao delivering a speech
CHEN Hua expressed her appreciation to experts for their hands-on training and guidance, thanked the respective inheritance bases for their continuing concern for and persistent investment in aesthetic education, and looked forward to the fruitful results of aesthetic education by dint of the meticulous work done by experts and masters. She hoped to build a model brand of aesthetic education with Tongji and Shanghai characteristics upon the student version of Palace of External Youth, and believed that more universities and more students would have the opportunity to present professional plays. She added that Shanghai has rolled out the "culture-education integration" mechanism in hopes of aligning professional cultural, art and aesthetic education resources to aesthetic education needs, hoping that this mechanism would be promoted beyond Shanghai and that Shanghai-based universities and primary and secondary schools would be supported with more high-quality cultural resources from home and abroad.
CHEN Hua delivering a speech
Rejoicing at the successful premiere of the student version of Palace of External Youth last night, CAI Zhengren was gratified by the inheritance and new development of Kunqu Opera, and lauded the smooth and standardized performance of students on the stage, adding that such a relaxed state of performance mirrored good mastery of skills and the self-confidence of students. The revitalization of Kunqu Opera can not only rely on professional troupes, he said, but also on the Kunqu Opera fans at large. He hailed the student version of Palace of External Youth as a remarkable overture with far-reaching significance, and hoped the efforts could be carried on.
CAI Zhengren delivering a speech
RONG Guangrun said that the student version of Palace of External Youth is of iconic significance and hence is worthy of good publicity and promotion, adding that combination of art and education would play a pivotal role in promoting and heightening talent fostering and cultural development.
RONG Guangrun delivering a speech
CHEN Jun, Director of Peking University (PKU) Kunqu Opera Inheritance and Research Center, Executive Deputy Director of PKU Kunqu Opera Inheritance Base and professor at PKU School of Art, and LIN Yeqing, Deputy Director of Art Education Center, Tsinghua University, respectively recounted the practices, explorations and reflections of the two universities in regard to the inheritance and innovation of operas in college students.
CHEN Jun delivering a speech
LIN Yeqing delivering a speech
The free discussion session held in the afternoon was chaired by Prof. ZHU Chongzhi, instructor at the Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera Inheritance Base and Vice Dean of the School of Humanities, and attended by a host of big names, including TANG Jiazhen, Chairman of Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation; ZHOU Yunhui, official of the Art Division of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism and member of Shanghai Literature and Art Critics Association; YANG Yifan, reporter from Shanghai TV Station and a veteran Kunqu Opera researcher; ZHANG Ting, outstanding young performer from Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe; LIAO Liang from Shanghai University; and experts and teachers from the Excellent Chinese Traditional Culture Inheritance Bases housed in Anqing Normal University, Chongqing University, Guangxi University, Hangzhou Normal University, Huanggang Normal University Tongji University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Xi'an Jiaotong University. From diverse perspectives such as "memory, inheritance, dissemination and innovation" and focusing on their respective areas of expertise, such as curriculum development, society development, workshop development, scientific research, social influence and exhibition exchanges, attendees shared insights into a broad spectrum of topics, such as how to enhance the traditional cultural literacy of teachers and students, how to fortify their understanding of traditional operas and build their cultural self-confidence, how to build a platform to inspire more teachers and students to embrace, appreciate and pass down the Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, how to popularize and promote the excellent Chinese traditional culture in students, and how to inspire students to consciously embrace Chinese traditional culture, develop healthy aesthetic view and spread Chinese values. Attendees from respective inheritance bases all agreed that they should strengthen exchanges and collaboration to achieve positive synergy in the forthcoming years, thereby giving full play to the unique advantages of opera education and shoring up the construction of Excellent Chinese Traditional Culture Inheritance Bases.
Experts having a free discussion
https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1003/77596.htm
