China News Service, Beijing, September 29th The 10th Chinese Opera Culture Week kicked off on the 29th at the Beijing Garden Expo, and the event will continue until October 5th. The event closely follows the theme of "Chinese Dream, Chinese Soul, Opera Love", deepens the brand characteristics of "opera in gardens, gardens in opera", is based on the youthful, international, life-oriented and platform-oriented development paradigm, brings together the four generations of opera power, old, middle, young and young, integrates technological innovation, cross-city linkage, cultural, business, tourism and sports exhibition diversified business formats, and presents to the public a grand opera cultural event where tradition and modernity complement each other.
This year's opening ceremony breaks down age and geographical barriers, and builds a performance lineup for all age groups, including old, middle-aged, young and young, so that the fire of the Liyuan can be passed down from generation to generation in the intergenerational relay. On the stage, famous opera masters Chi Xiaoqiu, Wang Hongling, and Wang Pingping performed traditional classics and red modern operas, showing the profound skills of the older generation of opera artists; middle-aged and powerful actors served as the backbone of the play, performing traditional famous pieces upright; China Young students from the Academy of Chinese Opera performed a medley of local operas, showcasing the vitality of the new generation in Liyuan; a 14-year-old fancier joined hands with Zhang Jianfeng, an old master of the Xi School of Peking Opera, to perform excerpts from four famous operas, lighting up the hope for the inheritance of opera.
Internationalization has become a prominent label of Xiqu Monday. Liu Bianjing, a fan from Cameroon, Africa, will take the stage to sing an excerpt from the Henan Opera "Da Deng Dian". Foreign fans will perform on the same stage as domestic theater fans, using opera as a medium to cross language and national boundaries. The event launched opera study projects such as facial makeup painting for international students. International students from universities in Beijing observed the opera on-site and immersed themselves in the oriental aesthetics of being clean and ugly, singing, chanting, and fighting, helping Chinese opera stories to go global.
When traditional opera meets cutting-edge technology, this Opera Week will incorporate digital innovation throughout the entire event, allowing ancient opera to be inherited in a living manner. On the opening ceremony stage, the AI digital human host "Xi Bao" partnered with the real host to host the entire show, using digital IP to complete opera science popularization and interactive Q&A, becoming a special "new actor" on the stage; embodied robots performed opera figures, and the innovative program "Mecha Martial Arts" played with real actors on the same stage. Hard-core technology collided with traditional martial arts, bringing a refreshing viewing experience.
The event collaborated with the Chinese Academy of Opera to create the "Xi Pulse" opera AI intelligent agent, which digitally collected and organized massive opera resources over the past 10 years, transforming dusty archives into interactive and disseminable living cultural assets. There are three interactive terminals on site in the park: embodied robots, AI digital human "play treasures", and unmanned mobile vehicles. Visitors can immerse themselves in the popular science of opera and perform physical performances. Digital is no longer just stage special effects, but has also been transformed into a real-life experience that the public can touch and participate in. Using technology to lower the threshold for opera appreciation allows young people to be willing to approach and understand opera.
Targeting the youth group, the "opera + AI" creative solicitation was launched simultaneously, with three major tracks including visuals, short videos, and copywriting, encouraging college students to transform from audience members to content creators, using trendy creativity to inject youthful expression into ancient operas, and narrow the distance between traditional art and "Generation Z".
This Opera Week launches the "Play in China, One Opera in One City" national opera city linkage project. Beijing Fengtai serves as the main hub, linking ten opera venues in Hangzhou, Xi'an, Changchun, Xiongan New District, Mianyang, Guilin, Huizhou, Xuzhou, Heze and Changzhi, opening a new pattern of "main venue leading, multiple places across the country on the same frequency", and realizing a platform upgrade from "one place a week" to "all year round".
Based on the characteristics of local operas, each branch venue carries out a series of activities such as performances to benefit the people and the introduction of operas into scenic spots according to local conditions. The event simultaneously released the "Chinese Opera Tourism Map", launched the "Travel with Opera Week" opera rhyme study route, and launched the theme pavilion on the Ctrip platform to facilitate citizens to check and make online reservations.
This Opera Week has built a comprehensive industry platform that integrates repertoire performances, amateur competitions, academic seminars, and cultural tourism promotion. It not only performs 10 national-level award-winning plays for professional troupes, but also holds national opera competitions for ordinary enthusiasts. More than a thousand registered contestants regardless of age and type of opera. Excellent opera fans receive professional stage display opportunities, truly realizing the two-way connection between famous artists and common people on the stage, and professional art and public love. At the same time, a special academic seminar on "The Long Song of National Essence and a New Journey" was held, supporting the collection of young papers and round-table dialogues. Some activities were open to the public, opening up the channel between theoretical research and popularization.
This Opera Week takes root in the garden space, implements the concept of "one garden, one play, one life", and promotes opera to go out of the theater and integrate into urban fireworks. The Garden Expo's characteristic exhibition garden is embedded with live opera performances, coupled with opera makeup, figure teaching and other intangible cultural heritage experiences; the "Drama Jingshi" Opera Carnival integrates cultural creativity, catering, pop-up, opera film screenings, theater viewing, and shopping to check in, realizing "you can enter the opera every step of the way." Wanping City opened a themed exhibition of "Ten Years of Glory·Grand Opera", looking back at the ten-year development of opera with objects and images; at the same time, the immersive Beijing opera "Lao She Storytelling" was staged, relying on the real-life space of Lingnan Garden to create a natural stage, and young people presided over the antique auction The main line uses folding fans, porcelain bowls, and old money bags as clues to connect Lao She's works such as "Teahouse", "Lao Zhang's Philosophy" and "Camel Xiangzi". Classic characters appear across time and space, allowing literature and opera to complement each other in the garden space, unlocking a new way of opening up traditional culture.
The ten-year-old opera garden has opened a new chapter, and the garden is filled with hundreds of plays looking toward the future. Chinese Opera Culture Week will continue to use opera as a link to connect tradition and modernity, city and countryside, China and the world, so that China’s excellent traditional culture can shine even more dazzlingly in the new era.
