Mingyang Ke Graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy with a degree in traditional Chinese Opera directing. He has been studying traditional Chinese Opera since he was a child and is a comprehensive creative talent integrating scriptwriting, directing and acting. Exchange study at the Department of Theatre Studies, Taipei National University of the Arts in 2019. Since graduation, he has been working in traditional Chinese Opera education and in Chinese Opera writing, directing and performance. he has extensive experience in traditional Chinese Opera stage performance and practice.
Q： At what age did you start learning traditional Chinese Opera?
A： I started learning to sing traditional Chinese Opera when I was seven years old, but traditional Chinese opera is a comprehensive art and singing is only the most basic part of it, so I didn’t officially enter into the systematic study of traditional Chinese Opera until I was 12 years old.
Q： What kind of opportunity brought you to Chinese Opera and how did you develop a love for it?
A：In my hometown of Zhanjiang, Guangdong, there is a very strong traditional Chinese Opera atmosphere. The local people are very keen on opera singing. Although they are not professional Chinese Opera singers and do not wear fancy opera costumes, they will gather in their spare time, their stage may be in a corner of a park or in someone’s home, and some of them sing and some of them play traditional folk music. My aunt used to take me to such gatherings when I was a child, and those beautiful songs sung in Cantonese, those beautiful notes played on ancient instruments, remained with me throughout my childhood. Since then, traditional Chinese Opera has been buried in my heart like a seed, and today, it has become my passion.
Q： Are there any stories you can share that stand out to you from your study or practice of opera?
A：I mentioned earlier that singing is the basis of performance in traditional Chinese opera, so a good voice is vital for opera learners. But it is well known that adolescent boys go through a period of voice change, a stage that is like a sudden elimination race. Some go through the post-vocal change period with their voices as if they had been kissed by God, while others have to change the roles they are learning because of the sudden change in their voices or even never be able to perform in Chinese Opera again. I was studying male roles and my voice became very awkward, often breaking in the high notes, a perfectionist, I would never allow such flaws, so I practiced a lot to find my own way of singing, and eventually I found that I could master the male roles as well as the female roles. It was an amazing experience, and perhaps it is a testament to the old adage – When God closes this door, he will open another door for you.
Q： Nowadays, traditional Chinese Opera’s main audience is still concentrated on the elderly. Based on your years of study and experience in traditional Chinese Opera, what do you think are the main reasons why it is not so popular among the younger age group?
A： In my opinion, there are three general reasons for the failure to catch on with the younger demographic.
- Traditional Chinese Opera cannot adapt to the pace of contemporary youth. What they need are cultural products that they can easily access without leaving their homes, such as a song or a short video, whereas opera is an art of the theatre, and one has to go into the theatre to experience its charm. Sometimes young people go into the theatre, but the long singing passages or the slow pace of the performance make them doze off.
- The profound cultural heritage of traditional Chinese Opera is a deterrent to the youth of today. Chinese Opera has a long history and the content involved, including classical Chinese poetry and historical knowledge, is very esoteric and all too distant from the lives of modern youth groups, and mastering them is not an easy task and requires long-term accumulation, which has led many young people to report that they cannot understand traditional opera.
- There is currently a single way to disseminate Chinese Opera, and young people of today have too little access to it. In this age of information explosion, the dissemination of Chinese Opera is as important as its heritage, and to a certain extent even more urgent. At present, “Chinese Opera in schools” is an effective way for Chinese Opera troupes to cultivate an audience of young people in recent years. It is clear that this means of communication is too limited and not very effective.
Q： Have you ever reached out to young people in your Chinese Opera education? Based on your experience, what do you think are the best ways or suggestions to make traditional Chinese Opera culture more popular or spread among young people?
A： In the traditional Chinese opera education that I am involved in, I often have to deal with groups of young people. If we are to do something to popularise and disseminate Chinese Opera in response to their current situation, we need to integrate elements of Chinese opera into their daily lives.
For example, firstly, with the help of short video-based new media platforms, young people can be quickly introduced to the charm of opera in a short period of time; secondly, developing opera-based mobile apps, such as game software with Chinese Opera elements as the theme, comic book-based software that tells opera stories, and photo filter software for opera make-up, etc.; thirdly, forming a live-streaming team of opera performers, through which young audiences can Young viewers can show their approval through live-streaming, paying and so on, and they can also communicate with each other and the Chinese Opera performers through linking mikes and so on, further bringing themselves closer to Chinese Opera.