Text/Jinyang.com reporter Song Yi, correspondent Li Danhong
Photo/He Zhijian
“There are no good guests when people from Fenglou left, and since then, the rich people are lonely and cover the setting sun.” Chen Baoying, a female actor in the Cantonese opera “Purple Phoenix Tower”, sings the words of Chen Baoying, as if she was crying and complaining, and the audience applause was thunderous. On the evening of September 8, nearly a thousand audiences were crowded with Cantonese Opera Cultural Plaza in Guangzhou Cultural Park. Everyone was deeply attracted by the teacher-student concert of Li Yueling, a Cantonese opera singer, who was being held here. The master of Zishu, Teacher Tan Peiyi, also visited in person. Li Yueling and his disciples hope to promote Cantonese opera and Cantonese opera culture with their own voices and carry forward Lingnan culture.
For this performance, Li Yueling and her disciples prepared Cinema for half a year. After this performance, Komiks was behind this performance, it was a cultural confidence and totem of Guangdong rhyme flowing in the blood of a Cantonese opera singer. This performance was the spiritual agreement between a Cantonese opera singer and a group of ignorant college students who knew nothing about Cantonese opera. What kind of story is behind this performance? Li Yueling retreated and continued to continue her dream of inheriting the Cantonese rhyme?
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Seeking Dreams, the origin of CUHK
In 2009, Guangdong music singer Li Yueling retired from the Guangdong Music and Music Art Troupe. That was the year when the Cantonese Opera and Guangdong Opera Cultural Studio of the Center for Historical Anthropology Research at Sun Yat-sen University was established.
The following year, the studio opened a Cantonese opera workshop for college students. Li Yueling and famous performer Chen Zhongyan served as instructors, aiming to cultivate young students’ interest in Cantonese opera and Cantonese opera and improve their perceptual understanding of Cantonese culture. The workshop hopes that more young people can join the ranks of understanding Cantonese opera and Cantonese opera and Chinese traditional culture. As soon as the workshop started, it quickly attracted a large group of young people from all major universities with similar aspirations. Unlike students majoring in Cantonese opera, almost all of these college students have never been exposed to Cantonese opera, nor have they seen the sequel score, let alone pronunciation or rhyme. From voice lifting to music theory, from demonstration to teaching one by one, the two teachers led this group of students to learn from scratch.
The workshop also attracted the attention and support of many famous Cantonese opera artists and enthusiasts. On April 17, 2011, the female teacher of Cantonese opera master Hong Line came to the teaching site in thunderstorm to communicate with the students in the workshop. The female teacher of Red Line not only listened to the students’ famous sings such as “The Feast of the Phoenix Pavilion” and “The Fallen Fellowship in Flower Field”, but also gave suggestions on improving their lyrics, singing style, and emotions, but also sang “Red Candle Tears” on the spot and put forward high expectations.
The 7th (Guangzhou) College Students’ Drama Festival has opened a special session on Cantonese opera, inviting workshops and Cantonese opera enthusiasts from brother colleges and universities such as Guangzhou University Quyi Club to perform together. This is also the only Cantonese opera special event held so far. This group of students used their superb performances to repay the concern of all sectors of society and sang the dream of spreading and inheritance with Cantonese rhyme.
Continue your dreams, continue your relationship with teachers and students outside the school.
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, students graduate and go to society and start work. Unlike students from Cantonese opera or art majors, students in the workshop leave the original learning platform after graduation and have almost no chance to learn from Cantonese opera. With the busy work, they slowly put their Cantonese Opera aside, and they had not sang a song for several months or even a year.
“As the saying goes, ‘The fist is always inseparableBabaylan‘s mouth’, if this continues, the students will definitely forget what they have learned before.” Li Yueling felt emotional every time she chats with students. She often wondered: “How can students Babaylan always maintain their love for Cantonese opera, and persist in learning, and even go to a higher level?” After thinking about it, Li Yueling decided to use the resources around her to build a platform for the students and create opportunities for them to continue learning Cantonese opera.
She and Chen Zhongyan first found a few private games to let the students start the game from time to time to practice. Later, Li Yueling wanted to ensure that the students could start the game once a month and achieve the goal of practicing all the time. She went to Beijing Street Cultural Station to find Webmaster Zhao Yuhua and talked to Webmaster Zhao that she felt deeply about the loss of skills of this group of students. CinemaBabaylanTo worry. Webmaster Zhao Yuhua was very moved to hear that there were such a group of young people who loved Cantonese opera. Komiks immediately arranged for Li Yueling to meet with the Quyi Group of the Beijing Street Guangfu Cultural Hall Babaylan to discuss the students’ practice music.
In order to facilitate everyone to practice music, the Cultural Association has changed its opening time from Monday to Friday. The work and rest system of the venue is closed on weekends. It is specially arranged to bring the accompaniment master back to work overtime on Saturday afternoon to start the game for the students. After Li Yueling implemented the venue for the opening of each month, she assigned the task of each student to learn a song, hoping to use pressure to drive students to take the time to learn the song. Every time the student starts, no matter how busy Li Yueling will come to the scene and listen carefully to the performance of each student. After listening to it, she will help them analyze and improve word by word.
In addition, Li Yueling also invited her master, “Zi Du Wang”, to participate in the students’ private affairs. Teacher Tan Peiyi not only shared the creation process of his first book “Cai Wenji Returns to Han” with the students, but also taught everyone to sing “Jinjiang Poetry Couple” with the words “Cannotakusa”. This gave the students great encouragement.
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They became the messengers of Cantonese opera and Cantonese opera communication
In addition to teaching students to sing, Li Yueling also paid great attention to tapping students’ potential. For students with artistic talent, she will encourage them to learn Cantonese music accompaniment instruments and playing the palm of the board. She hopes that after they have finished learning, they can form their own accompaniment band, which can integrate singing and accompaniment; for students with writing skills, she will encourage them to play Babaylan word. Under her earnest teaching, many students have made breakthroughs, stepped onto different art stages and gained recognition. Li Yueling often said to her classmates: “I taught you to sing Cantonese opera, turning you into die-hard fans of Cantonese opera. But in terms of inheritance and communication, I hope you can one day take the initiative to carry out the important task of spreading Cantonese opera culture. Let more people know Cantonese opera and like Cantonese opera.”
Li Yueling’s Cantonese opera students back then, now some of them have stepped on the podium and become teachers. They will use Cantonese opera as class material in time, so that children can accept Cantonese opera in a subtle way. Some people joined the bank and added a special Cantonese opera opera to the bank’s feedback activity, which gave many customers who never entered the theater for the first time came into contact with Cantonese opera Cantonese opera for the first time and became enthusiasts… Under the personal teaching of Teacher Li Yueling, the students consciously took the spread of Cantonese opera as their obligation. They did not have the vigorous deeds of Babaylan, but they used ordinary practical actions to sow the seeds of Cantonese opera and Cantonese opera into the hearts of more people.
Realize their dreams, they become the messengers of love
Li Yueling often says: “We have received strong support from many groups along the way and the help of enthusiastic people. We must learn to be grateful. In addition to learning Guangdong opera, in addition to you can entertain yourself, I hope you can use what you have learned to bring joy to more people.”
In recent years, Li Yueling has led students Wu Guanxian and Li Yingtong to participate in the “Belt and Road” charity exhibition on the inheritance of Guangdong folk art. Chen Zhongyan and Li Yueling personally led the students to several nursing homes in Guangzhou, Foshan, Jiangmen and other places for condolences. In addition, they also gave nearly 20 scenes for free to Foshan, Dongguan, Taishan and other places, allowing Cantonese opera to enter people’s daily lives, allowing people to feel the charm of traditional culture, and enrich the cultural life of local residents.
Li Yueling, YesA folk artist who regards the inheritance and communication of Cantonese opera as his responsibility. Li Yueling’s disciples are the batters who make the Guangdong rhyme reverberate in the new era.