Download or read book The Role of the Chou clown in Traditional Chinese Drama written by Ashley Thorpe and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first Western language book to examine the chou ("clown") role-type in traditional Chinese drama--a role-type credited with so much importance that some critics insist that "withouth the chou, there would not be drama." This assertion is evaluated through an analysis of historical documents and translated play texts, fieldwork research, and from the perspectives of ethnomusicology and anthropology.

Download or read book Gao Xingjian and Transcultural Chinese Theater written by Sy Ren Quah and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2004-04-30 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A reclusive painter living in exile in Paris, Gao Xingjian found himself instantly famous when he became the first Chinese language writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (2000). The author of the novel Soul Mountain, Gao is best known in his native country not as a visual artist or novelist, but as a playwright and theater director. This important yet rarely studied figure is the focus of Sy Ren Quah’s rich account appraising his contributions to contemporary Chinese and World Theater over the past two decades. A playwright himself, Quah provides an in-depth analysis of the literary, dramatic, intellectual, and technical aspects of Gao’s plays and theatrical concepts, treating Gao’s theater not only as an art form but, with Gao himself, as a significant cultural phenomenon. The Bus Stop, Wild Man, and other early works are examined in the context of 1980s China. Influenced by Stanislavsky, Brecht, and Beckett, as well as traditional Chinese theater arts and philosophies, Gao refused to conform to the dominant realist conventions of the time and made a conscious effort to renovate Chinese theater. The young playwright sought to create a "Modern Eastern Theater" that was neither a vague generalization nor a nationalistic declaration, but a challenge to orthodox ideologies. After fleeing China, Gao was free to experiment openly with theatrical forms. Quah examines his post-exile plays in a context of performance theory and philosophical concerns, such as the real versus the unreal, and the Self versus the Other. The image conveyed of Gao is not of an activist but of an intellectual committed to maintaining his artistic independence who continues to voice his opinion on political matters.

Download or read book Intercultural Aesthetics in Traditional Chinese Theatre written by Wei Feng and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-06-11 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the transformation of traditional Chinese theatre’s (xiqu) aesthetics during its encounters with Western drama and theatrical forms in both mainland China and Taiwan since 1978. Through analyzing both the text and performances of eight adapted plays from William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, and Samuel Beckett, this book elaborates on significant changes taking place in playwriting, acting, scenography, and stage-audience relations stemming from intercultural appropriation. As exemplified by each chapter, during the intercultural dialogue of Chinese and foreign elements there exists one-sided dominance by either culture, fusion, and hybridity, which corresponds to the various facets of China’s pursuit of modernity between its traditional and Western influences.

Download or read book Clown written by Jon Davison and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-03-27 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This rich collection of readings offers a wide-ranging and authoritative survey of clown practices, history and theory, from the origins of the word clown through to contemporary clowning. Covering clowns in theatre, circus, cinema, TV, street and elsewhere, the author's stimulating narrative challenges assumptions and turns orthodoxy on its head.

Download or read book The Routledge Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Culture written by Sin-wai Chan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 650 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Culture offers an in-depth discussion of cultural aspects of China from the ancient period to the pre-modern era, lasting over 5,000 years, comprised of 7,000 word pieces by more than 20 world-leading academics and experts. Addressing areas such as China studies, cultural studies, cultural management, and more specific areas – such as religion, opera, Chinese painting, Chinese calligraphy, material culture, performing arts, and visual arts – this encyclopedia covers all major aspects of traditional Chinese culture. The volume is intended to be a detailed reference for graduate students on a variety of courses, and also for undergraduate students on survey courses to Chinese culture.

Download or read book Soul of Beijing Opera The written by Ruru Li and published by Hong Kong University Press. This book was released on 2010-05-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book will act as a powerful introduction to the story of Beijing Opera over the course of the twentieth century with a particularly strong emphasis on the Communist period and its influence on contemporary performance. Using excellent oral history research and with a strong focus on practice and performance techniques, Li Ruru places the genre in both its historical and global context: not a timeless Chinese tradition, but a product of China's turbulent twentieth century and the global interactions that were a key part of that history." Henrietta Harrison, Harvard University "This meticulously researched and colourful account of the highly complex performance form, jingju, will be of interest to a wide constituency of theatre scholars and cultural historians. Writing from the unique dual perspective of`insider/practitioner' and academic, Li Ruru deftly weaves oral and cultural histories together with detailed performance analyses, including a fascinating chapter on the secrets of jingju training. This book promises to raise significantly the profile of this Chinese total theatre for English-speaking audiences."Jonathan Pitches, founding co-editor of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training "Li Ruru's unique and valuable perspective combines the critical eye of the imaginative researcher with the intimate perspective of a true jingju insider-the daughter of one of the twentieth century's leading female performers. Impeccably researched, passionate and personal, this aptly titled book provides readers with an exciting and thought provoking look at jingju history and performance practice through its focus on the lives and work of six controversial leading artists." Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak, University of Hawai'i at Manoa Any traditional theatre has to engage the changing world to avoid becoming a living fossil. How has Beijing Opera --- a highly stylized theatre with breath-taking acrobatics and martial arts, fabulous costumes and striking makeup --- survived into the new millennium while coping with a century of great upheavals and competition from new entertainment forms? Li Ruru's The Soul of Beijing Opera answers that question, looking at the evolution of singing and performance styles, make-up and costume, audience demands, as well as stage and street presentation modes amid tumultuous social and political changes. Li's study follows a number of major artists' careers in mainland China and Taiwan, drawing on extensive primary print sources as well as personal interviews with performers and their cultural peers. One chapter focuses on the illustrious career of Li's own mother and how she adapted to changes in Communist ideology. In addition, she explores how performers as social beings have responded to conflicts between tradition and modernity, and between convention and innovation. Through performers' negotiation and compromises. Beijing Opera has undergone constant re-examination of its inner artistic logic and adjusted to the demands of the external world.

Download or read book The Role of the Clown in Traditional Chinese Theatre written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Asian Theatre written by Siyuan Liu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-05 with total page 875 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Routledge Handbook of Asian Theatre is an advanced level reference guide which surveys the rich and diverse traditions of classical and contemporary performing arts in Asia, showcasing significant scholarship in recent years. An international team of over 50 contributors provide authoritative overviews on a variety of topics across Asia, including dance, music, puppetry, make-up and costume, architecture, colonialism, modernity, gender, musicals, and intercultural Shakespeare. This volume is divided into four sections covering: Representative Theatrical Traditions in Asia. Cross-Regional Aspects of Classical and Folk Theatres. Modern and Contemporary Theatres in Asian Countries. Modernity, Gender Performance, Intercultural and Musical Theatre in Asia. Offering a cutting edge overview of Asian theatre and performance, the Handbook is an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and students studying this ever-evolving field.

Download or read book British East Asian Plays written by Yang Mai Ooi and published by Aurora Metro Publications Ltd.. This book was released on 2018-12-03 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First collection of full-length plays from British East Asian playwrights Playwrights: Yang Mai Ooi, Jeremy Tiang, Lucy Chai Lai-Tuen, Amy Ng, Stephen Hoo, Joel Tan and Daniel York Loh. Selected and Edited: Cheryl Robson, Dr Amanda Rogers and Dr Ashley Thorpe. With an introduction: Dr Amanda Rogers and Dr Ashley Thorpe A landmark collection of contemporary full-length plays by British East Asian writers. Exploring subjects such as cultural identity, the fragmentation of communities, tradition, invisibility and discrimination, these plays are ideal to perform. With an introduction by academics Dr Amanda Rogers and Dr Ashley Thorpe which sets the plays into context and explores the hidden history of theatre from BEA theatre-makers. This is a timely collection, being published within months of the opening of three plays by British East Asian playwrights in the UK, and a growing awareness in the mainstream press that that East Asians in British theatre are under-represented. As Daniel York Loh writes: “British East Asians were effectively side-lined in any debate on diversity in theatre where the general establishment view tends towards a binary black/white... which seems to exclude large swathes of the Asian continent.” As Kumiko Mendl of Yellow Earth theatre writes: "There is an abundance of talent and experience to be found in the UK, and it's time that the rest of Britain woke up to the diversity of artists and practitioners around them – those that know their Kuan Han-ching as well as their Shakespeare." The seven plays in the anthology are: Bound Feet Blues by Yang Mai Ooi The Last Days of Limehouse by Jeremy Tiang Conversations with my Unknown Mother by Lucy Chai Lai-Tuen Special Occasions by Amy Ng Jamaica Boy by Stephen Hoo Tango by Joel Tan The Fu Manchu Complex by Daniel York Loh "Ooi has some unsettling examples of how, even today in the West, daintiness in a woman is often celebrated and a `beauty is pain' culture still exists." --The Stage "The Last Days of Limehouse is a finely balanced, well-written and superbly acted play that's well worth seeing." **** - --everything theatre "...a devilishly ironic spin on Sax Rohmer's classic novel that will leave you in hysterics...wildly satirical and steeped in sexual innuendo... the atmosphere created on stage is alluring." - --The Upcoming

Download or read book Humour in Chinese Life and Letters written by Jessica Milner Davis and published by Hong Kong University Press. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present study emphasizes Chapter Six of Huai-nan Tzu in expounding the theory of kan-ying STIMULUS-RESPONSE; RESONANCE, which postulates that all things in the universe are interrelated and influence each other according to pre-set patterns.

Download or read book Legacies of the Drunken Master written by Luke White and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2020-04-30 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1978 the films Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master, both starring a young Jackie Chan, caused a stir in the Hong Kong cinema industry and changed the landscape of martial arts cinema. Mixing virtuoso displays of acrobatic kung fu with knockabout humor to huge box office success, they broke the mold of the tragic and heroic martial arts film and sparked not only a wave of imitations, but also a much longer trend for kung fu comedies that continues to the present day. Legacies of the Drunken Master—the first book-length analysis of kung fu comedy—interrogates the politics of the films and their representations of the performing body. It draws on an interdisciplinary engagement with popular culture and an interrogation of the critical literature on Hong Kong and martial arts cinema to offer original readings of key films. These readings pursue the genre in terms of its carnival aesthetic, the utopias of the body it envisions, its highly stylized depictions of violence, its images of masculinity, and the registers of its “hysterical” laughter. The book’s analyses are carried out amidst kung fu comedy’s shifting historical contexts, including the aftermath of the 1960s radical youth movements, the rapidly globalizing colonial enclave of Hong Kong and the emerging consciousness of its 1997 handover to China, and the transnationalization of cinema audiences. It argues that through kung fu comedy’s images of the body, the genre articulated in complex and often contradictory ways political realities relevant to late twentieth-century Hong Kong and the wider conditions of globalized capitalism. The kung fu comedy entwines us in a popular cultural history that stretches into the folk past and forward into utopian and dystopian possibilities. Theoretically rich and critical, Legacies of the Drunken Master aims to be at the forefront of scholarship on martial arts cinema. It also addresses readers with a broader interest in Hong Kong culture and politics during the 1970s and 1980s, postcolonialism in East Asia, and action and comedy films in a global context—as well as those fascinated with the performing body in the martial arts.

Download or read book Performing China on the London Stage written by Ashley Thorpe and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-21 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book details the history of Chinese theatre, and British representations of Chinese theatre, on the London stage over a 250-year period. A wide range of performance case studies – from exhibitions and British Chinese opera inspired theatre, to translations of Chinese plays and visiting troupes – highlight the evolving nature of Sino-British trade, fashion, migration, the formation of diaspora, and international relations. Collectively, they outline the complex relationship between Britain and China – the rise and fall of the British Empire, and the fall and rise of China – as it was played out on the stages of London across three centuries. Drawing extensively upon archival materials and fieldwork research, the book offers new insights for intercultural British theatre in the 21st century – ‘the Asian century’.

Download or read book Beijing Opera Costumes written by Alexandra B Bonds and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-01-17 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture illuminates the links between theatrical attire and social customs and aesthetics of China, covering both the theory and practice of stage dress. Distinguishing attributes include an introduction to the performance style, the delineation of the costume conventions, an analysis of the costumes through their historical precedents and theatrical modifications, and the use of garment shape, color, and embroidery for symbolic effect. Practical information covers dressing the performers and a costume plot, the design and creation of the make-up and hairstyles, and pattern drafts of the major garments. Photographs from live performances, as well as details of embroidery, and close-up photographs of the headdresses thoroughly portray the stunning beauty of this incomparable performance style. Presenting the brilliant colors of the elaborately embroidered silk costumes together with the intricate makeup and glittering headdresses, this volume embodies the elegance of the Beijing opera.

Download or read book Comprehensive Introduction to Chinese Traditional Music written by Yuan Jingfang and published by Hollitzer Wissenschaftsverlag. This book was released on 2023-03-08 with total page 667 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Comprehensive Introduction to Chinese Traditional Music" offers a detailed survey of Chinese traditional music in five chapters, each dealing with a different genre. The five genres are folk songs, dance music, narrative singing, music from Chinese opera, and instrumental music. The book begins with an introduction providing an overview of Chinese traditional music history, its connotations and main musical features, an indispensable context for readers unfamiliar with the subject. Within the main text, the authors discuss not only the local music genres, focusing on instruments, music analysis, and tonal theories, but also the historical evolution, performance, and social contexts associated with the music. A glossary of Chinese musical terms is listed in the appendix.

Download or read book Fighting Stars written by Kyle Barrowman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-09-05 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fighting Stars provides a rich and diverse account of the emergence and legacies of Hong Kong martial arts cinema stars. Tracing the meanings and influence of stars such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi , and Donnie Yen against the shifting backdrops of the Hong Kong film industry, the contributors to this important volume highlight martial arts stars' cultural reach, both on a local and global scale. Each of the chapters, written by a host of renowned international scholars, focuses on an individual film star, considering issues such as martial arts practices and philosophies, gender and age, national identities and conflicts, cinematic genres and aesthetic choices in order to understand their local and transnational cultural influence.

Download or read book The Cinema of Stephen Chow written by Gary Bettinson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-09-05 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth exploration of the stardom and authorship of Stephen Chow Sing-chi, one of Hong Kong cinema's most enduringly popular stars and among its most commercially successful directors. In the West, Stephen Chow is renowned as the ground-breaking director and star of global blockbusters such as Kung Fu Hustle (2004) and Shaolin Soccer (2001). Among Hong Kong audiences, Chow is celebrated as the leading purveyor of local comedy, popularising the so-called mo-lei-tau (“gibberish”) brand of Cantonese vernacular humour, and cultivating a style of madcap comedy that often masks a trenchant social commentary. This volume approaches Chow from a diverse range of critical perspectives. Each of the essays, written by a host of renowned international scholars, offers compelling new interpretations of familiar hits such as From Beijing with Love (1994) and Journey to the West (2013). The detailed case studies of seminal local and global movies provide overdue critical attention to Chow's filmmaking, highlighting the aesthetic power, economic significance, and cultural impact of his films in both domestic and global markets.

Download or read book Women in Traditional Chinese Theater written by Qian Ma and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2012-08-17 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Women in Traditional Chinese Theatre seeks to introduce Western readers to Chinese classical drama as well as investigate how women have traditionally been portrayed on stage by presenting original translations of six plays from the fourteenth to twentieth centuries. Framed with a comprehensive introduction to the Chinese theatre and its representation of women, each play is preceded by an interpretative summary of the plot, and an analysis of each play's theme and significance. The selections in this volume feature women representing the most popular female archetypes in Chinese literature: the paragon of virtue, the stoic sufferer, the faithful wife, the femme fatal, and others. Appealing to both scholars and general enthusiasts of theatre, literature, and women's studies, this book reveals how the cultural constructs of Chinese women are represented in dramatic literature, and how the theatre, in turn, shapes this representation into the cultural perception of women.