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 This assertion is evaluated through an analysis of historical documents and translated play texts, fieldwork research, and from the perspectives of ethnomusicology and anthropology.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 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 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 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 682 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 Economy of Identities in Traditional Chinese Theatre written by Ágota Révész and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
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 494 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 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 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 A History of Chinese Theatre in the 20th Century II written by Fu Jin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 20th century was a dynamic period for the theatrical arts in China. Booming urban theatres, the interaction between commercial practice and theatre, dramas staged during the War of Resistance against Japan and a healthy dialogue between Western and Eastern theatres all contributed to the momentousness of this period. The four volumes of A History of Chinese Theatre in the 20th Century display the developmental trajectories of Chinese theatre over those 100 years. This volume deals with the development of Chinese theatre from 1949 to 2000, covering the fluctuations of 'drama reform', spectacles of the 'Cultural Revolution', and theatre in the immediate years before the opening up of the country. The author demonstrates how Chinese dramatic traditions endured and adapted in the face of modernity and how politics and art interacted. By combining academic rigour with a high degree of readability, this volume is both an essential guide for scholars and students in the history of the arts and general readers interested in Chinese theatre.
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 Who s Who in Research Performing Arts written by Intellect Books and published by Intellect Books. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increasingly, academic communities transcend national boundaries. “Collaboration between researchers across space is clearly increasing, as well as being increasingly sought after,” noted the online magazine Inside Higher Ed in a recent article about research in the social sciences and humanities. Even for those scholars who don’t work directly with international colleagues, staying up-to-date and relevant requires keeping up with international currents of thought in one’s field. But when one’s colleagues span the globe, it’s not always easy to keep track of who’s who—or what kind of research they’re conducting. That’s where Intellect’s new series comes in. A set of worldwide guides to leading academics—and their work—across the arts and humanities, Who’s Who in Research features comprehensive profiles of scholars in the areas of cultural studies, film studies, media studies, performing arts, and visual arts. Who's Who in Research: Performing Arts includes concise yet detailed listings include each academic’s name, institution, biography, and current research interests, as well as bibliographic information and a list of articles published in Intellect journals. The volumes in the Who’s Who in Research series will be updated each year, providing the most current information on the foremost thinkers in academia and making them an invaluable resource for scholars, hiring committees, academic libraries, and would-be collaborators across the arts and humanities.
Download or read book Chinese Theatre An Illustrated History Through Nuoxi and Mulianxi written by Xiaohuan Zhao and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-12-30 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chinese Theatre: An Illustrated History Through Nuoxi and Mulianxi is the first book in any language entirely devoted to a historical inquiry into Chinese theatre through Nuoxi and Mulianxi, the two most representative and predominant forms of Chinese temple theatre. Volume Two is a continuation of the historical inquiry into Chinese theatre with focus shifted from Mulian storytelling to Mulian story-acting. Thus, this volume traces the historical trajectory of xiqu from Northern dramas to Southern dramas and from elite court theatre to mass regional theatre with pivotal forms and functions of Mulianxi examined, explicated and illustrated in association with the development of corresponding genres of xiqu. In so doing, every aspect of Mulianxi is considered not in the margins of xiqu but in and of itself. While this volume is primarily concerned with Mulianxi, references are also made to other forms of Chinese performing arts and temple theatre, Nuoxi in particular, as Mulianxi has been performed since the twelfth century as, or in company with, Nuoxi, to cleanse the community of evil spirits and epidemic diseases. This is an interdisciplinary book project that is aimed to help researchers and students of theatre history understand the ritual origins of Chinese theatre and the dynamic relationships among myth, ritual, religion and theatre.
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 Golden Age of Chinese Drama written by Chung-wen Shih and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-08 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 171 extant plays of the Yuan period (1279-1368) are the oldest and most brilliant examples of Chinese dramatic literature. In this first comprehensive study, Chung-wen Shih systematically explores the riches of Yuan drama, from its unexcelled lyric poetry to its colorful characterization. After tracing the popular genres that contributed to the flowering of Yuan drama, the author describes conventional features of dramatic construction, methods of characterization, and recurring themes. The central focus is on the use of language: prose passages and lyrics are cited to show how innovative use of spoken language invests the prose with a remarkable strength and suppleness, and how imaginative use of figurative language endows the poetry with an incomparable richness of texture. Attention is also given to the use of music and physical aspects of staging. Originally published in 1976. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Download or read book Traditional Chinese Plays written by and published by Univ of Wisconsin Press. This book was released on 1967 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world of traditional Chinese drama can be at once fascinating and bewildering to the uninitiated Western observer. Attuned to his own dramatic conventions, he is hard put to apprehend the delicate fusion of poetry, music, and subtle gesture which is the essence of Chinese theatre. Because of these difficulties, the task of translating traditional Chinese drama must go far beyond the conventional literary treatment and evoke the entire world of stagecraft and directing. Longing for Worldly Pleasures (Ssu Fan) is a lyric monologue in which a young Buddhist laments the waning of her youth in the seclusion of the convent. The brief piece involves a complexity of mood which makes it an actor's tour de force, undertaken only by the most highly skilled performers. Fifteen Strings of Cash (Shih Wu Kuan), a much longer play, is a comic murder mystery satirizing bureaucratic ineptitude in the administration of justice. The comic lead role of Lou the Rat is a virtuoso part which illustrates the intricate mimetic art of the traditional comic actor and was the play's main appeal to Chinese audiences.
Download or read book Chinese Traditional Theatre and Male Dan written by Guo Chao and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-01-31 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines male dan, a male actor who performs female roles in Chinese theatre. Through the rise, fall and tenuous survival of male dan in Chinese history, Guo Chao reflects the transformations in the social zeitgeist in China, especially the politics of gender and sexuality. The breadth of this study reflects a diversified set of sources, ranging from classical to contemporary texts (texts of jingju plays, memoirs, collections of notation books) and other commentaries and critical evaluations of dan actors (in both English and Chinese languages) to video and audio materials, films and personal interviews. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of East Asian/Chinese studies across the fields of theatre, history, culture and literature.
Download or read book Re playing Shakespeare in Asia written by Poonam Trivedi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-01-31 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this critical volume, leading scholars in the field examine the performance of Shakespeare in Asia. Emerging out of the view that it is in "play" or performance, and particularly in intercultural / multicultural performance, that the cutting edge of Shakespeare studies is to be found, the essays in this volume pay close attention to the modes of transference of the language of the text into the alternative languages of Asian theatres; to the history and politics of the performance of Shakespeare in key locations in Asia; to the new Asian experimentation with indigenous forms via Shakespeare and the consequent revitalizing and revising of the traditional boundaries of genre and gender; and to Shakespeare as a cultural capital world wide. Focusing specifically on the work of major directors in the central and emerging areas of Asia – Japan, China, India, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines - the chapters in this volume encompass a broader and more representative swath of Asian performances and locations in one book than has been attempted till now.
