Breathing New Life Into an Ancient Art Form

One of China's oldest art forms, Cantonese Opera, is being introduced to a new generation of youngsters.

Cantonese opera may not be generally associated with schoolchildren, but a new project to encourage young people to appreciate the ancient art form has met with an enthusiastic response in several schools across Hong Kong.

Over the past two years hundreds of students have taken part in a pilot scheme to incorporate Cantonese opera into the formal curriculum. Initially, four secondary schools signed up for the project, but this year that has increased to seven, with plans to include another three schools in the coming academic year. The aim is to promote one of the world's oldest forms of Chinese opera to a new generation.

The brainchild of Dr Ng Fung Ping, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the ‘Integrated Cantonese Opera in Education' project is taking advantage of the new senior secondary curriculum to integrate Cantonese Opera into Chinese Language classes.

Ng said: "We started in 2006 after a number of Cantonese opera stars alerted us to the fact that interest in Cantonese opera was waning. They said audience numbers were dwindling and there were very few new opera singers coming through. They urged us to do something in schools to prevent this art form from disappearing altogether."

"Sadly, Cantonese opera is no longer a profession that young people choose to join. We put this down to them being more interested in television and cinema than in going to the theatre, and so they are less aware of this part of their culture. Also Cantonese opera, from the point of view of the professional performer, is very difficult to learn, it takes many years of dedicated practice - it can take up to 20 years of stage performances to perfect it."

The opera is thought to date back to the Song Dynasty of the 12th century and involves music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics and acting. It has remained popular with older generations in southern China and, in Hong Kong, can still be viewed in the traditional outdoor ‘bamboo temporary theatres' on outlying islands and small towns in the New Territories.

Initially introduced to junior secondary school students, Ng is now preparing for the new senior secondary curriculum. "This has given us a window of opportunity. We are very lucky that at this moment the schools are planning an educational reform. Without it our project would not be possible."

Ng's scheme has developed courses to train teachers and establish a school-based evaluation system to ensure that the opera is taught as part of the formal syllabus rather than as an extra-curricula activity. This is more likely to ensure that it is taken seriously as a study option. The elective module will include 28 contact hours, 35-40 lessons, all of which are being designed and prepared by Ng and her team. They are also training the teachers.

As part of the project, which comes under the auspices of HKU's Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research, opera stars and scriptwriters have also been drafted in to give talks in the classroom, and professional actors have toured the schools giving performances.

Students have also had the opportunity to attend opera performances, and have been invited back stage to watch the performers prepare. The response from schools has been very encouraging with students keen, not only to study the scripts, but to take to the stage themselves.

"Traditionally, Cantonese opera was only taught in occasional music lessons," explained Ng. "Most artists that we see today came to opera through extra-curricula activities or through the Academy of Performing Arts programmes. Our challenge has been to integrate Cantonese opera into the formal school curriculum. There is more to Cantonese opera than just the music, it has a strong basis in traditional Chinese literature, the Cantonese dialect and dance.

"The feedback has been beyond our expectations. Students at some schools have even been composing their own poetry, inspired by the ancient scripts. They have also been learning how to perform, master the movements, the formulae for expressing themselves and how to sing and apply the make-up.

"They have also learned how to move while wearing the costumes. This is very important as these costumes are very, very heavy. The students have now come to appreciate the skills and strength required for acting and conducting martial arts while weighed down by such heavy costumes," said Ng.

Funding for the project has come from various private donations, including the Yam Pak Charitable Foundation and the Cantonese Opera Development Fund. It was these charities that inspired Ng and her team to launch the project.

"Many of the plots are based on Chinese historical events and Chinese classic literature and mythology, and apart from increasing students' interest in opera, the scripts are also used to improve their writing skills. So, putting Cantonese opera into Chinese language education is very natural," she said.

While delighted with the initial response the project has not been without its challenges for Ng and her team. "It has demanded a lot of resources," she said. "It's not just a matter of sitting in a classroom with paper and pen, we have had to get a lot of performing artists involved. We have to work very closely with these people.

"We also have to work closely with the Home Affairs Bureau which has provided subsidies and grants and also work together with the teachers and the schools." But, despite the intense competition that opera faces from different media today Ng is passionate about preserving this part of the Cantonese heritage. "A common problem in Hong Kong, at the moment, is a lack of educational emphasis on the arts in general, whether it's drama, music or any of the performing arts," she said. "There is very little funding for this, and for Cantonese opera in particular. We are worried that unless we do something this ancient art will die."

But with Ng's infectious enthusiasm and determination to make a difference there seems very little chance of that happening just yet.