Huangmei Opera is a local opera. Compared with the quintessence of Beijing Opera, what are the advantages of Huangmei Opera?

The performance of Huangmei opera-a dynamic performance personality that never forms.

After taking care of and combing the performance art of Huangmei Opera, we can't help but marvel at the performance personality of Huangmei Opera: it turns out that this is a flexible, young and mobile performance art. Forever Invisible shows the enterprising spirit of Huangmei Opera, which is good at learning, learning from others, being brave in innovation and leading the way. In the evolution of the relationship between stylization and non-stylization, virtual and non-virtual, we can appreciate the unique dynamic performance personality of Huangmei Opera.

1. There is a program but no program.

We are no strangers to procedures. I remember Mr. A Jia, a famous dramatist, said, "The program is the synthesis of China's traditional opera art". As a member of China's traditional opera family, Huangmei Opera certainly has programs.

The performances of Huangmei Opera are generally influenced by Peking Opera programs. According to the China Opera Anhui Volume:

Around 1930, individual Huangmei clubs in Anqing "began to experiment with singing and recitation methods of Peking Opera, or used Beijing erhu as an excuse to learn Peking Opera makeup and Baotou". It can be seen that Beijing opera programs have a deep influence on the early performances of Huangmei Opera. In addition, the early Huangmei opera actors took to the stage after carefully pondering and observing the familiar and common actions in life. Once they were recognized by the audience and accepted by their peers, they spread and became the performances of this drama, such as going upstairs, downstairs, opening doors, closing doors, pushing carts, walking, carrying water, spinning, etc ... Compared with the elegance of Beijing opera, Huangmei's performances are naive and clumsy.

However, the early Huangmei Opera was just a local opera in a corner. Its performance groups are generally rural semi-professional clubs, and the actors are mostly farmers and urban and rural craftsmen. The methods of learning drama are generally taught by the master, and the performances are all local life dramas such as "playing pig grass" and "husband and wife watching lights". Such conditions determine that Huangmei Opera can't be performed like Beijing Opera, and the unique life and local flavor of the opera determine that Huangmei Opera can only take the road of non-stylized performance.

The so-called "non-stylized" performance is not the absence of programs, but the flexible use of programs, according to the performance content to choose the norms and constraints of performance programs. Those who have seen Female Xu are deeply impressed by the performance of No.1 Scholar. When Yan Fengying performed this play, he combined the language arts of Peking Opera, pendant and Huangmei Opera, so that "Bai Yun" and "Nianbai" had both the rhythm of Peking Opera and the characteristics of Anqing dialect. When she sang "Who expected to be the No.1 Scholar in the Imperial Examination", she changed to Anqing Mandarin, which highlighted the characteristics of Anqing dialect, and the rhyme, singing and singing were unified and harmonious. In singing, she also used performances such as whole hat, swinging sleeves and small steps according to the content, just like a gentle new champion. Sometimes, she occasionally takes a step, rolls her eyes and smiles, showing that she is a lively girl. It is not difficult to see that although these programs are not as standardized as Beijing Opera, Yan Fengying is not subject to the norms and restrictions of these programs. If the existing programs (mainly the Peking Opera programs absorbed by Huangmei Opera) are not enough, that is, there are no ready-made programs suitable for Huangmei Opera performance, other programs must be created and used, because the so-called programs performed by Huangmei Opera are not static and unchangeable, but are always in a fluid and dynamic development. The reason why Huangmei looks young and lively is called "the culture of youth". In fact, it is closely related to her rich absorption and stylized performance rather than stylized. For example, when "Ma Xu" was made into a movie on 1959, director Liu Qiong instructed Yan Fengying, the leading actor, to learn the performance of the play, and found the "highest task" and "running action" of the whole play, asking him to do it with his heart, and there should be no "blank" in his mind. During the filming of Cowherd and Weaver Girl 1963, director Cenfan asked to read Goddess Fu and Luoshen Fu, and asked Kunqu teacher Fang to design dance movements for her, trying to show the fairy talent of Weaver Girl, which is "beautiful as a rainbow, graceful and graceful". Similar methods of reference and borrowing are common in Huangmei Opera performances. Especially with the increase of modern opera performances, old programs become more and more embarrassing, forcing Huangmei opera to proceed from reality and constantly learn and innovate. Its performances are also changing with each passing day, and the characteristics of non-stylized performances are clearly visible.

Another obvious feature of the non-stylized performance of Huangmei Opera is the vague division of industries. Huangmei Opera was divided into two plays, three plays and even a one-man show in its early stage due to its congenital deficiency. Actors pay attention to "one line, any line will do." In the modern and contemporary performances of Huangmei Opera, this kind of performance is even more vivid and brilliant. Fuzzy business division has greatly developed the performance potential of Huangmei opera actors, and also made Huangmei opera performance more suitable for the tastes of the times and young audiences than other ancient operas.

The non-stylization of Huangmei opera performance is also reflected in the actors' different performances of the same drama. For example, they are also performing a little play "Couples Watching Lights". Ma Lan and Huang Xinde will not perform like their predecessors Yan Fengying and Wang Shaofang. Ma Lan and Huang Xinde's "Couples Watching Lights" appropriately introduced modern ballet and folk dance techniques due to different times. With modern consciousness, they turned the gesture of imitating lanterns into dance vocabulary, which not only enlivened the stage atmosphere, but also improved the expressive force of Huangmei Opera. However, Yan Fengying and Wang Shaofang's "husband and wife watching the lights" were more characteristic of the times at that time. Huangmei opera actors' interpretation of the same play in different periods has obvious times and personal colors, which is different from Beijing opera. Beijing opera and programs are matched with Jackie Chan. If a link changes, it will attract the audience's dissatisfaction. Actors in any era must follow the rules and perform the same play according to strict procedures. Huangmei Opera has no routines and genres, and the limited programs are full of flexibility. In addition, the non-stylized performance characteristics of Huangmei Opera are mainly singing, supplemented by singing and dancing, which we have all known before, so I will repeat here.

2. It is virtual, not virtual.

The virtual performance characteristics of China traditional operas are also reflected in Huangmei Opera. As a branch of traditional Chinese opera, the virtual performance techniques in Huangmei Opera still occupy a considerable proportion. However, the performance personality of Huangmei Opera is empty but not empty. Also known as "virtual reality", that is, using virtual actions to express real situations and emotions. This performance personality is based on at least two foundations: one is the virtualization of performance actions, and the other is the non-virtualization of performance content, that is, the reality. Virtual performance is only a means and method, and the non-virtual reproduction of true feelings is the end result. It can be seen that the non-virtual performance of Huangmei Opera is characterized by the style of "respecting truth", and the so-called non-virtual performance is another name for real performance.

Art is a reflection of life, and whether it can truly reflect the true nature of life has become an important determinant to measure whether works of art can give people a sense of beauty. Aristotle, an ancient Greek aesthete, attributed the origin of art to the nature of human imitation, and pointed out: "Experience has proved that although things themselves seem to cause pain, vivid images seem to arouse our pleasure." /kloc-boileau, a French classical theorist in the 7th century, emphasized the role of truth in beauty: "Only truth is beautiful and only truth is lovely; It really should rule everything. " Li Yu, a drama theorist in the Qing Dynasty, also said: "The dragon is the dragon and the tiger is the tiger, which makes people laugh and shame. If you don't put yourself in the shoes, it will look cool and praise. " In other words, the truth of art comes from the refining and processing of life. When it is restored to the recipient, it must conform to the true nature of life in order to give people a good feeling and a good pleasure.

The tradition of "respecting truth" in Huangmei opera performance is actually determined by the specific cultural soil it formed. From the artistic origin, the early Huangmei originated from folk songs and dances, and its living soil was the countryside. Its performers and audience are farmers and craftsmen, commonly known as "craftsmen". Therefore, without the care of the literati, it is difficult to climb the kinship with the traditional drama. The only thing that the members of the semi-professional club can cheer the audience in their performances is the true representation of life: "At that time, Huangmei artists had to turn to life for help, put their main energy into observing and simulating the movements in life, and put them on the stage with virtual performances. If you open the door, carefully distinguish the doors of double doors, single doors, tall buildings and cold sheds, and let the audience move in people's hands, just like the real thing, which is authentic. " So the more detailed the performance, the more in line with the real face of life, the more real. In this way, over time, it has cultivated the audience's aesthetic vision and taste of seeking truth from the performing arts of Huangmei Opera, and the audience's aesthetic habit of being more realistic in turn has prompted the actors to be more realistic in their performances.

In the process of seeking truth, Huangmei Opera constantly refines actions from life and transforms them into stage performances, forming some traditional performances such as cart, grinding, sailing and spinning. When Wang Shaofang and some other Beijing actors appeared on the show. However, on the basis of virtualization, the performance of Huangmei Opera has broken through the shackles of programs, taking the real reproduction of life as the starting point and using programs to make it flexible, smooth, smart and natural. Huangmei Opera artists, represented by Yan Fengying and Wang Shaofang, have further improved the performance characteristics of Huangmei Opera on the basis of truly recreating the details of Huangmei Opera's life, that is, truly expressing the characters' personalities, thoughts and feelings. For example, Yan Fengying and Wang Shaofang play "Lu Yu" in "The Fairy Couple", but in the virtual environment, the performance is non-stylized and non-virtual. In order to express the character and mood of the Seven Fairies, when singing the sentence "I am willing to marry you", Yan Fengying handled it like this: "At first, I performed in a normal" lady "way, and the index fingers of both hands compared Yong Dong to" pairing "and bowed my head shyly. This kind of performance can be done not only here, but also in other plays, but it is too literary for the seven fairies. A village girl will be much braver if she really falls in love with a young man. I remember when I was a child, many old people in the village called their girls' shameless'. In fact, they are all very capable sisters, but they didn't follow the rules of the elderly, but chose the object according to their own wishes. I think the seven fairies are such brave people. I, a fairy, should boldly tell Yong Dong the truth, so I must seize the opportunity, or what shall I do if he runs away? As for my magic, I didn't think much. I'll tell him as soon as possible that I'd rather have no wife. I made up my mind and said so. So I stared at him and said,' I will marry you'. It's really brave to say' I want to marry you' on the clear sky avenue, but after all, she is a big girl and bowed her head in shame. Of course, rural girls are not as pretentious as prostitutes, but they are not shameless. " When dealing with this performance, Yan Fengying, based on his own analysis and understanding of the characters, started from the characters' personalities, broke through the program, restored his life, and created a vivid image of the "Seven Fairies" with flesh and blood, personality, affection and righteousness. Here, the virtual performance forms show the characters and inner feelings of non-virtual and real people.

Among the performance elements of Huangmei Opera, such as singing, reading, doing and dancing, doing work is the best performance material that can best reflect the emptiness and non-emptiness. Both the early Huangmei Opera art and the modern and contemporary Huangmei Opera performance artists have performed well. According to Mr. Lu's introduction in The Origin of Huangmei Opera, the early art of Huangmei Opera was very wonderful in the section of "drying clothes in a hut" in the traditional Huangmei Opera "The Grape Shelf": a kind woman escaped from a bully's house and lived in a hut. She happened to be visited by an anonymous inspector from seven provinces to shelter from the rain, and Shen Xiuying made a fire to dry clothes for the guests. The performance of predecessors' art is as follows: first, take out flint and flint (flint, flint and paper media were used as lighting tools at that time), then take out the paper media from the paper media cylinder, press the paper media on the flint, hit it with flint, and then gently fan it in the wind to fan the sparks on the paper media and blow the paper media to light firewood. As soon as she touched it, the firewood was wet by the rain and it was not easy to ignite, so she lifted her skirt and fanned it gently. First, the fan is straight, because the cabin is small and afraid of smoking guests, so the fan is tilted. As a result, I took a blink of an eye, rubbed my eyes, and then fanned the cigarette sideways, trying to get rid of it ... This series of meticulous performances, which have no physical objects, all depend on the actors' movements, just like a drama that trains actors to sketch in non-physical objects, all rely on the actors' hands, eyes and shapes to express everything, without saying a word, all rely on work. However, due to the real and meticulous work of the actors, the situation created for the audience is real and visible. The audience seems to be able to see the direction of the smoke, but also can see Shen Xiuying's kind character of hospitality and consideration for others. After this series of virtual performances, the audience saw a real person with flesh and blood. In other words, the virtual performance of Huangmei Opera is only a means, and its purpose is still to achieve the authenticity and credibility of the performance content, that is, to express the non-virtual real situation with the virtual performance form as the carrier.

The fictional performance personality of Huangmei Opera is the need to pursue truth, respect truth, express life and reproduce life, and it is also the fundamental reason why Huangmei Opera is full of life flavor and enduring. As early as the "Second Play" and "Third Play" of Huangmei Opera, because the content of the performance at that time was mainly a "modern play" showing the daily life and labor fragments of rural farmers or other manual workers, there was no tradition in the performance, so the performers had no choice but to turn to real life, simulate life actions by carefully trying to figure out many details in daily life, and express and reproduce life in combination with reality. The tradition and form of this performance are still preserved at the present stage of Huangmei Opera and after the founding of New China. For example, Yan Fengying's performance of Lan in "Blue Bridge Pumping" was praised by Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang: "This is a good idea." Yan Fengying performed this in the play: In this play, a big white belt replaced the shoulder pole and bucket, and it was also used as a well rope when drawing water by the well. Lan gently put the well rope and bucket into the well, then pulled the well rope up one by one, and lifted the bucket up and put it on the edge of the well. She was sweating with a bucket of water and felt a little tired, so she took a break to catch her breath, lifted her skirt and fanned it gently. At the same time, she sang "Yu Lian picked up that bucket of water and my legs were sore" and "I didn't have a cooling fan in my hand, so I untied the ring (buckle) and fanned it to cool down" with beautiful "color cavity" and "pumping water". Here, in Yan Fengying's virtual performance, a soft white ribbon turns into a pole, a bucket and a well rope. Combined with the extremely delicate life movements, the audience can see the real life, the idyllic life picture and the rich life atmosphere.

The non-virtual performance personality of Huangmei Opera is also manifested in the artistic treatment of real life, that is, on the basis of truth and respect, it also requires beauty and beauty, which is generally said to be "from life, but higher than life". For example, carts are a common program in Huangmei Opera. When performing, you should conform to the rules of the cart and act beautifully. Similarly, Huangmei opera is to show a series of rotating operations through delicate movements, so that people can see that. According to an old Huangmei Opera artist, "According to the original way of life, grandma couldn't spin money well and couldn't think of beating gongs and drums." I threw away trivial things and exaggerated the main movements, making them both like rotation and better than real rotation. "This is the real taste of Huangmei Opera, with virtual rather than virtual performance personality.

Excerpt from General Theory of Huangmei Opera