Peking Opera
Acting and Pantomime
Acting in Peking opera is almost indistinguishable from dance and pantomime. Generally, all movement follows precise choreography which is intricately connected to the musical score.
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scene from Murder of A Concubine [click to enlarge]
The movement of performers is therefore termed as "stylized," because it adheres to the conventions of the art form. Like a ballet dancer, the Peking opera performer is in control of every muscle. He is required to learn to replicate the steps and gestures of his role exactly as prescribed before he consider how to interpret the role for himself. Similar to other classical traditions in world culture, such as western ballet or Indian khatakali or bharatnatyam, the training is strict and rigorous. But there is flexibility in how a performer interprets the prescribed elements and learned vocabulary.
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Click on the video to the right to watch as Master SONG Chang Rong demonstrates how a young maiden (hua dan) moves according to the Xun style of acting (more about the different schools of Peking opera on the voice page). In this clip, Master SONG plays a young maid from the famous opera, The Red Maid, who remarks to the audience on the sunken cheeks of the love-starved young scholar whose longing for his lover has caused him to lose his appetite. The first gesture refers to a "fire stick," meaning that the young scholar's face looks as dried-out and scrawny as a twig that one might use to start a fire. Next, the maid points out that her mistress, the scholar's lover, has also been sick with worry, gesturing at a pair of furrowed brows.
The second video on the left shows an excerpt from a performance of The Red Maid by Master SONG. Watch as he uses the same sequence of gestures seen in the last video. The maid finishes by declaring herself on the side of the lovers. To heck with the household rules, she cries, I am allowing these two to be reunited like fish to water. Note the use of the watersleeves to depict the fish and water.
As with the make-up of different characters, the stylized movement in Peking opera is frequently symbolic. What different movements symbolize depend on the convention that has been passed down over the years and internalized (or learned online, as the case may be) by the audience. One convention has the performer walk around the stage in a large circle. After he traced several large circles by foot, the common understanding is that the character has travelled a great distance - the more circles, the farther the distance he has covered.
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Watch in this next video as Master Song demonstrates how to open and close a pair of doors in Peking opera.