CUHK
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Mou Yuandi, the only male actor in Shanghai who performs a female role in “Beijing Opera” and Shen Yili, a famous first class national actress, delivered talks on “Jingkun Opera” at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) yesterday (12 March). About 200 guests were attracted to the event.

This is the first time the two national actors coming to Hong Kong together to share their experiences with “Jingkun Opera” lovers.  Mou Yuandi discussed the techniques and the difficulties in performing female roles in “Beijing Opera” and explained the origin of “Male Dans”. Shen Yili shared her ways of becoming a first class national actress and discussed how “Kungqu” integrates with her life artistically. Their sharing provided another perspective from which the audience could enjoy “Jingkun Opera”.

As one of the first contingent of “Male Dans” trained in China, Mou Yuandi has specialized in performing female roles for 22 years. He has learned to perform different repertoires, such as “Han Ming Fei”, “Mirror of Happiness and Longevity”, “Liang Hongyu”, “The Fall of Green Beads”, “Yu Tang Chun”, “The Showdown at Cuiping Mountain” and “Hong-Ni-Guan”. He became one of the young pioneers of “Male Dans” in “Beijing Opera” due to his handsome appearance, sweet voice, postures and dancing. He has delivered arts talks and conducted exchange activities at Shanghai University, Shanghai Theatre Academy, California State University, the University of California, Los Angeles, Shanghai Oriental Art Centre, the Royal Danish Ballet School and Shanghai Grand Theatre in recent years. When performing “I am Male Dan” at the University of California, Los Angeles, the title of “Outstanding Artist” was conferred on him. He has also visited Turkmenistan, France, Singapore, the US, Denmark, Croatia, Romania, Hong Kong, Macau and etc.

Shen Yili is a renowned “Guimendan actress” (the young and unmarried lady role in “Kunqu Opera”) of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe. She has performed “The Peony Pavilion”, “The Story of the Jade Hairpin”, “The Palace of Eternity Life”, “Riding by the Wall” and “The Legend of the Purple Hairpin” in Kunqu Opera. She has also performed traditional opera excerpts, such as, “Interrupted Dream”, “Looking for Her Dream”, “Making a Marriage Proposal”, “Writing a Poem” and “Drunken Yang Fei”. She has received various awards including the “Kunqu Opera Promotion Award” co-presented by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Ministry of Culture, the “Outstanding Performance Award” at the 1^st Kunqu Arts Festival of China and the “Lead Actor Award” at the 11^th Shanghai White Magnolia Award for Theatrical Art. In 2009, she performed “A Dream in the Peony Garden” with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and achieved great success. She also established “Yili School” and held seminars on “Kunqu Opera” in higher education institutions, libraries and communities in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe and the US. Moreover, she has learnt calligraphy and “Guqin” from several famous teachers.

Lee Woo Sing College’s General Education course on “Kunqu Opera”

Lee Woo Sing College ran the first “Kungqu Opera” courses with credit units in 2014-15. The students learn about the development of the “Kunqu Opera” and its performing format, involving singing, speaking, dance-acting and mouth, hands, eyes, body and steps. The students are given opportunities to perform on the stage. Although the course is run by Lee Woo Sing College, all undergraduate students are welcome to take the course. CUHK postgraduate students, alumni and any interested parties can also sit-in on the class.