National style artist

Chapter 135 Preparing for the Competition
"The Qingjing Competition..."

Hearing this, Shen Ge was slightly stunned. He still knew something about this competition. The full name of the Qingjing Competition is the National TV Competition for Young Peking Opera Actors. It is a competition jointly sponsored by CCTV and the Chinese Dramatists Association. It is authoritative and valuable. It can be said that it is not high. Almost all of these famous artists who are active in Peking Opera have participated in this competition.

The reason why Shen Ge knew about this competition was not because he knew about it when he was looking up opera materials, but because his master of Yan School, Mr. Yan Xingpeng, was the winner of the first Youth Beijing Competition in 1. Old student group No.[-].

At that time, he relied on the soul-stirring, hundreds of times of "Crouching Dragon Diagnosis", his skills overwhelmed the heroes, and won the number one scholar in Xusheng in one fell swoop!
In addition, there were Guan Guan, Yu Kuizhi, Qi Baoyu, and Du Zhenjie in the old student group at that time.

They all have good abilities. Although the first Youth Beijing Competition was held for the first time, it was a fight between gods. Most of the contestants back then have become famous.

The Qingjing Tournament is held every four years, and then several sessions have been held successively. The first few sessions were very good, and many good seedlings emerged, and they are basically well-known up to now.

But in the next few sessions, it seems that the hips are getting more and more stretched. It is clearly a competition for Peking Opera actors, but the focus is not only on singing and performance, but on the other skills of the actors. The judges are not just scoring. Each one is very talkative.

Under such circumstances, the gold content of the Qingjing competition is getting lower and lower. Thinking about Shen Ge's master Yan Xingpeng's "Crouching Dragon Hanging Filial Piety" back then, no one dared to beat him. question!

However, the No.1 Gold Award in a certain session later attracted doubts from many viewers.As the saying goes, the eyes of the masses are discerning. Everyone knows how well a person sings. Teacher Yan and him are descendants of a family, but they deserve their name in the hearts of everyone. No one doubts it. Therefore, what opera fans look at is not the identity of an opera actor, but his singing skills. This is the essence of Qingjing Competition.

Due to various reasons, the Qingjing Competition was discontinued and was not continued. At this moment, when Shen Ge heard what Master Du Jinfang said, he suddenly asked in doubt: "Master, is it that the Qingjing Competition is going to be held again?" Is it held?"

Master Du Jinfang nodded, "As early as years ago, many people proposed to hold it again, but something happened in the middle, and it has been delayed until now. This matter was just decided a few days ago, and then It should be announced in a few days.”

"Oh."

Shen Ge nodded and said to Master: "Yes!"

Since there is such a platform for him to display his talents, he will naturally not refuse. The Qingjing Competition is a national TV competition for young Peking opera actors. When the time comes, the contestants will come from all over the country. They exchanged ideas among these masters, which was far better than him practicing hard alone.

Now the improvement of his skills is all due to his hard work day after day and the integration of the charm of the Mei school. Although his learning speed is already fast compared with others, Shen Ge still feels dissatisfied. He needs pressure To motivate himself, even by participating in this Youth Beijing Competition, he may have an epiphany or a breakthrough in Peking Opera.

So even if the master didn't tell him, after he learned about it, he would still participate in this youth competition.

Hearing Shen Ge agree to come down, Master Du Jinfang smiled and replied: "Okay, you don't have to worry about this matter, I will sign up for you directly at the next meeting, all you have to do now is to prepare for the competition, Then you can come directly to the competition.”

"Thank you Master!"

Shen Ge said.

Master Du Jinfang smiled: "Why are you polite with your master?"

In the afternoon, it was still Master Du Jinfang who gave Shen Ge a lecture. At the same time, he also told him some interesting things and points to pay attention to when the Youth Competitions were held. After all, the players participating in the competition came from all over the country. His talent can already be regarded as extraordinary and outstanding, but maybe an unworldly evildoer will come out of some deep mountain and old forest, so he should be fully prepared.

After studying with Master Du Jinfang for another day, Shen Ge said goodbye to her on Monday and went back to Chuzhou. During the two days in the capital, he did not tell Bai Huawei and Su Lin that he had come. , because he only had two days, and he still had to study with his master, even if he told them the news, he still couldn't find time to play with them.

However, the contact with them has not been broken. According to Su Lin, after the performance at the People's Theater, people in the Kunqu opera circle in Beijing released the news, and now there are theaters in other provinces showing their excellent The young actors recommended to come and choose to participate in the performance of "Legend of the White Snake", and even feel a little bit like the Qingjing competition.

Of course, the Kunqu Opera Research Institute convened excellent Kunqu opera performers from all provinces across the country not for the competition, but for performing "Legend of the White Snake" on the stage. Compared with the Qingjing Competition planned and held by various national units, the scale is naturally not so huge And grand.

Su Lin also told him that it won't be long before the casting of "Legend of the White Snake" will be finalized. Although there are a lot of Kunqu opera actors in the country, there are only a few characters in this play, so the casting is still very fast. Yes, plus these Kunqu opera actors are so good, it takes about a month to actually put the whole "Legend of the White Snake" on stage.

Congratulations to Shen Ge for this, the Qingjing competition is about to start now, he still has to put his heart on this, just learn Kunqu opera slowly.

He guessed that people like Su Lin didn't know about the Qingjing competition, but he didn't tell him, because he was busy with "Legend of the White Snake" recently, so he definitely didn't have time to participate in the Qingjing competition.

What's more, although the saying goes well that Beijing and Kunqu are not separated, in fact there is still a difference. Since the Qingjing Competition is called the Qingjing Competition, there will be no Kunqu opera on the stage, even if there are Kunqu opera performers. However, he also participated in performing Peking Opera as a Peking Opera actor.

So Shen Ge knew that Su Lin specialized in Kunqu opera and didn't know much about Beijing opera. Even if he participated in the Qingjing competition with his own foundation, compared with a bunch of professional Peking opera actors, he would definitely fall behind, and there was no need to participate. Li Ying, on the other hand, can let her participate in the competition.

Master Chen had long planned to send her out to see the world and study. Having such an opportunity would help her immeasurably. Even if she did not win the award in the end, it would benefit her a lot.

This point is the same as Shen Ge's thoughts, and Qingjing Saili is not only young opera actors, but also many well-known seniors. They are watching on the spot. If they can be valued by them, they can be given a few pointers. That shows that the Qingjing competition this time was not in vain.

So when he returned to Chuzhou and came to Tianyuan Theater, he told Master Chen and Li Ying what he thought in his heart.

"National TV Competition for Young Peking Opera Actors..."

After hearing his words, Li Ying did not speak, but looked at Master Chen beside him.

Master Chen nodded slowly: "You can let Xiaoying try it!"

As an old man in the opera world, Master Chen must have known about the Qingjing Competition. Shen Ge was also a little curious about whether he had participated in this competition back then, but he didn't gossip directly to ask Master Chen.

"it is good!"

Hearing Master nodded in agreement, Li Ying looked at Shen Ge and asked, "When will the Qingjing Competition start? You should prepare in advance now."

"Yes."

Shen Ge nodded: "I don't know the exact time right now, the news will be announced in a few days, and I'll know when the time comes, so it's time to prepare now!"

"it is good!"

Li Ying smiled lively, "Then I have to prepare well and get enough energy to go to the battlefield. I will definitely not embarrass you, Master, as an old man. I will try to win you a championship, and let Peking opera actors and actresses from all over the country win the championship." Movie fans know that although our Tianyuan Theater is only a small theater, it is still very powerful!"

"Hahaha, then I'm optimistic about it!"

Master Chen smiled and said, "If you don't bring back a championship for Master, then your salary will be deducted."

"what……"

Li Ying was taken aback for a moment, and hurriedly said: "Master, this is not acceptable, one size is equal to one size, besides...the contestants participating in this competition come from all over the country, and there are too many good people. Even if I have confidence, But it may not necessarily be better than others, right?"

"Didn't you participate with Shen Ge? If you can't beat yourself, you can call Shen Ge together. Two people fight together. Unless the opponent is a martial artist, otherwise, two people can't beat one!"

Hearing this, Li Ying stomped her feet lightly: "Master, what are you talking about!"

"Okay, okay, I'm not joking with you."

Only then did Master Chen put away the smirk on his face, and said seriously: "Several old friends invited me to participate in this youth competition, but I didn't go. I heard that after a few sessions, I would not do it. Now, it seems that it should be restarted again."

"However, this should be the case. With the development of the times, compared with the past, today's opera world has not advanced at all, and has even retreated more and more. It is good to hold more such competitions and programs, at least let them The water has become active, but I just hope that the ratings will not be so casual like in the next few sessions."

"The performance setting is simple, a table, a chair, this is a room or a court, or put a pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the table, add a few books, well, this is a study room, that's all. That’s all! All the skills of our Peking opera actors are in singing and acting, so what are the other messy and gaudy selection requirements?”

Master Chen seemed to be equally dissatisfied with the holding of the Qingjing competition later, "Then the artists who ran all over the rivers and lakes performed all over the place, some of them didn't even have a stage, let alone a speaker microphone, and they sang with their own fleshy voice, The acting is all about the body."

"There is nothing in the big open-air venue. Cailizixing, Guzixing, and Tuanchun are all together. Why should the audience watch your performance? It's not a person's true ability!"

Hearing this, Shen Ge and Li Ying both nodded. In the previous era, the famous big actors were all those who could support an entire theater troupe in a stable manner, and most of them were like Master Chen who worked with the opera troupe. Compared with the fixed theater troupe, the artists who run the rivers and lakes together with the troupe have much simpler performance venues. Except for the most expensive set of eating guys, the others use whatever they go, and the set is simple. Therefore, what the audience listens to and watches is all focused on the actors, and the scenes described in the play are all performed by the actors themselves.

And as Master Chen said, the performance props of Peking Opera are simple, especially in Master Mei Lanfang's version of "The Drunken Concubine". There are fixed movements, allowing the audience to transform from listening to the play to watching the play. This adaptation makes Yang Yuhuan's performance in the Baihua Pavilion so vivid and vivid!
For example, climb the bridge and lean on the railing, then watch the mandarin ducks play in the water, and the golden carp swim in the water, and then go down the bridge to watch the geese flying in the sky.

"Lean on the jade bridge and lean on the railing,"

"Mandarin ducks come to play in the water."

"Golden carp facing the water,"

"Ah, facing the water,"

"The geese in the sky, the geese fly..."

"Leaning", the right hand brushes the water sleeve back on the right side of the chest, and then "leaves the railing", opens the fan with the left hand, raises the sleeve with the right hand, "mandarin ducks come to play in the water", covers the fan with the left hand and turns right, raises the sleeve with the left hand, Hold a folding fan in your right hand and sing "Golden Carp", "on the water" fan your right hand, spread your hands, "towards" hold a fan in your right hand, cover your face with the fan in your left hand and turn to the left, "ah", fold the fan together, "the water is facing", the right hand The folding fan acted like stirring water, then pointed to the right, and walked down the bridge.

"Sky", take a step to the left, "Goose" turns around, puts his right hand behind his back, and puts his left hand in front of his chest, "Yaner Fei", turns around again...

These simple lyrics contain so many movements. When performing Peking Opera, it is impossible to really install a bridge on the stage, dig a lake, and put mandarin ducks, golden carp and flying geese on it. All these actions of Concubine Yang made the scene she saw come alive before the eyes of the audience.

At the beginning, the judges of the Qingjing Competition didn’t consider these things. Instead, they judged the contestants based on their comprehensive skills. Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse? I’m an opera singer, and you ask me if I can repair cars, and let me show it off The wrench on his body, what does this mean? Could it be that this is a bonus item...

As for some other things, Shen Ge didn't want to think deeply about them. After all, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and there are people with sophistication, and the judges are also people. It is impossible that the factors of the contestants will not affect their judgments. What to say, still the same sentence, the eyes of the masses are discerning, and the hearts of movie fans are clear about a person's strength.

(End of this chapter)