On March 24, 2023, the USTB-DMU (De Montfort University) Confucius Institute (CI) and Ms. CHEN Anqi, a student majoring in drama at De Montfort University, held a cultural workshop to experience Chinese Yue Opera. Prof. GU Wei, Director of the CI, some CI teachers and students, students from DMU and some locals participated in the activity.

Group photo of the workshop

Ms. CHEN Anqi is a professional Yue opera actress with rich stage experience. She has good performances in many large-scale Yue opera plays. At the beginning of the workshop, Ms. CHEN first made a brief introduction of the Yue Opera also known as Shaoxing Opera, which is the second-largest local opera in China. Originating in Shengzhou and flourishing in Shanghai, Yue Opera has a history of 117 years, whose style mainly focuses on romantic stories and combines singing, dancing, and acting all together. Afterward, Ms. CHEN introduced some basic knowledge of Yue Opera to give the audience present a more comprehensive understanding of Chinese traditional Yue Opera, such as "four virtues and five methods" and the concepts of "Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, and Chou."

Water-sleeve dance performance by Ms. CHEN

After the introduction, Ms. CHEN sang a clip of the traditional Yue opera "Palms are full of meat" and performed a water-sleeve dance for the guests. Her amazing dancing and singing skills were highly recommended by the audience, who were enthralled by the charm of traditional Chinese drama. They all held up their mobile phones to record or take photos. After the performance, Ms. CHEN and the audience also had a heated discussion on the cultural differences between Chinese and English drama.

At the end of the workshop, a prize-given quiz about Yue Opera was also set up. Through this interactive session, the audience not only deepened their understanding of Chinese traditional culture but also got small gifts with Chinese cultural elements. The scene was very warm and enjoyable.

After the activity, many guests remained reluctant to leave, some discussing related topics on drama with Ms. CHEN while others continued to practice drama movements or put on costumes to take pictures. They all said the event was very interesting and appealing.

The audience experiences the charm of Yue opera

This experience workshop on Yue Opera is the first time for USTB-DMU Confucius Institute to introduce traditional Chinese opera to the campus of DMU. The success of this activity will not only make the cultural activities of the Confucius Institute more diversified but also let more people know the charm of Chinese opera.

Draft: WU Xinwen & ZHANG Dongming

Revision: GU Wei & CHENG Mingyuan