A night at the (Cantonese) opera

[imomus]

Click the picture to see a short video clip of the opera (4.46 MB AVI, 8 secs).

And here's a little audio taste of the music. Cantonese Opera mp3 (3.56MB mono mp3, 7.46 minutes)

Comments

[maybeimdead.livejournal.com]

oh wow, Momus at canto-opera. From what I know of it, Cantonese Opera is a low-brow art form modified from Peking Opera by the Cantonese to send messages rebellion and revolt during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. By virtue of their historical distance from the ruling classes, the Cantonese have always been the subversive ones. Was it subversive to you?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

I certainly picked up on the lowbrow element; just as I went to kabuki expecting to see something more like Noh, I went to Cantonese opera expecting Beijing opera. I'm always looking for something otherworldy and austere, and getting something populist. That's because the austere forms, like Beijing opera and Noh, were court forms, and can't really thrive where there's no imperial court or monarchy. Tourists and locals don't want to sit through three hours of strange gesticulation from men in whiteface. I do. Does that make me subversive? In a cock-a-mamie kind of way, perhaps.