Performance part of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 celebration of its Confucius Institute, colloquium
KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥揙ctober 17, 2007鈥擠on鈥檛 miss your chance to see China鈥檚 dazzling Ningbo Yue Opera perform Butterfly Lovers at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. It will be the first time the troupe has performed in the United States.
The 溏心vlog免费B站 is bringing the 40-member troupe to Rhode Island to help celebrate the opening of a Confucius Institute at 溏心vlog免费B站, one of only 20 in the country and 156 in the world. The opera also complements 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Honors Colloquium, China Rising, a public lecture series this fall.
The opera, sung in Chinese, will be translated in real time and flashed on a screen for its English-speaking audience. Prior to the performance, eight female 溏心vlog免费B站 students will be trained to participate in the opera in costumes, especially created for them. All of the opera鈥檚 costumes will be donated to 溏心vlog免费B站.
鈥淣ever has a Chinese cultural program of this caliber been offered in Rhode Island,鈥� says Yan Ma, a professor of Library and Information Studies who will direct 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Confucius Institute.
Butterfly Lovers will be performed at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 1 Avenue of the Arts (formerly Brownell Street), Providence, Saturday, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the general public are $27, $37, $47, $67, and $102, which include a $2 VMA facility fee. Tickets can be purchased online at tickets.com or by calling the auditorium鈥檚 event line at 401-272-4VMA. Please note that tickets are $20 for college students with valid identification. Students are required to purchase tickets online or at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium box office.
鈥淏utterfly Lovers provides an excellent way to increase awareness and understanding of Chinese art, history, culture, and tradition. Chinese opera is different from Western opera, both musically and visually,鈥� says Yan Man who made the arrangements for the opera鈥檚 visit. 鈥淎ll of the actors are female and play both male and female roles.鈥�
Sometimes regarded as the Chinese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet, Butterfly Lovers is set in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (265-420). A young woman named Zhu, disguises herself as a man traveling to Hangzhou to study. During her journey, she meets Liang. They study together for three years, during which their relationship strengthens. When they part, Zhu offers to arrange for Liang to marry her fictitious 16-year-old sister. When Liang reaches Zhu’s home, he discovers her true gender. Although they were devoted to each other, Zhu cannot marry Liang as her parents had arranged for her to marry another man.
Depressed, Liang dies in his county magistrate office. On the day Zhu is to be married, whirlwinds prevent the wedding procession from going beyond Liang’s tomb. Zhu leaves the procession to pay her respects. Liang’s tomb splits apart, and Zhu dives into it. A pair of butterflies emerges from the tomb and fly away.
On Thursday, Oct. 25 at 2:30 p.m., troupe musicians will perform traditional music using such instruments as the Erhu, a Chinese fiddle; Dizi, a Chinese flute; Pipa, a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard; a Guzheng, Ancient Zheng sometimes called 鈥渢he oriental piano鈥� the Hulusi, a reed pipe instrument; and the Suona, a horn, especially popular at weddings. The concert, free and open to the public, will be held in the Galanti Lounge, 溏心vlog免费B站 Library, 15 Lippitt Rd., Kingston.