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In recent years, traditional operas have lost their leading
position on urban and rural stages in China. Some local operas have
even disappeared. China's traditional opera culture is facing an
unprecedented crisis. According to the results of a latest survey
of the status quo of operas and troupes around China published by
the China Art Institute, the country's operas and troupes are
facing four major dilemmas in their development.
State-run troupes shoulder heavy burdens and encounter many
difficulties to survive. Many theaters and troupes are short of
funds and find it hard to improve the conditions for artistic
creation and the life of their staff, not to mention creating and
rehearsing new programs. Therefore, those with bad management
disbanded one after another, and the rest are also encountering
many obstacles against laboring along.
The phenomenon of brain drain and broken ladder in talent
cultivation is serious. Since theaters and troupes are in bad
financial conditions and can hardly guarantee the base pay for
their employees, and performing in rural areas all year round means
poor living conditions, many employees are discontented and resign
to land a better job.
Opera heritage is in danger of being lost. China only has 267
opera genres nowadays, a decrease of more than 100 compared to the
early years of the People's Republic of China. In the late 1950s
and the early 1960s, Fujian Province alone dug out over 15,600
types of traditional programs and 100-odd singing styles. Only a
handful of these programs and singing styles have been sorted out,
compiled and published, while a large proportion of them were
preserved by old artists and became worm-eaten, or remained in the
memory of old artists, or lost overseas and could not be collected,
purchased and well protected for lack of funds.
Opera creation and the performing market are seriously out of
joint. Award-winning programs cannot be popularized. Excellent
programs are too high to be popular and they win praises from
experts but find few audiences in the market.
(Chinanews.cn June 16, 2006)
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