Category: Music

Culture, Music

Art of Adaptation: How Yue Opera Is Winning Over Young Chinese


ZHEJIANG, East China — For Bao Yajuan, a renowned Yue opera performer, nerves were typically reserved for the seconds before the curtain rose. Yet, on a Monday in March, she felt that flutter again but on an unfamiliar stage: a classroom in the eastern Zhejiang province. Surrounded by around 30 young, curious faces, mostly women with little or no prior knowledge of Yue opera, Bao … Continue reading Art of Adaptation: How Yue Opera Is Winning Over Young Chinese

Unknown's avatarYiying FanLeave a comment
Education, Music

Out of Key: Why China is Stepping Back From Piano Lessons


Zhang Weiwei ended her 11-year-old daughter’s piano lessons in January after three years of practice, citing costs and her child’s lack of enthusiasm. The fifth grader had been taking lessons from teachers at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and had managed to progress to the fifth of 10 levels of certification before quitting. “Piano lessons were more of an investment in nurturing a … Continue reading Out of Key: Why China is Stepping Back From Piano Lessons

Unknown's avatarYiying FanLeave a comment
Music

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ is Here — in Chinese


SHANGHAI – From “Romeo and Juliet” to “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Lisa Jia claims to have watched almost every Chinese version of foreign musicals. Having often been disappointed by poor translations, she was naturally nervous about seeing the Chinese version of the legendary musical “The Phantom of the Opera,” which opened at the Shanghai Grand Theater on May 2. The result, it turns out, … Continue reading ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ is Here — in Chinese

Unknown's avatarYiying FanLeave a comment
Culture, Music

The Broadway Show Trying to Change China’s Tune on Mental Illness


SHANGHAI – It’s Thursday evening, and there’s a long line snaking around the ticket office at Shanghai Culture Square Theater. People are waiting to collect their tickets to see a Chinese adaptation of the Broadway musical “Next to Normal.” Among them is 25-year-old Liu Mingzhu, who has bipolar disorder, and her best friend, for whom Liu is desperately trying to contain her excitement and not … Continue reading The Broadway Show Trying to Change China’s Tune on Mental Illness

Unknown's avatarYiying FanLeave a comment
Gender, LGBTQIA, Music

In China’s Voguing Houses, Queer Millennials Strike a New Pose


SHANGHAI — When he’s hanging around campus, Zhao Zixun often blends into the background. A pimply 19-year-old with a neat buzz cut, he usually dresses simply in baggy pants and tattered sneakers. But on a Saturday night in early December, Zhao transforms into an exuberant, stiletto-heeled diva. The student has entered Millennium Storm — one of the Chinese mainland’s first voguing balls, hosted in a … Continue reading In China’s Voguing Houses, Queer Millennials Strike a New Pose

Unknown's avatarYiying FanLeave a comment