Traditional Arts Crafts and Music
Yue Opera is second only to Peking Opera among the major Chinese opera categories. It originated in Shengzhou, Zhejiang, in mid-19th century. Early on the main performers were male, but “women’s Yue opera,” featuring female performers, became mainstream since the 1920s. Today there is also a small repertoire with both male and female performers.
The Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe, founded in 1984, is a professional women’s opera performance organization. Its classic programs include “Birthday Celebration by Five Daughters,” “Butterfly Lovers,” and “The Romance of the Western Chamber.” It is a success story showcasing the evolution of the traditional opera heritage.
Yue Opera (also called Shaoxing Opera) is a type of drama born late. It learns widely from other operas’ advantages. The tune of Yue Opera is clear, melodious and full of affection. In Yue Opera, there are three types of singing (Chi Tune, Si Gong Tune and Xian Xia Tune) and six types of roles (young female, young male, old gentleman, clown, old female and painted face). In early stage, the performance of Yue Opera was quite simple. Later, it imitated actions and patterns from other types of operas, and meanwhile invented some basic actions from life. On the initiative of YUAN Xuefen, Yue Opera learns the way of acting from stage play and films on one hand to depict the characteristics and psychological activities of the roles in a authentic and delicate manner, on the other hand, it learns the beautiful dance postures and acting patterns from Kunqu Opera and Beijing Opera to make the external actions more delicate and more rhythmical.
（Source: Official Website of Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage）
