| Yue opera | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A 2016 performance of Romance of the Western Chamber by Shanghai Theatre Academy students. The actress in red is portraying a male character. | |||||||
| Typical instruments | |||||||
| Yue opera | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 越劇 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 越剧 | ||||||
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| Shaoxing opera | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 紹興戲 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 绍兴戏 | ||||||
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Yue opera (Chinese: 越剧; pinyin: Yuèjù), also known as Shaoxing opera,[1] is a popular Chinese opera genre.[2] Only Peking opera is considered more popular nationwide.[3][4]
Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles as well as femininity in terms of singing, performing, and staging. Despite its rural origin, it has found a second home in Shanghai, China's most affluent city, where it managed to out-compete both Peking opera and the native Shanghai opera. As Yue opera is performed in a variant of Wu, it is most popular in Wu-speaking areas including southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. In addition, the opera also has a sizeable following in Hong Kong due to Shanghainese migration to the city. Like its performers, Yue opera fans are mainly women, resulting in a disproportionate number of love stories in its repertoire and very little acrobatic fighting.[1]
- ^ a b Melvin, Sheila (1999-09-04). "Into the Stronghold of Shaoxing Opera". The New York Times.
- ^ Ma Haili| (2012) "Development of training and performativity in Shanghai YueJu", 3:3, 334-348 doi:10.1080/19443927.2012.720122.
- ^ "People's Daily Online -- Yueju Opera: Century-old art". en.people.cn. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012.
- ^ Jiang, Jin (2009). Women Playing Men: Yue Opera and Social Change in Twentieth-Century Shanghai. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-98844-3.