Pursuing the Verdant Dream

The Velaslavasay Panorama is pleased to present "Pursuing the Verdant Dream: Two Afternoons of Kwun & Yueju Opera" directed by Professor Zhao Gan Li. Kwun and Yueju are two distinct theatrical styles, each originating in different provinces in mainland China, and each afternoon will present a different and exceptionally unique program representing the best of both styles. There will be English and Chinese translation of all dialogue.

On Sunday, August 7th the California Yueju Opera Center will perform selections from four different opera stories in the Yueju canon, including The Dream of the Red Chamber and The Jade Hairpin. Yueju Opera is a style rivaled in popularity only by the well-known Peking Opera, and is noteworthy in that both male and female roles are played by female actresses. In the context of traditional opera, Yueju has developed into a cohesive art form more recently, becoming formalized for the stage just in the past 100 years.

Yueju Opera Program for Sunday August 7th

The Dream of the Red Chamber-----Duet of Baoyu and Daiyu
The Jade Hairpin----- Persuading the Daughter-In-Law
Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai----- Meeting in Zhu Yingtai's Parlor
- INTERMISSION -
The Fragrant Fan-----The Reunion
The Carp Fairy----- Moonlit Meeting in the Study

Sophie Wu and Zhiping Dong will play the lead roles in Liang Shanbo & Zhu Yingtai and other Yueju stories. They will be joined by other professional Yueju Opera performers, including Zhiping Dong and Jane Zhou, who is the president of The California Yueju Opera Center. Professor Zhao Gan Li, director of the series, currently serves as a primary Art Director and teacher of Chinese Opera techniques with the Chinese Kwun Opera Society and the California Yueju Opera Center. She has worked as a theory researcher, writer and critic at the Chinese Opera Institute in Beijing, and came to the United States in 1994 as a visiting artist.