This Weekend- Two Afternoons of Kwun & Yueju Opera at The Velaslavasay Panorama

- Part V-

Zhang Sheng Departs for the Capitol.

WC-V-600x450.gif

The fish of the river and the wild goose in the sky
will be the bearers of many letters from you.
While I here will frequently send you tidings
by the Blue Phoenix.
Swear not that you will never come back unless your
name is on the list of honors at the examinations!

Pursuing the Verdant Dream
Two Afternoons of Kwun and Yueju Opera
- at -
The Velaslavasay Panorama
1122 West 24th Street
Los Angeles, California
90007
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Saturday, August 6th at 3 PM
Performance by Chinese Kwun Opera Society
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Sunday, August 7th at 3 PM
Performance by California Yueju Opera Center
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$15 General Donation {$13 VPES Member, Senior & Student Donation}
Advance tickets for both performances available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/185974

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.

On Saturday, August 6th, we welcome the Chinese Kwun Opera Society, which will present selections from the story of “The Peony Pavilion” accompanied by live musicians. Kwun Opera is considered by some to be the oldest form of Chinese theatre and is the inspiration for dozens of provincial theatre forms. Performed with elaborate costumes and spare sets, Kwun Opera remains the most refined and literary of all forms of Chinese theatre.

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," "Liang Shanbo & Zhu Yingtai," and "The Jade Hairpin." Yueju Opera is a style that is very popular with young people, rivaled in popularity only by the well-known Peking Opera, and is also noteworthy in that both male and female roles are played by female actresses.

These events will also mark the debut of a new garden pavilion and stone landscape nesteld within the Tortuguitas floor mosaic beside the Canícula Rock at The Velaslavasay Panorama. 

"Pursuing the Verdant Dream: Two Afternoons of Kwun and Yueju Opera" has been organized by Guan Rong and Sara Velas in coordination with live performance director Professor Zhao Gan Li, the Chinese Kwun Opera Society and the California Yueju Opera Center. The project has been funded in part by The National Endowment for the Arts, The Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles and The Velaslavasay Panorama Enthusiast Society.

For more information please visit http://panoramaonview.org/news.html  and see  http://panoramaonview.org/Western_Chamber.html for the complete graphical representation of the traditional Chinese Opera story, "Romance of the Western Chamber," Part V of which is presented above.