January 27, 2011

yang si lang and yang ba mei

This video was taken with an ordinary camera with a zoom of only 7x, so don't expect very good quality.

A little about the story :

The Yang family were a patriotic lot and fought many victorious battles for the country. In this story, they went to a battle. The battle proved
disastrous for them. The father died and of the seven sons who went, only one returned. The fifth son became a monk at a temple, the fourth son was captured by the princess of an enemy state, married her and stayed in her land and and the other sons died.

In this clip, Yang Ba Mei, the 8th daughter, managed in infiltrate into the palace of the princess by disguising herself as a palace maid. She met her brother, told him how his brothers died and chided him for marrying the princess.


1 comment:

Luting said...

Hi Frannxis,

I am a student from the School of Art, Design & Media, Nanyang Technological University. I am currently working on a graphic design project called 'fading traditions in Singapore'. As the title suggests, this project requires us to identify a tradition that is becoming less popular among the young generation today, to analyze factors causing it to 'fade' and subsequently to promote this tradition to a specific group of target audience through means of graphic design. As a Cantonese myself, I decided to work on Cantonese Opera.

During my research for the project, I came across your blog and learned that you are a Cantonese opera enthusiast who may provide me valuable information about Cantonese Opera. If you are interested in helping me with this project, please reply this comment (email to htan1125@hotmail.com) with answers to the following 5 questions. Thank you very much!

Regards,
Luting




Interview Questions:

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us why you are attracted to Cantonese Opera?
2. What does Cantonese Opera mean to you?
3. Cantonese Opera may sometimes be perceived as 'old-fashioned' by young people, how is Cantonese Opera relevant to today's society?
4. From your experience, is it true that traditional Cantonese Opera is becoming less popular among the younger generation? If it is true, what are the factors causing it to be less popular among the younger generation?
5. What are the problems faced by local Cantonese Opera Troupes/Organizations in promoting Cantonese Opera to the youth?