Bi Chunfang

Bi Chunfang

Born	(1927-07-14) July 14, 1927 Shanghai
Occupation	Yue Opera, master performer, artist, founder of Bi genre

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Bi.

Bi Chunfang (Chinese: 毕春芳;^[1] 14 July 1927 - 14 August 2016^[2]) was a Chinese Shaoxing opera^[3] performer, known as the founder of the "Bi style" of Yue opera. Born in Shanghai^[4] of Ningbo ancestry, she joined the Xuesheng troupe led by Yuan Xuefen in 1948, later joining the Dongshan troupe led by Fan Ruijuan and Fu Quanxiang. She partnered with Qi Yaxian.

Biography

Timeline

Bi studied in Shanghai hung hing stage to learn the performance skills, and started to perform with Xu Tianhong, Wang Wenjuan and other performers after graduated in 1943.
Joined Tian Hong troupe organized by Xu Tianhong in 1946. Joined Xuesheng troupe in 1948. Joined Dongshan Yue Opera troupe in 1949.
Partner with Qi Yaxian since joined Hezuo troupe in 1951.
Performed in Hong Kong five times from 1983 to 1989.
The three-episode art film was made based on her true stury and won several awards in1986.
Performed in U.S. in 1989
Bi is hired to be counselor of Jing An cultural troupe since the intangible cultural heritage protect program has been activated.

Bi style

In Yue opera, the female and male characters are all played by woman,^[5] (though there are several great male player now) and Bi genre becomes one of the main genre of the young man’s role in Yue Opera.

"Her performances are elegant, relaxed and natural which is suit for comedy. The influences of Yin Guifang and Fan Ruijuan can be seen in her aria, but she sings clearly and loud in a wide range, thus it’s elastic for the audience."
"Bi is good at performing comedy characters, as well as use an exaggerate tone, which makes the show funny and enjoyable."

Bi style is largely imitated by amateurs.

Performance

She shaped successfully the character in many plays, the list below recorded only part of her great performance. Her other works include: True Feelings Unbounded, The Teacher's Diary, She in the Rain, The Murder of the Murderers, and The Bloody Handprint, among others.

Play	A Bride for a Ride	The Story of Susan	San Xiao	Legend of the White Snake	Butterfly Lovers	The Murder of the Murderers
Character	Wenbin Zhou	Wang Jinlong	Tang Bohu	Xu Xian	Liang Shanbo	Lin Zhaode

References

↑ 毕春芳
↑ http://news.sohu.com/20160814/n464109473.shtml
↑ Yueju Opera: Century-old art
↑ Ma Haili| (2012) Development of training and performativity in Shanghai YueJu , Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 3:3, 334-348, DOI:10.1080/19443927.2012.720122.
↑ Liang, Luo (2009）.women playing men. Publisher: China Review International.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.