Mei Baojiu, Li Enjie
Special Event in Promotion of TLP (JPN/CN/EN): In Commemoration of the 120th Anniversary of Mei Lanfang – Mei Lanfang Dual Production Lecture at the University of Tokyo
Peking Opera is a traditional theater performance that represents China. Mr. Mei Baojiuis is a renowned actor of today who belongs to the Mei School, a leading school of the Opera. We are welcoming Mr. Mei Baojiu and Mr. Li Enjie, president of jingju Theater Company of Beijing, to hold a lecture.
This year marks the 120th anniversary of Mei Lanfang's birth. Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), known as one of Four Great Dan Actors, lived through the turbulent decades of China from the end of Xin Dynasty to Xinhai Revolution to the age of Northern Warlords. He expressed traditional aesthetics through dances and subtle movements, elevating the Peking Opera that had hitherto centered around ethical male roles (sheng, laosheng) into the theater of female roles (dao, huashan) that also reflect modern images of women, and his contributions made Peking Opera a cutting-edge art form.
Mei Lanfang's influences go far beyond China, reaching Japan and an even wider world. He had the first overseas production of Peking Opera in Japan and, alongside interacting with kabuki, deeply impressed the Japanese audience. Productions in Japan also took place in 1924 and 1956, when there was yet to be a formalized relation between Japan and China. Peking Opera did overseas productions in 1930 in the U.S. as well as in 1935 in what was then the Soviet Union.
In this lecture, in commemoration of the 120 anniversary of the birth of Mei Lanfang, we will invite his son Mr. Mei Baojiu, who continues to develop the Peking Opera of the Mei School, to talk about the spirit and technique of the Opera, focusing on its representative work “The Drunken Imperial Concubine.” Mr. Li Enjie serves as president of Jingju Theater Company of Beijing and plays an important role of preserving and developing the art of the Peking Opera. He will introduce to us some of the challenges facing Chinese traditional arts today.
Date and Time
October 14, 2014, 18：20 Open
Location
GF1 Hall, 21KOMCEE East, College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Program
Mr. Mei Baojiu “From “The Drunken Imperial Concubine” to “The Drunken Imperial Concubine””（从贵妃醉酒到贵妃醉酒）
Mr. Li Enjie “Continuation, Preservation, and Development of the Arts of Peking Opera Today” （京剧艺术在当代的传承保护与发展）
Language
Chinese (with Japanese Interpreting)
Target audience
Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff
[Instructor]
Born in 1934. Son of renowned actor Mei Lanfang. He has served as a delegate for the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, first-class national actor in Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, president of Mei Lanfang Arts Research Group and Research Fund, leader of the Mei Lanfang Jingju Troupe, and is a “national intangible masterpiece inheritor” appointed by China's Ministry of Culture. A highly acclaimed actor who continues the Peking Opera of the Mei School, he has many followings in and outside China. His major performances include: “The Drunken Imperial Concubine,” “Unofficial Biography of Taizhen,” “Farewell My Concubine,” “The Universal Pagoda,” “Mu Guiying Takes Command.”
Born in 1958. He has long been involved with cultural policies of the city of Beijing, serving as leader of a Chinese circus and as headmaster of Beijing Arts School. In 2002 he became Deputy Chief of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture, in 2009 president of Beijing Performance and Arts Group and Acrobatics of China Ltd., and since August 2010 has served as president of Jingju Theater Company of Beijing.
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