{"id":1687,"date":"2013-11-25T10:29:27","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T10:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/setcourseforchina.wordpress.com\/?p=1687"},"modified":"2013-11-25T10:29:27","modified_gmt":"2013-11-25T10:29:27","slug":"behind-the-scenes-at-the-beijing-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evacohnchina.summitbiztech.com\/?p=1687","title":{"rendered":"Behind-the-Scenes at the Beijing Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday evening, I had the chance to go back stage before a performance of the famous Beijing Opera.\u00a0 Although this performance was not professional- all the actors were very enthusiastic retirees.\u00a0 The oldest performer was a 70 year old woman and she sang beautifully!<\/p>\n

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We saw them applying the brightly colored make-up and costumes.<\/p>\n

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The Beijing Opera is nothing like a western opera.\u00a0 It is a very long story so most performances pick a few scenes to act out.\u00a0 We watched for 2.5 hours before we had to leave and they weren’t even finished!\u00a0 The “orchestra” was a group of older gentlemen who played drums as well as other string instruments I didn’t recognize.\u00a0 They choreographed their playing to the words and dances of the actors without referring to any sheet music.<\/p>\n

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Just like western operas, Beijing Opera is not for everyone.\u00a0 The style of singing and music can get a little…numbing at times.\u00a0 However, if you’d like to see what the make-up and costumes look like as well as hear some of the music- below is a short video you can glace at.\u00a0 The people in the video are all professionals though.<\/p>\n