This article is transferred from: China Culture News
Ding Kaixin, an actor of the Chaozhou Chaozhou Opera Troupe:
Unremitting struggle in front of and behind the scenes
Our newspaper reporter in Guangdong Tan Zhihong
Ding Kaixin played the role of Shi Qian in the Teochew opera “Shi Qian Robber” photo courtesy of the interviewee
Ding Kaixin, a 25-year-old actor from the Chaozhou Chaozhou Opera Troupe in Guangdong Province, was recently awarded the title of “National Excellent Communist Youth League Member”. Prior to this, he has won many honors: in 2016, he was named Chaozhou’s first excellent young Teochew opera worker; in 2018, he won the silver medal in the Chaozhou drama performance competition for middle-aged and young people; In 2020, he became an outstanding member of the Communist Youth League of Guangdong Province. In 2021, he won the silver medal in the Guangdong Provincial Youth Drama Performing Arts Competition… Behind Ding Kaixin’s impressive achievements is his insistence on inheriting and carrying forward the art of Teochew opera, being a young man with ideals and making a difference the efforts of the team members.
Ding Kaixin has been engaged in Teochew opera art for 12 years. He is a native of Teochew. After graduating from primary school in 2011, he followed his sister to study in Chaozhou Teochew Opera Art Training Center. He stepped onto the stage of Teochew opera performances and deepened his understanding of Teochew opera through continuous learning. Hard work was his biggest feeling when he first studied in Chaozhou Chaozhou Opera Art Training Center. One minute on stage, ten years off stage. At that time, Ding Kaixin was practicing basic skills every day, such as leg presses and push-ups. The degree of difficulty made him unforgettable. At the beginning, he couldn’t open his leg and couldn’t “write a word”. The teacher held his leg and gradually pressed it down. The burning pain made Ding Kaixin cry. His push-ups were not standard, and he was often called out by the teacher to practice alone. With the encouragement of the teacher and his own persistence, Ding Kaixin continued to improve, and finally managed to do more than 100 push-ups continuously. Although it was bitter and tiring, he never thought of giving up. Instead, he became more and more fond of Teochew opera as he continued to understand.
In 2013, the Chaozhou Chaozhou Opera Troupe urgently needed actors. Due to his outstanding performance, Ding Kaixin was admitted by the troupe and became a professional actor. Most of his performances are “dragons”, such as the roaring dog in the traditional Teochew opera “Lotus Lantern”, the blind fortune teller in “The Mirror of Heaven and Earth”, and the prince in “Bei Jie Hong Luo”, etc. Regardless of the role, he performed meticulously and tried his best to interpret every stage image well. “Playing tricks” is not a shame for Ding Kaixin, but an opportunity for growth. He said: “No matter how beautiful safflower is, it also needs the foil of green leaves. Without green leaves, how can safflower be beautiful?”
Ding Kaixin often practices difficult movements such as somersaults, and injuries are commonplace. The most serious one was on the tenth day of the first lunar month in 2014, when he accidentally broke his ankle while performing somersaults, and had to rest at home for more than a month. “Actors basically have old injuries, and it’s nothing for me to get hurt.” He said.
Most of the time, Ding Kaixin could not get out of the line of fire due to minor injuries, and insisted on performing while sick. In the 2018 Chaozhou Young and Middle-aged Drama Performing Arts Competition, he starred in Shi Qian in “The Robber of Time”. There is a difficult action in the play, jumping from a platform nearly two meters high, doing a backflip and then landing. Although Ding Kaixin has practiced this movement for several months, he missed it during a rehearsal and sprained his ankle after jumping from a high platform. This made him feel helpless and discouraged. But thinking of rehearsing for so long, Ding Kaixin didn’t want to give up halfway, and continued training after a week of recuperation at home, and finally competed with injuries. In the competition, he gritted his teeth and completed the difficult moves, and finally won the silver medal.
Ding Kaixin is the main member of the “Sharp Knife Class” of the troupe, responsible for the important task of loading and unloading the stage for performances. Although this is not his real job, he feels that since he is young, he should do more work to establish the image of the Communist Youth League, set a good example and set a good example. He has not learned stage loading and unloading, but he has a natural love for this job. Why are the props placed like this? How does the stage highlight the sense of hierarchy? Ding Kaixin saw it in his eyes and kept it in his heart. It’s a delicate job, a two-hour performance, but a full day to set up the stage. The environment is changeable and the complexity of the stage varies, which brings new problems to the stage loading and unloading work at any time. Whenever this time, Ding Kaixin showed his talents. Before each performance, he will go to the performance location one day in advance to install the stage. After years of accumulation, Ding Kaixin already has the ability to independently install the stage. Once, when the troupe performed “Han Yu Zhichao” in Guangzhou, Ding Kaixin participated in the installation of the stage. The device that controls the rise and fall of the stage is on the third floor. In order to let the people above hear his instructions, he raised his head on the first floor and shouted night. When the stage was installed, he almost lost his voice. It is necessary to perform and set up the stage, so the work is naturally done more than others. Ding Kaixin said that he is now a “player”, and he does not have as many roles as the protagonist. If he does a little more, he can allow the protagonist to practice and rest more and ensure the smooth progress of the performance. In recent years, the theater troupe has performed in Singapore, Thailand and other places, leaving his sweat of performing on stage wherever he went.
The Chaozhou Chaozhou Opera Troupe goes to the countryside to perform more than 300 performances every year. Ding Kaixin has almost never missed a performance. He has always carried forward the spirit of not being afraid of hardship, not being afraid of tiredness, and insisting on continuous daily night performances, and earnestly performed every performance. He followed the troupe to go deep into the countryside, factories, troops, and schools to spread the art of Teochew opera and carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Going to the countryside is hard work, and sometimes it takes 10 to 20 days to go out. Especially in some remote mountainous areas, the conditions are relatively difficult. You have to bring your own sleeping bags and bedding, and often spend the night in ancestral halls and metal houses. Sometimes, the performance ends very late, but in order not to delay the next day’s performance, the troupe often rushes to the next performance point overnight, and it is almost dawn when they go to bed. Although it was hard work, Ding Kaixin felt that the hard work was worth it after seeing the people’s love for Teochew opera. Villagers often come to the scene one or two hours in advance to wait with straw mats. The performance site is often crowded with people, and the audience is fascinated by the audience. a special experience.
“It is a great honor to be selected as an outstanding member of the Communist Youth League of China. This is the organization’s affirmation of my personal and work ability, and it is also an encouragement for my future work. In the future, I will always keep in mind the mission and responsibility of youth in the new era, and always Keep the original intention, use the tenacity on the road, the hard work of attacking the city, constantly improve the professional ability, do the job well, contribute to the development of Chaozhou opera and the inheritance of Chaozhou traditional culture, and will also actively participate in various social activities. Volunteer activities, do your best to take the lead and contribute to the construction of a beautiful Chaozhou.” Ding Kaixin said.
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