China News Service, Beijing, March 23. As a disciple of the famous Peking Opera master Zhang Huoding, Li Linxiao, an outstanding young actor of the Cheng School of Beijing Peking Opera Theater, will hold a special performance at the Chang’an Grand Theater on May 7 and 8, presenting the famous Cheng School drama ” “The Legend of the White Snake” and “Suo Lin Sac”.
Li Linxiao (formerly known as Li Li) was admitted to the Chinese Academy of Opera at the age of 18. In 2012, he won the Bronze Award in the 7th CCTV Qingjing Competition and was admitted to the China Academy of Opera for postgraduate study. In November 2015, the “Zhang Huoding Peking Opera Cheng School Art Inheritance Center” of the China Academy of Opera was officially established, and then the “Zhang Huoding Peking Opera Cheng School Artistic Talents Workshop” was opened, and ten Cheng school students were recruited nationwide and accepted Zhang Huoding’s “One Piece”. One-to-one teaching and art, Li Linxiao ranks among the students by virtue of his excellent strength.
Li Linxiao followed Zhang Huoding to learn the traditional repertoires of the Cheng School, “Suo Lin Sac”, “Dream of the Spring Boudoir”, “Tears in the Barren Mountain”, “Sitting in the Palace”, “Red Mane Horse”, “Dragon and Phoenix Showing Auspiciousness”, “Wen Ji Returning to Han” and “Mandarin Duck Tomb”. In addition, Zhang Huoding also taught her new representative plays “The Legend of the White Snake”, “Sister Jiang” and “The Liang Zhu”. In 2019 and 2021, she held two solo performances “The Legend of the White Snake” and “Dream of the Spring Girl” at the Chang’an Grand Theater in Beijing. All three performances were sold out and won unanimous praise from all walks of life.
Photo courtesy of Zhang Huoding (left) directing Li Linxiao’s crew
For this special performance, Li Linxiao deliberately chose “Suo Lin Sac” and “The Legend of the White Snake”. The two plays were directed by the famous Peking Opera artist Ye Shaolan, as well as famous Peking Opera masters Zhang Huoding and Song Xiaochuan, the famous pianist Zhao Yu as the music director, and the national first-class stage supervisor Liu Shujun as the stage supervisor. In addition, the outstanding young drummer Yan Xiaoyu of the Beijing Peking Opera Theatre plays the drum, the outstanding young pianist Zhang Yiping plays the piano, and Yang Nan, a national first-class actor of the Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre and an outstanding Yepai student, plays the role of Xu Xian. In addition, Mei Qingyang, the famous ugly of the Beijing Opera House, supported his younger generation, national first-class actor Wei Xuelei, outstanding young actors Meng Xianteng, Qiu Shi, etc.
As a representative work of the Cheng School, “Suo Lin Sac”, which was created in 1921, is a classic century-old drama that has never faded away. Every time Li Linxiao reinterprets the traditional classics, he has a memory of his ancestors. This play is a test of the actors, because the audience is too familiar with it, even if a small detail is not well acted, it can be seen, which is also a challenge for the actors.
“The Legend of the White Snake” is a Cheng style drama adapted and created by Zhang Huoding on the basis of his predecessors. In the current Peking Opera stage, there are very few Cheng style plays with both civil and military skills. Zhang Huoding enriched the stage presentation of Peking Opera Cheng style through this play.
As a disciple of Zhang Huoding, Li Linxiao said that he would spare no effort to inherit the classics. In her solo show in 2019, she once performed “The Legend of the White Snake”, “From the performance to the expression of the characters, Mr. Huoding has devoted too much effort to me. Every performance is a new life for me. I hope very much. Let everyone see my artistic growth.” (End)
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