“Never ignore any details on the stage…”

Essential Performing Arts of Master Tong Zhiling by Shu Ho

Tong Zhiling is one of the greatest Peking Opera masters in the last century. Tong’s unique operatic performing style challenged traditional Peking Opera , and affected a new Peking Opera performing style, as well known as Tong’s Style.

I learned from master Tong at New York in 20 years ago. I found Tong’s performing style was very liberal but within extremely strong fundamental traditional practices. Tong absorbed various performing arts from local operas, folk dance, ballet, western movies, and modern drama. It’s very difficult to simply copy or imitate her acting styles, because the inside or background of her performance was incredibly wealthy and colorful. And even a same play she had played many times, Tong always had new ideas, surprises to the audience on her each great performance.

Master Tong told me, you should learn “inside” of the acting. “Inside” which is denoted powerful thinking activities of the roles in the play. “Never ignore any details on the stage, it small but may become a new climax”, she said.

“Using dance and song to play a story”, which is the traditional Chinese Opera basic mode. All Chinese Opera actors basically have to learn a lot of stylized movements as fundamental studies. Those stylized movements used all the time on the stage but only a very few people try to find the real meaning. Master Tong always gave new blood to those old movements. Thus why the audience never want to miss any moment when Tong Zhiling on the stage.

There are many acting strategies we could learn from Tong’s Style, from her inherited books, audios and videos, to enrich our own performance; but “inside” of Tong’s acting spirit. I think that should be included, “always absorb new various art elements, always thinking small details, always challenge new stuff, and never give up any possibility.”

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http://www.jingjulong.cn/tong.htm