RED BOAT TROUPES AND CANTONESE ... - University of Georgia

Ling: I read that the duties of members of the staff in a Red Boat were well defined. What have
you heard about?
Yuen: A hungn gong (hung- walking, gong-river) is a sailor, whose duty is to watch for water
current and weather.
Ling: How did you get to become a performer?
Yuen: I came from a family of many children. The family economic situation was going down.
My mother enrolled me in a competition, and I successfully got in a movie company at
recruitment.
Ling: I went to see the star performance of Guangzhou performers in 2004 and found that they
sing differently from the Hong Kong performers. Their singing was closer to the western bel
canto singing style, more so for the singing of men.
Yuen: The Hong Kong singing style has retained the original breathing and delivering technique.
Most performers from Guangzhou were trained at government training schools where they
believed Western breathing technique with rib cage expansion is best. Traditional Cantonese
opera singing does not expend the rib cage. The training in China has made Cantonese opera
singing lose the tradition.
Ling: Cantonese opera is considered the most representative art of Hong Kong. There has been
issue of preserving the Sunbeam Theatre in Hong Kong, the only performing hall that is
dedicated to the performance.
Yuen: Preserving the theatre arouses the public’s awareness on the respect of Cantonese opera.
The allocation of revenue by the government of Hong Kong in the new West Kowloon large
project had shown uneven distribution. The government belittled the development of Cantonese
opera by putting much less money into its development than into Western arts.
Ling: What is most important for raising the standard of Cantonese opera?
Yuen: The respect of the art and the understanding of the art.
Ling: Thank you very much. Your help has been very important for the history of the opera.
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