L'École de l'Opéra de Pékin à Shanghai
Pierre Bonneau
2000 - 26 min - Couleur - France

We are at the Peking opera school in Shanghai and a few girls are warming up their voices before going in to classes. The vocalisation exercises blend with the roar of the ring-road which now runs above the school. Soon they will raise the colours in front of the assembled pupils then as soon as they have heard the news of the day they will go off and amuse themselves in the various classes and workshops.
The youngest are aged 8 or 9. They are beginning here an apprenticeship that will last seven years. Seven years to become an actor of the Pekin opera, i.e. at the same time acrobat, juggler, actor and also singer and dancer. These are all disciplines that he must master with enough ease to be able to do them simultaneously.
During performances, the acting and the music are imbricated, gongs and other percussion instruments marking the action scenes with great energy.
Schooling in the first years is related mainly to the basics of acrobatics and fundamental subjects. Then the pupil is directed more and more towards the specificity of acting, theatrical and musical culture.