An Analysis Of Jing Xuebian’s Performing Arts

Jing Xuebian is another representative of Pu Opera actress after the “Fivecelebrated actors” since the foundation of New China. A winner of SplendorAward and Plum Blossom Prize, she enjoys the honor of national first-classactress, the special allowance of the State Council, national model worker, andone of the ten cultural leading figures of Shanxi Province. As a renowned Puopera performing artist, Jing Xuebian has opened a new height for theperformance art of Pu opera. She not only conscientiously inherits the traditionsand surefootedly learns predecessors’ artistic experiences, but also fullydevelops her innovation spirit, making utmost contributions to the developmentand prosperity of Pu Opera. Her performance style as well as her dedication isworth of learning and following. Therefore, discussing and commenting on theperforming art of Jing Xuebian is of crucial significance to conclude herperformance art at a theoretical level, interpret it from an aesthetic perspective,and highlight her contributions to the art of Pu Opera.Having devoted herself to Pu Opera for40years, Jing Xuebian has starredin a series of classical operas, which have brought her great fame in ShanxiProvince and the neighbouring provinces, Shannxi, Henan, Sichuan, even acrossthe country. As a popular national expert in Pu Opera, though majoring inxiaodan, Jing Xuebian is an all-round actress with excellent singing andwonderful performance and can play the role of woan warrior, qingyi and With clear pronunciation, mellow voice and strong breath, her singing soundsbeautiful, passionate and affectionate, and her voice is full of artistic appeal,penetration and well worth appreciating. Jing Xuebian is one of the oustandingPu Opera actresses in building female characters and representing the features ofthe particular opera. Apart from that, by borrowing the advantages of otherforms of opera, Jing Xuebian has created a new way of performing Pu Operawhich is more standarized and popularized while keeping its traditional charm.Anyway, Jing Xuebian has promoted the singing art of Pu Opera to a new stageof development.Jing Xuebian fully brings the characheristic of Pu Opera into play whichattaches much significance to exquisite workmanship and has a strong controlover the application of stunts, such as the braid work in Ark Edge, the burden ofwork in Yin and Yang River, Tsai work in Universe Peak, Maochi work andShaozi work in Muke Village, and the chair work in Mother Country. Her skilledand proficient performance has got a great impression on the audience.Integrating characters’ inmost emotions into every gesture and motion by meansof stunts, her performance is a deep revelation of charachers’ psychologicalstates and mental activities and a vivid presentation of characters’ personalitytraits in typical environment, thus realizing the authenticity of opera art, theunity of form and spirit, meanwhile, fully presenting opera’s basic charactermarked by singing and dancing together.As a Pu Opera artist, Jing Xuebian is enterprising and innovative in theperformance and creation of Pu Opera. She carries forward the tradition of PuOpera but not confined by it, therefore, making its performing style embody theoriginal characteristics of Pu Opera and meanwhile display a refreshing insightinto the current time. Using her highly-special voice and vivid performance,along with her perfect mastery of stunts, Jing Xuebian, in the repertoire of opera highlights, new history opera, and modern opera,has revived a group of femaleroles with different characters, age groups and times, among whom there areDiao Chan, Xu Cuilian, Zhao Yanrong, Li Cuilian, Huang Guiying, PrincessShengPing, Dou E, Zhang Suhua, Yang Paifeng, Mu Guiying, Yang Dachou,Douhua, to name just a few. All these figures have been presented to us throughJing Xuebian’s brilliant face and acted as the milestones documenting herartistic career.Apart from being an artist, Jing Xuebian plays an essential role in thedevelopment of Pu Opera. Facing the current lack of qualified successors of PuOpera, Jing Xuebian has established successively such organizations as the PuOpera experimental group for the youth of Yuncheng, the oriented class of PuOpera, the research institute of Pu Opera,and Pujingyuan, through which she notonly bred a lot of excellent performers of Pu Opera, but also enriched to a greatextent the repertoire of Pu Opera. She has also recorded and videotapedthirty-seven outstanding traditional Pu Operas, and in this way preserved andinherited a large number of classic operas and performing skills, laying thefoundation and providing examples for the innovation and prosperity of PuOpera. Besides, she is active in various exchange programs of Pu Opera, anddevoted herself in exposing more people to the opera and encouraging them toappreciate it. It can be asserted that Jing Xuebian has contributed a lot to the oldtheatre style of Pu Opera, and to the preservation and development of thenonmaterial cultural heritage of our nation.