Transmission and pedagogical models in Cantonese Opera: A study of the Chinese oral and the Western conservatory traditions in Hong Kong

This project has been granted by the General Research Fund of the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong in 2011-12. Cantonese opera is facing a crisis of transmission. Traditionally, Cantonese opera employs oral tradition in transmitting their artistry to the new generation. In recent decades, training artists for the profession has been influenced by the Western conservatory tradition. Different aspects of the genre are taught by different specialists during a limited length of time. This 20-month study will adopt a mixed-method approach in three phases. In Phase One, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with five artists with backgrounds in oral tradition and five artists trained in conservatories. Researchers will also undertake research visits to institutions of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province to interview teachers and students after class observations and seek their views on the characteristics of their training programs. The findings will help in formulating pedagogy models of oral and conservatory traditions to provide a theoretical framework for the next phase.

Funding Source: RGC - General Research Fund (GRF)