You’d Like to Meet 1978-05-03 For the past six months, Kuo Hsiao-chuang, 26, has spent most of her time practicing for her Chinese opera performance at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei from tonight for three days in honor of her teacher, the late Yu Ta-kang. At the age of eight, she entered the Republic of China Chinese Opera School of the Chinese Air Force, and became the youngest student in her class. Her father sent her to the school because he loves the traditional art so much, and deeply regretted that he himself could not sing. He said: “Hsiao-chuang is a clever girl and not bad looking. I thought sending her to the opera school would be good for her, so I chose the career for her and I have had no regrets ever since”. For an eight year-old girl, who had never left home before, the training was arduous. Kuo recalled: “I was not a very good student when I first entered the school. I often pretended that my stomach ached to skip class”. When she was eleven-years-old, she had her first chance to go on stage as a court lady. But as she stepped up to perform, the leading actress said to her, “You ugly girl. Who let you on this stage. I don’t want so ugly a person to spoil the audiences reaction to me.” Young singer This caused the young singer to tell herself to study harder so she would be famous herself one day. Kuo said: “After this humiliation, I told myself I would never treat any person in the same way”. Kuo Hsiao-chuang sometimes takes actresses who play court ladies to her home to teach them how to express themselves. At the age of 13, Kuo wanted to play a female role, but the teachers refused to instruct her because they thought she was too young. Later she learned to be a female warrior, which required some special training. Kuo trained at the stadium every afternoon for one and a half hours while her classmates took a nap. In 1969, which was a lucky one for Kuo, she played Fang Li-hua which bought her popularity with audiences. In the same year she participated in the Chinese Operas Group which went to Japan to perform at the Tokyo Exposition. After that she went to the United States and Canada to perform in Chinese opera. Water ink master Chang Dai-chien. a Chinese water ink master saw her acting in the U.S. and was deeply touched by her performance. He sent her a painted Chipao. This Chipao later became a topic of conversation in social circles. Because she did not obtain a diploma at the opera school, she is now enrolled as a college student at the drama department of the College of Chinese Culture. All her teachers know her from her appearances on TV and in newspapers and magazines, so she has no chance to escape her lessons since her absence would be noted. Kuo is also a TV and movie star, who often demonstrates opera in the Echo magazine. When asked what career she would prefer, her answer is: “Though in TV or movie acting I can earn more money, I think only in Chinese opera can I express myself, and that is the most important point in making my decision”. Of course, as a 26 year-old women who has already spent two-thirds of her lifetime in Chinese opera, what else could she choose”. |
