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Posing as Yueju Opera stars
By Xu Wenwen |
December 8, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LADIES who fantasize about starring in Yueju Opera can dress as their favorite heroines and pose for photos in a picturesque old village. A fan has just opened an opera photo studio. Xu Wenwen reports.
A 26-year-old Yueju Opera fan has opened an online photo studio offering other female fans a chance to pose in costumes in Gao Village, Xixi Wetlands.
Yang Congying opened Lxxy Photo Studio in October and posted charming photos on her blog, showing costumed opera heroines (played by her noted actress friends) in famous scenes.
In about two months she has had 50 customers, some of them still in line for shooting.
The young women lean against pavilion pillars, dance in a meadow, assume poses with fans and live a bit of their fantasies.
Yang provides costumes, wigs and make-up for the shoots in Gao Village, which has green space, ancient houses and far fewer people than the West Lake.
Customers can play the sad fragile lady Lin Daiyu from "A Dream of Red Mansions" or the lively and intelligent Zhu Yingtai from "Butterfly Lovers." Other roles are possible.
Prices range from 558 yuan (US$82) to 1,258 yuan, comparable to prices in other opera photo studios. A 758-yuan package contains 80 photos of three costumes, which are photoshopped and placed in several albums.
Many traditional opera theaters try to fuel interest among young people in Chinese operas by providing costume photo opportunities.
Photo studios also try to cash in, but many offer only costumes, without authentic make-up, so the results are not vivid.
"Opera costumes, especially headgear and wigs are heavy and elaborate and heavy make-up is required," says Yang.
Though Yang's opera make-up and art works are surprisingly excellent, she did not major in photography, art or music. She is a high school graduate and she uses a simple, single-lens reflex camera, a Canon 450D.
Yang was born in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, a city full of Yueju Opera fans, and she has loved opera since she was a child. After she graduated at the age of 19, she moved to Hangzhou, which is considered the home of Yueju Opera.
She worked her way up to a white-collar job and became one of the city's most enthusiastic Yueju Opera fans.
She is now deputy director of the Hangzhou Youth Yueju Opera Society. She never misses a performance, knows many actors and is close friends with some of them. Most roles in melodic, sentimental Yueju Opera are played by women.
Yange came up with the idea of shooting Yueju Opera photos in January when her youth opera society staged "A Dream ofRed Mansions" and she played Xue Baochai.
Some opera lovers might only learn to sing arias, but stage performance requires dance and other movements, facial expressions, costumes, wig, make-up and props. Yang could handle everything except the wig. A professional hairpiece cost at least 500 yuan.
After her successful debut, Yang decided to learn to create her own wig. She bought a wig with long straight hair, used sponges and tissues to create buns and fixed them with clips and hair nets. Through trial and error she created different wigs for different roles.
Then she was inspired to dress characters from head to toe and take their pictures.
She was diligent. She bought a camera, studied photography, learned how to Photoshop pictures and invited professional actress friends Li Xiaowen and Xie Chan to be her models.
As soon as she posted their photos on her blog in October, she received inquiries and orders.
"I didn't do any promotion except updating my blog, and I got my first deal a couple of days later," says Yang.
Yang's first client gave her confidence. The woman, a Yueju Opera fan, came all the way from Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, to Hangzhou. She got up at3am so she wouldn't missthe train at 6am.
Shooting can only take place on weekends in good weather, since Yang has a regular job.
People interested could visit Yang Congying's blog (http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/indexlist_1652599573_1.html, or call 137-5821-9469.
A 26-year-old Yueju Opera fan has opened an online photo studio offering other female fans a chance to pose in costumes in Gao Village, Xixi Wetlands.
Yang Congying opened Lxxy Photo Studio in October and posted charming photos on her blog, showing costumed opera heroines (played by her noted actress friends) in famous scenes.
In about two months she has had 50 customers, some of them still in line for shooting.
The young women lean against pavilion pillars, dance in a meadow, assume poses with fans and live a bit of their fantasies.
Yang provides costumes, wigs and make-up for the shoots in Gao Village, which has green space, ancient houses and far fewer people than the West Lake.
Customers can play the sad fragile lady Lin Daiyu from "A Dream of Red Mansions" or the lively and intelligent Zhu Yingtai from "Butterfly Lovers." Other roles are possible.
Prices range from 558 yuan (US$82) to 1,258 yuan, comparable to prices in other opera photo studios. A 758-yuan package contains 80 photos of three costumes, which are photoshopped and placed in several albums.
Many traditional opera theaters try to fuel interest among young people in Chinese operas by providing costume photo opportunities.
Photo studios also try to cash in, but many offer only costumes, without authentic make-up, so the results are not vivid.
"Opera costumes, especially headgear and wigs are heavy and elaborate and heavy make-up is required," says Yang.
Though Yang's opera make-up and art works are surprisingly excellent, she did not major in photography, art or music. She is a high school graduate and she uses a simple, single-lens reflex camera, a Canon 450D.
Yang was born in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, a city full of Yueju Opera fans, and she has loved opera since she was a child. After she graduated at the age of 19, she moved to Hangzhou, which is considered the home of Yueju Opera.
She worked her way up to a white-collar job and became one of the city's most enthusiastic Yueju Opera fans.
She is now deputy director of the Hangzhou Youth Yueju Opera Society. She never misses a performance, knows many actors and is close friends with some of them. Most roles in melodic, sentimental Yueju Opera are played by women.
Yange came up with the idea of shooting Yueju Opera photos in January when her youth opera society staged "A Dream ofRed Mansions" and she played Xue Baochai.
Some opera lovers might only learn to sing arias, but stage performance requires dance and other movements, facial expressions, costumes, wig, make-up and props. Yang could handle everything except the wig. A professional hairpiece cost at least 500 yuan.
After her successful debut, Yang decided to learn to create her own wig. She bought a wig with long straight hair, used sponges and tissues to create buns and fixed them with clips and hair nets. Through trial and error she created different wigs for different roles.
Then she was inspired to dress characters from head to toe and take their pictures.
She was diligent. She bought a camera, studied photography, learned how to Photoshop pictures and invited professional actress friends Li Xiaowen and Xie Chan to be her models.
As soon as she posted their photos on her blog in October, she received inquiries and orders.
"I didn't do any promotion except updating my blog, and I got my first deal a couple of days later," says Yang.
Yang's first client gave her confidence. The woman, a Yueju Opera fan, came all the way from Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, to Hangzhou. She got up at3am so she wouldn't missthe train at 6am.
Shooting can only take place on weekends in good weather, since Yang has a regular job.
People interested could visit Yang Congying's blog (http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/indexlist_1652599573_1.html, or call 137-5821-9469.
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