dc.description.abstract | Abstract
In this study, the author selected the “Cultivation of Modern Hakka Opera Talents in Taiwan” as the core topic to explore more effective coping strategies from the perspectives of insiders and performers after recognizing the dilemma in the current ecological environment. The Hakka Tea-picking Opera was active in the community during the early periods. It was primarily passed-on through “oral instructions that inspire true understanding,” and the “performance contract” method was used to recruit young talents and cultivate performers. Performing arts and its historical environment were closely related to the entertainment, economy, political conditions, and consumer behaviors of the people at the time. As time progresses, the people′s consumption behaviors and values have also been modified and influenced by the environment. It is an indisputable fact that traditional opera is considered as a niche market in the modern era. Despite so, the author of this study explored the traditional opera education and teaching related topics in two core directions: (1) endeavoring to organize numerous “Hakka Opera Talent Education and Cultivation” related programs through collaborations between the relevant government cultural institutions and the folk art teams, and (2) consulting with the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts, Department of Hakka Opera, that has officially become part of the national education system. The author has adopted the “literature review,” “in-depth interview,” and “focus discussion” methods for this study; and the interviewees were people associated to the two core directions discussed above. The subjects of “in-depth interviews” were primarily people related to the relevant courses, workshops, and opera company programs; including the teachers, students, and students who have graduated from the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. The subjects of “focus discussions” were primarily school students and summer camp learning students of the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts.
The results of this study indicated that the relevant government cultural institutions and the folk art teams have collaborated to implement the “Hakka Opera Teaching Plan” and the “Hakka Opera Performance Talent Cultivation Plan” since 1997 for six years. They were the key programs that prompted the adoption of Hakka opera as part of the nation′s education system. Subsequently, different functional opera teaching programs such as the “performance talent” related courses and summer school opera study camps were also created. Therefore, the performance talent cultivation and teaching issues can be more effectively resolved in the future by designing different teaching course subjects, adjusting or extending the course periods, or divide the courses into different levels based on the different subjects and features according to the attributes of the programs within the limited timeframe.
Since Hakka opera was adopted into the formal education system in 2001, the earlier apprenticeship self-taught learning method has evolved into a consistent systemic learning method. In addition, the folk opera theater education collaborations have enabled students to start gaining stage participation experiences with mid- to large-scale production shows before their official entries into the relevant workplaces in the industry. However, graduate students and industry practitioners must all face the trials of market demands. Therefore, how to effectively allocate the course subjects so that they would not hinder each other, strike a balance, and exert the best efficiency remains to be explored. In addition, both the official education system and folk art teams have all attempted to resolve the Hakka opera “actor” and “audience” cultivation and promotion issues; but the market demand created by the educational system opera “schools” and the industry trade representative opera companies is still limited. At the present stage, the Hakka traditional opera art must still rely on the creativities and management from the relevant government institutions and civilian forces in order to achieve more sustainable development and the room for survival.
Keywords: Hakka, Tea-picking Opera, Hakka opera, performance talent cultivation, arts education. | en_US |