Stage Director's Handbook (Series of Chinese Art Education · Opera Volume)

Author: Lü Xingcai, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: The writing of A Course in Opera Direction aims to lay the foundation for establishing the discipline of opera direction and to pave the way for building a teaching system for opera direction. It adheres to the principle of "equal emphasis" on the following aspects: nurturing people and imparting knowledge, practice and theory, and inheritance and creation. This book follows the quality-oriented education principle of "three basics and one creation," which means: through learning basic professional skills, knowledge, and theories, it focuses on enhancing students' artistic creativity, enabling them to develop the fundamental qualities of an opera director. It emphasizes teaching the unique characteristics of opera, helping students clearly understand and initially grasp the basic features of opera stage art and the special laws of opera directing art. It adopts a teaching method that combines theory and practice, inspiring and training students in three types of thinking abilities: dialectical materialist thinking, opera image thinking, and artistic creative thinking.
The book is divided into three parts and eight chapters, with each chapter essentially representing a separate course. Part I "History and Theory of Opera Direction" consists of two courses: "History of Opera Direction" and "Introduction to Opera Direction," focusing on teaching the basic theories of opera direction. Part II "Fundamentals of Opera Direction" consists of three courses: "Techniques of Opera Direction," "Training in Opera Roles and Genres," and "Analysis of Opera Productions," focusing on teaching students the basic skills and knowledge of opera direction and performance. Part III "Creative Practice in Opera Direction" consists of three courses: "Training in Opera Sketches," "Rehearsal of Opera Productions," and "Analysis of Scripts and Directorial Conception," primarily aimed at cultivating and training students' artistic creative thinking and practical abilities in opera directing.
According to the writing format of the course, these eight courses are combined into one book; however, in teaching, they are delivered as eight separate courses. The three courses in Part III are the main professional courses, spanning four academic years.