Ancient Peking Opera finds new fans in New York

BUFFALO, New York — It was a cold evening on Friday in Buffalo, the second largest city in the US state of New York as the temperature dropped down to 2 C after a day of heavy snow.

Yet it was as warm as a spring day in the Slee Hall at the State University of New York at Buffalo where an audience of about 200 applauded and shouted encouragement to the performers during the “Amazing Chinese Opera” show, featuring US and Chinese artists from the Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University.

The performance was the closing event of the university’s International Education Week, an annual initiative to celebrate and promote international education and exchange.

Founded in 2009, the BU’s CICO is the first venue in the US to offer Chinese Opera lessons through cooperation with the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts in Beijing, while supplying tools and support for teaching Chinese language and culture.

Barbara Krajewski, 60, a UB biological technician, was among the audience who watched the Peking Opera for the first time and was wowed by the delicate makeup, exquisite costumes and headwear, tumbling and acrobatic movements of the opera performers.

“I have quite a few Chinese friends that I’ve worked with. ... I’m just very fascinated and interested in the Chinese culture,” Krajewski said.

Another performance that attracted the audience was a Chinese bamboo flute piece Flying Partridges, one of the bestknown flute pieces in China. The solo piece describes the desolate scenes after the demise of the Yue kingdom dating back over 2,000 years ago, as a flock of partridges flies across the sky and evokes in people a sense of longing for freedom.

The opera show was just one of the six programs celebrating Chinese culture.