National Center for Traditional Arts

GuoGuang Opera Company was founded in 1995 by bringing together carefully selected elite members of the Ministry of National Defense’s opera troupes from the three wings of the armed forces, and came under the authority of the Ministry of Education. In 2008, authority over the company was transferred to the Preparatory Office of the National Headquarters of Taiwan Traditional Arts under the Council for Cultural Affairs. In May 2012, with the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, jurisdiction was transferred to the National Center for Traditional Arts. Its overall mission and objectives are to preserve the traditions of Beijing opera, perpetuate cultural memory, and, at the same time, to encourage imaginative exploration and popularize artistic and cultural innovation, as well as to build platforms from which to share the trends in modern culture.

Tradition is the foundation of innovation. GuoGuang’s creative team integrates social trends by fusing ancient, elegant traditions with contemporary consciousness, composing new operas from literature, history and folk legend, such as the newly created Kunqu operas: Phoenix Pin, The Butterfly Lovers, Taiwan Trilogy (Mazu the Goddess), Zheng Cheng-Gung and Taiwan, The Story of Liao Tian-Din, The Story of A Great General, Long-lasting Sisterhood, The Legend of a Cowherd and a Weaver Girl, et al.

Also, through “themed planning,” it releases new traditional classical works, integrating social trends, effectively reviving cultural memories, and winning a high level of endorsement among the public.

As we enter further into the twenty-first century, the company is striving to draw increasingly upon modernity and literature in Beijing opera in its efforts to initiate a brand new aesthetic in the art of opera, thereby manifesting a richly humanistic form of “Taiwan creativity.” New works of recent years, such as Mr. Goodman Dumps His Wife, Three Persons and Two Lamps, The Golden Cangue, Whispers at a Tomb Stone and Trilogy of Opera Actors (Meng Xiao-Dung, A Hundred Years on Stage, Flowing Sleeves and Rouge), The Painting of 18 Lohans, Lord Guan Yu on Stage, et al., echo with contemporary cultural development, progressing from the dramatic circle to the literary circle and enjoying the approval of people from all walks of life, and are greatly valued in the academic field in Taiwan and cross-strait cultural circles.

Beijing opera represents the essential elements of traditional drama. With its origins in the dissemination and utilization of China’s classical cultural heritage, it was designated part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientifi and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010. GuoGuang, rooted in tradition and vigorously carry on the heritage, provides modern art with creative elements and opens the way for extensive artistic exploration. Transnational exchanges in symphonic music (Sunlight after Snowfall , 2007), contemporary dance, percussion, visual theater (Orlando, 2009), and Shakespearean drama (Cleopatra and Her Fools , 2012), in particular, demonstrate the varied vitality of vigorous innovation.