Vancouver Cantonese Opera shares the Art of Water Sleeves via a virtual party, October 29
The livestream event is part of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival
Vancouver Cantonese Opera founder Rosa Cheng says the proper technique of water sleeves involves much more than hand movements. Photo by David Cooper
The Art of Water Sleeves, in English and Cantonese, livestreams on October 29 from 2 to 3:30 pm via Zoom and Facebook Live as part of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival.
WITH ROOTS DATING back to the Zhou Dynasty (1046 to 256 BCE), water sleeves are a dramatic stage technique in Chinese opera. The sleeves, often made of silk, are flowing extensions of a performer’s robe or costume that artists manipulate through different gestures to convey emotions.
Wigwagging, whisking, quivering, pulling, casting, and throwing: these are just some of the movements that performers deftly use to express sadness, joy, adoration, and more.
As part of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival, Vancouver Cantonese Opera will present The Art of Water Sleeves, a virtual opera party with a live performance and interactive water-sleeve lesson led by VCO founder Rosa Cheng. Taking place in English and Cantonese, the free, family-friendly livestream event is on October 29 from 2 to 3:30 pm via Zoom and Facebook Live. (See here to register.)
Cheng grew up in Hong Kong but it wasn’t until the early 1990s, many years after she immigrated to Canada, that she fell in love with Cantonese opera. (Cantonese opera, 粵劇, is one form Chinese opera, having originated in southern China’s Guangdong Province.) Her grown kids had left home, and she and her husband were invited to a performance in Richmond. Intrigued, she began taking classes, learning everything from how to apply elaborate makeup to traditional dances and songs. She began teaching classes in Chinatown, then, in 2000, founded the non-profit Vancouver Cantonese Opera. It was the artistic pursuit she never knew she was missing.
“Cantonese opera changed my life,” Cheng tells Stir. “It makes my life more colourful. I can be on stage and be many different characters—a young maiden or a beautiful fairy or a very powerful empress.”
Cheng has performed many principal female roles over the years, including those in The Yang’s Family, Princess Cheung Ping, The Battle of Hung Jau, An Imperishable Love (for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics’ Cultural Olympiad), The Concubine’s Vengeance, and The Legend of the Purple Hairpin.
The art of water sleeves involves much more than merely hand gestures, Cheng explains.
“It’s a technique to express your anger, to express your sorrow, to express your happiness,” Cheng says. “But it’s not just using the water sleeve to do the flicking, the twisting, all the different techniques. It involves your whole body, your eyes, and your facial expressions. It is very fascinating."
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