An award-winning Hakka opera troupe is to embark on a tour of South America this month, as part of the Hakka Affairs Council’s efforts to promote traditional Hakka performance arts overseas.
The tour is scheduled to begin on Monday next week and conclude on Feb. 19, with performances scheduled in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.
Led by the Rom Shing Hakka Opera Troupe (榮興客家採茶劇團), the tour is to include renditions of Hakka folk songs as well as modern Hakka-language music.
Formed in 1988, Rom Shing employs melodies taken from Hakka mountain songs — traditionally sung by tea-pickers while working in the hills — to create new operatic pieces based on epic historical themes, while dabbling with elements found in many other blends of traditional folk music.
While performed in the Hakka language, all theatrical and musical performances are also to be accompanied by subtitles in Portuguese or Spanish.
The troupe yesterday held a pre-tour performance at the New Taipei City Hakka Museum in Sansia District (三峽) to an audience of more than 400 people.
Dressed in vibrant warriors’ outfits, the troupe awed the crowd with its theatrical combat scenes, including performances that featured intricate backflips and actors who juggled spears among each other.
Hakka Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chung Wan-mei (鍾萬梅) said the tour was an opportunity to promote Hakka culture, as well as provide an opportunity for young Hakka people from immigrant communities to learn about their heritage.
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