Ep. G: Gēzǎixì Taiwanese Opera 歌仔戲

(想聽2021年3月26日的廣播節目可以點開上面音符圖案的檔案 If you'd like to listen to the original 3/26/2021 radio episode, please click on the above music note to play the file)

As a person who has studied performance for many years, one of my favorite places to go to in Taiwan is the National Center for Traditional Arts on the northeast coast of Taiwan near Ilan. It's kind of a living museum of the various art forms that have developed in Taiwan, and it's a great place to see different Taiwanese performance styles, including Taiwanese Opera and Taiwanese Puppet Opera. You can even learn to do several local handicrafts and of course buy truly MIT (Made in Taiwan) souvenirs. All that surrounded by the relaxing Ilan countryside. To be honest, after Changhua County, which is my Taiwanese home, Ilan is my second favorite place in Taiwan. It has mountains and rivers and beautiful pastoral plains that stretch out into the Pacific Ocean. Every time I go to that county, I can imagine the farmers working in the fields there hundreds of years ago, looking out at the picturesque scenery and creating the songs and melodies that would become Taiwanese Opera. Of course, like almost all art forms, Taiwanese Opera is not only a creation of Ilan, or even only of Taiwan. It has evolved from several different opera forms in Fujian and other areas of Mainland China. So the formalized characters you see, the Dan, the Sheng, the Chou and others, can also be found in other forms of Chinese Opera. If you are like me and love to learn about different performance styles (in English, Mandarin, and Taiwanese), make sure you head out to Ilan! (Remember to look at the bottom of the post for the song notes!)

做為一個學習表演多年的人，我最喜歡台灣的地方之一是在東北海岸，靠近宜蘭的國立傳統藝術中心。這個地方感覺上是一個活生生的博物館，展現了在台灣發展起來的各種藝術形式，也是一個觀看台灣歌仔戲和台灣布袋戲等各種台灣表演風格的好地方。在那裡甚至可以學習製作很多當地手工藝品，而當然也可以買真正的MIT（台灣製作）的紀念品．而且整個中心園區被宜蘭舒服輕鬆的鄉村環境給包圍了，有夠舒服！說實話，除了我在台灣的家鄉彰化之外，宜蘭應該算是我在台灣最喜歡的地方．它擁有山脈和河流以及延伸到太平洋的美麗田地平原．每次去宜蘭縣時，我都能想像幾百年前在那片田地工作的農民們，看著如畫的風景，創作出將成為台灣歌仔戲的歌曲與旋律。當然就像幾乎所有藝術形式一樣，台灣戲曲不只是宜蘭人創作來的，甚至也不只是純粹台灣島上的人創作出來的，它是從福建省和中國大陸其他地區幾種不同戲曲形式演變而來的．因此，我們在戲中看到的形式化角色，如旦、生及丑等的角色，其實在其他戲曲形式也看得到．如果你跟我一樣喜歡學習不同表演形式（英語和國語和台語），一定要前往宜蘭玩一趟！（記得看網頁最下面的地方就可以找到歌曲的註解囉！）

Taiwanese Opera Song Lyrics歌詞

Travel in Taiwan and you will hear 在台灣旅行就會聽到
Many special and unique sounds 很多特別又獨特的聲音
For your ears 給你耳朵聽的

Travel in Taiwan and you will see 在台灣旅行就會看到
Art and shows and handicrafts 藝術與表演與手工藝品
From sea to sea 從海到海

But one of the most special 但其中最特別
Of them all 之一
Is the unique 是獨一無二的
Taiwanese Opera 歌仔戲

Starting in Lanyang 在蘭陽開始的
In the plains of Illan 在宜蘭的平原
Farmers humming songs 農夫哼唱歌
Became opera 就變化成了歌劇(歌仔戲)

Unlike lots of theatre 不像很多其他戲劇
Around the world 在世界上
The cast of Taiwanese opera is 歌仔戲的演員名單
mostly women and girls 大部分是女生和女孩

So one of the most special 因此其中最特別的東西之一
Things in Taiwan 在台灣
Is the unique 是獨一無二的
Taiwanese Opera 歌仔戲

When you watch the show 當你看表演時
Look for characters you know 找找你認得的角色
Dan are female characters 旦是女性的角色
Sheng are male characters 生是男性的角色
And Chou, oh 還有丑
Are the jesters 是小丑

Yes one of the most special 沒錯其中最特別的東西之一
Things in Taiwan 在台灣
Is the unique 是獨一無二的
Taiwanese Opera 歌仔戲

Taiwanese Opera 的和弦，因為主要旋律只有歌聲和二胡的旋律，所以沒有特定的和弦．但是歌曲是G大調的．整個曲子是我自己創造的，沒有其他來源😊