Prekindergarten at the Beijing Opera

A Special Performance of Beijing Opera

The Middle and Upper School Chinese department planned a special assembly featuring a professional Beijing Opera performer, and they invited Jenny Torgerson’s class to attend to have Prekindergarten at the Beijing Opera! The performance was a short work about an empress named Lady Yang and her famous love story.

The prekindergarteners are learning about theatrical productions and how you tell a story through a performance. At this Chinese presentation, the students learned about the symbolic meaning of the colors of the performers’ face painting. For example, white face paint represents treachery or cunning. Red represents loyalty. Black represents morality and ethics. Blue represents strength and bravery. In Beijing Opera, the colors reflect much about the characters’ personalities.

After Lady Yang’s performance, the students were excited to meet the empress!