張火丁的舞臺之路

On September 2nd of 2015， “The Legend of the White Snake” appeared at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. The American audience got its first glimpse of Zhang Huoding， one of China’s biggest Peking Opera stars， as she made her United States debut.

2015年9月2日，中國首屈一指的京劇明星張火丁攜《白蛇傳》在林肯中心大衛·H·寇克劇院初次登上美國舞臺。一批美國觀眾首次目睹其風采。

Ms. Zhang， a woman of 44， is a megastar in Beijing. She has performed for sold-out crowds here and in Shanghai， winning a large audience， including young fans， with her sorrowful eyes， deep voice and graceful displays of martial arts. In 2007， she was the first Peking Opera performer to perform solo at the Great Hall of the People of China’s central government.

44歲的張火丁是北京的一位著名演員。她在北京和上海的演出場場爆滿。她那哀怨的眼神、低沉的嗓音和優美的身段令觀眾著迷，其中包括大批年輕戲迷。2007年，她成為在人民大會堂進行個人獨唱表演的首個京劇演員。

Her journey to the stage， she says， began in Jilin Province in northeast China， where she grew up in a family of traditional opera performers. Her father toured with a group that performed a regional form of opera called Pingju， which is common in Hebei Province.

張火丁透露自己的表演生涯始于中國東北部的吉林省。她在一個傳統曲藝之家長大，父親會隨劇團巡回演出，表演評劇。評劇是一種地方戲曲，常見于河北省。

Ms. Zhang was about 9 when she fell in love with the sounds and rhythms of Peking Opera. But to her dismay， three times over the next five years， she failed to gain admission to a regional training school. After begging her parents for private lessons， she was sent to Beijing to study with an elderly couple. Soon after， at 15， relatively late for an opera student， she enrolled in an opera school in Tianjin.

大約9歲時，張火丁愛上了京劇的聲腔和韻律。但讓她失望的是，在接下來的五年里，她三次報考一家地方培訓學校均以失敗告終。請求父母允許參加私人課程獲準后，她被送往北京，師從一對年邁的夫婦。不久后，15歲的張火丁入讀天津一所戲校。對于研習戲曲的學生來說，這個年齡有些晚了。

After graduating in 1989， she was invited to join a military Peking Opera troupe based in Beijing， and began training with one of the opera world’s most accomplished performers， Zhao Rongchen， who taught her the so-called Cheng School style， one of the four major styles that emerged in the early 20th century.

1989年畢業后，張火丁受邀加入北京的一個部隊京劇團，并開始接受堪稱戲曲界最有成就演員之一的趙榮琛的訓練。趙榮琛教授了她“程派”技藝。“程派”是20世紀初興起的京劇四大流派之一。

Fame came some years later， in the mid-1990s， while she was performing with the country’s leading Peking Opera troupe. The opera world began speaking highly of her after she created a special Peking Opera show at the famed People’s Art Theater in Beijing.

若干年后，張火丁聲名鵲起。當時是90年代中期，她在中國頂尖的京劇團演出。她在著名的北京人民藝術劇院開創了一種獨特的京劇表演形式，之后京劇界對她大加贊揚。

However， the popularity of Peking Opera is declining， and future opera stars may never be as popular as Ms. Zhang. Li Shiqiang， the author of several books on Chinese opera， says that while traditional operas won’t disappear entirely， partly because of the government’s support， some of the best traditions and stories are constantly being lost.

然而，目前京劇的影響力正在下滑，未來的戲曲演員可能永遠都不會像張火丁這么受歡迎。著有多部有關中國戲曲著作的李世強表示，雖然由于政府的支持等原因，傳統戲曲不會完全消失，但最優秀的一些傳統和故事卻不斷失傳。

Things looked so different in 1930， when one of Peking Opera’s greatest stars， Mei Lanfang， performed in New York. There was a sense then that Chinese traditional opera could spread overseas and even influence the global art scene.

1930年，一代京劇大師梅蘭芳在紐約演出。當時的情況完全不同，人們覺得中國傳統戲曲會傳到國外，甚至會影響全球藝術舞臺。

In an interview， Ms. Zhang lamented that the great age of Peking Opera may be coming to an end. She said young people today aren’t always willing to put up with the rigors and discipline and sacrifice needed to be a great performer. She said she wanted to inspire the next generation.

在一次采訪中，張火丁感嘆京劇的黃金時代可能就要結束了。她說，現如今的年輕人并不總是愿意忍受成為一名優秀演員所需要的苛刻性、紀律性和犧牲性。她說她希望自己能激勵下一代人。