August 20

The opening ceremony for the Duke Kunshan University took place on Aug. 20 and it was a great day of celebration.  The convocation welcomed the first group of faculty and students at DKU and included a morning of speeches, a Kun Opera performance, the signing of the university’s Community Standard by each student, lunch at a local restaurant, and lots of photographs.  More details about the convocation ceremony can be seen on the DKU website.

The Kun Opera was performed by students from a local school.  The performers were twelve and thirteen years of age.  According to the Wintergreen Kunqu Society, "Kunqu (pronounced kwin chu) is one of the oldest and most refined styles of traditional Chinese theatre performed today. It is a synthesis of drama, opera, ballet, poetry recital, and musical recital, which also draws on earlier forms of Chinese theatrical performances."

"In a Kunqu performance, recitative is interspersed with arias sung to traditional melodies, called qu-pai. Each word or phrase is also expressed by a stylized movement or gesture that is essentially part of a dance, with strict rules of style and execution much like classical ballet. Even casual gestures must be precisely executed and timed to coordinate with the music and percussion. The refinement of the movement is further enhanced with stylized costumes that also serve as simple props."

I could not understand the words being sung but the beauty of the dancing and the melodic singing were spellbinding.

The Kun Opera performance helped to place the opening of the new campus within the rich cultural tradition of the city of Kunshan and the Jiangsu province.