Cantonese Opera in Canada: Cantonese Opera in Canada

This exhibition catalogue provides context to the archival photographs and materials on Cantonese opera in Edmonton on display at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library of the University of Alberta. These materials document close to 100 years of Cantonese opera activities in Edmonton within the changing dynamics of the Chinese community. They portray “a story of life experiences on the Prairies by highlighting the inextricable relationship between Cantonese opera and the Edmonton Chinese community as this cultural practice moves deftly through historical periods between 1890 and 2009” (xvi).

One of the most acclaimed monographs dedicated to Cantonese opera in North America, this book narrates the history of Chinese theaters in North America during the 1920s, a golden age for this performing art. It offers historical contexts, discusses the practice of Cantonese opera, illustrates the Pacific Northwest connection, including Canada, introduces the history of a homegrown theater and traces the spread of theaters on the transnational network, as well as the transnational operation itself. It concludes with a reflection on Chinatown opera theaters’ impact on the local community and other aspects of American music.

In this Master thesis, Li examines the adaptation of Cantonese opera in Toronto. This work introduces Cantonese opera, discusses six prominent Cantonese music associations, covering their organizational structures, social and political backgrounds, and interviews eight Cantonese music practitioners who have made significant impact on the development of Cantonese opera in Toronto. By participating in many performances gatherings, the author observes and documents various types of Cantonese music-making activities in Toronto. In its conclusion, Li argues that “Cantonese opera in Toronto has retained its original form and substance but has changed in social significance from political to recreational. Its innate power of assimilation has not been brought into play in the Toronto setting” (xii). This is the only work dedicated to Cantonese opera in Toronto, providing a comprehensively list of active associations and practitioners in the 1980s.

Abstract: Possibly as early as 1860, Cantonese opera was performed with all its splendor and symbolic choreography in one of Victoria's five Chinese theatres. In isolation and obscurity from Occidentals, performances of vibrant colour with cacophonous music that passionately and rhythmically accompanied the fluid grace of the actors or the lightening acrobatic precision of warriors captivated a dedicated audience. More than just entertainment, Cantonese opera reinforced and rejuvenated the ancient Chinese culture, reaffirming their identity and retarding the assimilation process that came so easily in North America. Political turmoil and war prevented Chinese troupes from touring North America. As a result, a new generation of entertainment developed to meet the cultural needs of the Chinese population. Resident music societies and dramatic organizations performed Cantonese opera locally and established new entertainment traditions that reflect Chinese theatrical conventions.

This thesis expands prior academic studies on the social context of Cantonese opera by analyzing its social functions and the role it plays in the Edmonton Chinese community from 1890 to 2009. Through this study, the author attempts to: 1) affirm the versatility of Cantonese opera as an art form that has continued its presence and vibrancy throughout the history of Chinese immigration in Edmonton; 2) uncover the social relevance of Cantonese opera in meeting changing community needs and in fortifying the changing Chinese self-identity from sojourners to settlers; and 3) add knowledge to understanding Chinese life experiences through the context of Cantonese opera in Edmonton.

The authors present the history of Vancouver's associations that have performed Cantonese opera and music, from the arrival of the first Cantonese in the mid-19th century until today. The authors focus their analysis on three important associations, particularly examining their context of integration. The authors argue that such associations will only be able to survive marginally in the future.

This article provides a summary on the development of Cantonese Opera in Canada from the 1850s to the 1990s. According to its abstract, “Cantonese opera has had a history of more than 100 years in British Columbia, and has been performed from the second decade of this century in those Canadian cities with significant populations of Chinese origin. It is currently extremely popular in Vancouver and Toronto, with large numbers of well-attended performances every year, most put on by local amateurs. In the earlier years performances were primarily given by professional troupes touring from China, meeting the needs of the segregated Chinese Canadians for familiar entertainment. Since the 1920s, local non-profit organizations dedicated to the purpose have trained amateur performers and organized their own performances as well as tours by actors and troupes from Hong Kong and Canton. During the last few years, many professionals have immigrated to Canada and opera has moved towards a more commercial organizational base.”

This article introduces history and development of Cantonese Opera in Vancouver’s Chinatown through narrating and interpreting the meanings of artefacts, costumes, and other related historical objects. It contains many vivid images of these objects.

“By delving into sources in Vancouver, British Columbia – sources that have only recently become available – this article seeks to tackle questions concerning the Cantonese opera’s transnational mobility. Among these sources is an extensive run of theatre advertisements and related news items that appeared in the Chinatown newspaper the Chinese Times.”

Abstract: In the 1910s and 1920s, through joint ventures, Chinese in Canada and the United States succeeded in forming a network of opera performance and revived their fluidity of movement in the Pacific Northwest region. Because this network returned significant mobility to troupes and performers, Chinese theatres flourished again in North America. This article provides a preliminary overview of this body of troupes and performers in Canada, its impact and the national and transnational forces that shaped it. It addresses key issues related to this history: the effect of immigration control, the relevance of Chinese theatres to community life, and the transborder crossings.

Abstract: In the United States, Chinese theatres were prosperous in the 1920s, creating a vibrant Cantonese opera culture in several major cities. They staged performances daily, featuring stellar singers and elaborate productions. As cultural migration, operas played significant roles in Chinese communities, from entertainment to ritual worship, and from public face to daily practices. This article argues that the cultural space constituted an important part of Chinese American collective memory. The theatre space was complicatedly shaped by a list of players including the trans-Pacific network of merchants and performers, legal brokers, US Immigration officers at the port and in Washington, DC, as well as enthusiastic audiences and the social milieu. The theatres were subjected to many constraints and limited by them. By studying this cultural memory in its complicated layers, the article also explores the ways in which Chinese theatres and opera performances provide an important imaginary space for second-generation Chinese Americans.

Abstract: Opera theatre forms an important part of Chinese Canadian cultural history. Since first appearing in Victoria in the 1860s, Chinese theatres were woven into the community’s everyday life, performing Cantonese opera, the regional genre known to the majority of Chinese immigrants who came from the Pearl River Delta of southern China. A brief survey of historical city maps from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century shows their central role in Chinese Canadian community of the Pacific Northwest. Recent discovery of a Chinese theatrical company’s daily business receipts provides a window into the performance culture and daily operations of a Chinese theatre between 1916 and 1918 in Vancouver. This vibrant period of the 1910s paved the way for full-fledged theatre operation in the following decade that brought about a new era of Chinese opera performance in Canada.

In this article, the author provides a brief introduction of Cantonese opera activities in Toronto and introduces the Raymond and Beatrice Jai Collection of Cantonese opera at University of Toronto. This collection includes photos, manuscripts, musical scores, performance programs, recordings, and other archival material, amassed from the 1930s to the ’90s that Raymond and Beatrice Jai collected as music director and performer, respectively.

The author documents the story of her grandma, Gar Yin Hune, who came with her Cantonese opera troupe when the Chinese Exclusion Act was in place in 1938. She ended up staying in Canada and built her family and calling Canada home.

This article discusses cultural performances, mainly Cantonese opera, in a Canadian context from an intercultural studies perspective. Drawing on cultural activities, primarily organized by and for Chinese Canadian communities, the author illustrates the struggles and dynamics of Chinese Canadians bridging their cultural identities between their hometowns and Canada for immigrants, between generations among the Chinese Canadians, and between cultural subgroups of Chinese diasporas. He argues that these opera performances and their related activities, such as demonstration and seminars, illustrate and consolidate the manifestation of transcultural identity and acculturation of Chinese Canadians. The introduction and adaptation of these cultural activities in Canada, enabled by transcultural identities of Chinese Canadians communities, symbolize the transcendence of borders, linguistics boundaries, and geographic remoteness.

This brief introduction of Victoria’s Chinatown theatre provides a glimpse of the history and activities of Cantonese opera for the Chinese Canadians in Victoria from 1858 to 1980s.