Besides putting on stage performances regularly, the Guoguang Opera Company, conforming to the grade 1-9 curriculum designed by the Ministry of Education, has hosted many lively and pleasant workshops and activities to be used in dramatic art education. These include workshops for educators, children’s summer camps, watching performances in Guoguang’s theater and putting on performances in schools and local communities, and college workshops. In addition, a DVD series of “Marvelous Chinese Opera” has been issued to serve as material for teachers to use in the classroom to introduce dramatic art appreciation.
       The series of “Marvelous Chinese Opera” is divided into three parts: General Introduction, Basic Introduction, and Appreciation, a systematic approach to appreciating Chinese Opera. With a simple and direct approach to traditional drama in “General Introduction,” the “Basic Introduction” takes up the theme of “monkey operas for the Year of the Monkey.”  The primary feature is the most beloved monkey of all, Sun Wu-Kong, who wreaks havoc in heaven while serving to introduce the various character types in Chinese Opera. The Basic Introduction explains in detail the impressionistic features and formulae, the basic skills of “si-gong wu-fa (four skills and five gestures)”, character types, and the distinctive singing and dancing of Chinese Opera. The detailed elaboration helps students to understand the artistic values and the stage esthetics of traditional drama, all extracted from life experience. Teachers and students alike can come to appreciate dramatic art through the introduction’s insightful and tasteful guidance.
        Most importantly, in the Basic Introduction, the three units of “Creativity in Painted Faces,” “Tables and Chairs,” and “Flags and Sticks” have been specifically designed as teaching material to be used by teachers in the classroom to inspire the creativity and imagination of the students. Thus the students stand to benefit by artistic self-cultivation and gaining inspiration in artistic creation.