Ask the question and you shall be showered with answers
Recently in a discussion about my eight-year-old daughter's steampunk costume, a question arose that brought with it some concern. My kids father wants to do this Russian inventor/toymaker sot of character (he is Russian) that specializes in music boxes and life size dolls (robotic) so he wants to do up my daughter as a Russian ballerina. My daughter finds her own Russian and Cherokee heritage interesting, but not nearly as interesting as Chinese culture, which she has been obsessive about since she was very little. When daddy said he wanted her to be a life size doll, she decided she wanted to be a Chinese doll. I didn’t want to squish her enthusiasm, but I wanted to find a way to guide her into a respectful line of research to her costume and character. I sent out this question to several steampunk groups and got some very helpful answers.
The most crucial advice so far I’ve gottem was from the group steamfashion . There a ljer named ryntha_doghare (who identifies as half Chinese) suggested that a steer her toward the Chinese Opera, and so paint her face in the fashion of one of their performers. I thought this was an especially brilliant suggestion since I imagine it’s not uncommon for Chinese toymakers to fashion dolls after famous Chinese Opera characters. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine a Russian toy maker seeing a Chinese Opera (Russia is not all that far from China) and being inspired to imitate a character from the story that really interested him. Another ljer (disgruntledgrrl ) suggested that we add a “made in Russia” tag to attach to my daughter's back, this to note that though she is fashioned after a Chinese character from the Opera, that she was made by a Russian toymaker. Genius!
Okay, so while the daughter sleeps I’ve been looking into some Chinese Opera and trying to find stories that might interest her. The costumes and makeup are amazing. Knowing my daughter as I do she is going to see it and flip. My daughter taste in fashion is what I commonly refer to a drag queen fashion, which means the more dramatic the better as far as she is concerned. The Chinese Opera is certainly on the high end of dramatic in costuming and in makeup. One of the Operas I came across seemed familiar to me so I dug deeper. It’s called the Monkey King, and the hero is a comical trickster hero, which I knew right away would appeal to her. Now I am looking for background info on the story (the Opera is in three acts) and the characters. I don’t want to make the research info complicated, she is only 8 after all, but I want to make sure she really understand the culture and history around the story and character she chooses to portray.
Anyone who knows of good places to get info on this Opera, please give a holler. Right now I am relying on my googlefu to get me where I need to go, but that can only get me so far. Also if anyone knows of other Chinese operas with strong princess characters, or even other with strong female characters send that along as well please. Okay, back to work so I have something to show her before she wakes up. :)
The most crucial advice so far I’ve gottem was from the group steamfashion . There a ljer named ryntha_doghare (who identifies as half Chinese) suggested that a steer her toward the Chinese Opera, and so paint her face in the fashion of one of their performers. I thought this was an especially brilliant suggestion since I imagine it’s not uncommon for Chinese toymakers to fashion dolls after famous Chinese Opera characters. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine a Russian toy maker seeing a Chinese Opera (Russia is not all that far from China) and being inspired to imitate a character from the story that really interested him. Another ljer (disgruntledgrrl ) suggested that we add a “made in Russia” tag to attach to my daughter's back, this to note that though she is fashioned after a Chinese character from the Opera, that she was made by a Russian toymaker. Genius!
Okay, so while the daughter sleeps I’ve been looking into some Chinese Opera and trying to find stories that might interest her. The costumes and makeup are amazing. Knowing my daughter as I do she is going to see it and flip. My daughter taste in fashion is what I commonly refer to a drag queen fashion, which means the more dramatic the better as far as she is concerned. The Chinese Opera is certainly on the high end of dramatic in costuming and in makeup. One of the Operas I came across seemed familiar to me so I dug deeper. It’s called the Monkey King, and the hero is a comical trickster hero, which I knew right away would appeal to her. Now I am looking for background info on the story (the Opera is in three acts) and the characters. I don’t want to make the research info complicated, she is only 8 after all, but I want to make sure she really understand the culture and history around the story and character she chooses to portray.
Anyone who knows of good places to get info on this Opera, please give a holler. Right now I am relying on my googlefu to get me where I need to go, but that can only get me so far. Also if anyone knows of other Chinese operas with strong princess characters, or even other with strong female characters send that along as well please. Okay, back to work so I have something to show her before she wakes up. :)