Project Management

The Legendary Ming Hua Yuan: A Mix of Traditional Performing Arts and Modern Management

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With an 85-year history, Ming Hua Yan Arts and Cultural Group is one of Taiwan’s artistic treasures.

But in recent decades, the Taiwanese opera group has faced a big challenge: how to modernize a traditional folk art and introduce it to a modern audience. Since project managers often struggle to bring innovation to historic industries, Ming Hua Yuan provides a successful roadmap to follow.

  

Blending Innovation With Tradition

Chen Sheng-Fu, who oversees the family-owned organization, said its success began with committing to building on its reputation; the group needed larger audiences if its art and way of life was to survive. Taiwanese opera is marked by an emphasis on stylized singing and posture, showcased through simple, slowly paced stories. This is antithetical to modern audience expectations, so over the past 30 years, Chen and the organization have been working around this fundamental problem. He has introduced the director system from the movie industry, and extensively applied the elements of modern theater to the production of traditional repertoires.

For the modernization of the form itself, Ming Hua Yuan has been adopting more complex stories. They usually consist of multiple storylines juxtaposing the past and present on the same stage.  Ming Hua Yuan also introduced contemporary stage design such as lighting and sound effects, acrobatics and 3-D background panoramas, which are more typical in large-scale live concerts. In addition, more contemporary language was incorporated into the performance.

Ming Hua Yan's Stage Effect

Using Process Analysis and Cycle Time Application

As a program manager overseeing this modernization, Chen relied heavily on process analysis. He strives to ensure each performer, prop or stage design can fulfill multiple tasks. For instance, quick scene changes are made possible through costumes and set pieces that can be easily changed or modified between scenes, and that can conceal the smaller props and costumes. For example, a tree trunk can be part of a forest for one scene, then turned around to reveal an imperial throne in the next scene.

This allows on-stage performers to be as responsible for scene changes as stagehands and technicians. If 20 performers each spend eight seconds to complete the tasks, then nearly three minutes of work can be accomplished, with the audience experiencing only a brief musical interlude with dramatic lighting. Such a cunning application of “cycle time” enables Ming Hua Yuan to change scenes without dimming the lights and bringing down the curtain.

The challenge of running a traditional performing art group is no easier than running any modern business. But with modern techniques and professional management, Ming Hua Yuan has successfully reformed itself—and introduced a traditional art form to a global audience. 


Posted by Lung-Hung Chou on: December 24, 2014 06:56 PM | Permalink

Comments (3)

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Cool Article.

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Mohd Maruff Hajji Mohd Consultant - Business System| Bizwear Consultants Chennai, Tn, India
Nice article to connect tradition

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Manas De Amin Director| Computer Technology Group Kolkata Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Excellent article. Really thought provoking.

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