Overview
Kim Hunter Gordon is Assistant Professor of Performance Studies and Major Convenor of Global China Studies at Duke Kunshan University. He completed his PhD in Asian Theatre and Dance from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2017 with a Joint Research Fellowship at Nanjing University, where he studied classical singing and prosody with Prof. Xie Yufeng. His extensive fieldwork included learning to perform the sheng role-type under Qian Zhenrong at Jiangsu Kunqu Theatre. He has over a decade of experience in stage translation for Kunqu and actively participates in the avocational singing circuit in China. Prior to his PhD, he worked as a journalist and media professional. At DKU, he has over six years experience teaching Global China, Media, Performance studies and Chinese to English translation. His forthcoming monograph Kunqu: China’s Classical Song Drama is due to be published by Methuen Drama in 2026.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Jing–Kun and the Hundred Operas: Revisiting the Categorisation of Chinese Theatre
Journal Article Journal of the Society for Asian Humanities (JOSAH) · 2023 This paper presents a critical examination of the classification and institu- tionalisation of xiqu 戲曲, or Chinese song-drama, throughout the twentieth century, with a particular focus on the substantial increase in officially recognised genres, now number ... Open Access CiteJing–Kun and the Hundred Operas: Revisiting the Categorisation of Chinese Theatre
Journal Article Journal of the Society for Asian Humanities (JOSAH) · 2023 This paper presents a critical examination of the classification and institu- tionalisation of xiqu 戲曲, or Chinese song-drama, throughout the twentieth century, with a particular focus on the substantial increase in officially recognised genres, now number ... Open Access CiteCai Zhengren, “Instating the Statue, Lamenting the Statue” (“Yingxiang Kuxiang” 迎像哭像) from The Palace of Lasting Life (Changsheng Dian 長生殿)
Chapter · September 1, 2022 This book consists of translated performer narrations that illuminate how one of the major Chinese theatrical forms has been taught and transmitted over the past century. ... Link to item CiteRecent Artistic Works
The Small Banquet 小宴 | Hunan Road Kunqu Society 20th Anniversary Performance
Theatrical Production December 1, 2019Six Records of a Floating Life 浮生六記 | Canglang Pavilion Garden, Suzhou
Theatrical Production May 1, 2018 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/UNFxHN5Yi0yWys_tx0-dOALadies of the Fan 女·扇 | Rising Artists’ Works (R.A.W.!), China Shanghai International Arts Festival
Theatrical Production October 21, 2017 http://www.rawland.com.cn/EN/About/1View All Artistic Works