chinese opera student sings from audience

The Little Peony provides them with lessons, housing, and meals for an annual tuition fee of 5,200 yuan ($785).

After a quick warm-up session, they wave multicolored fans and handkerchiefs, which have remained the props of choice to enchant errenzhuan audiences.įor students like Haoxuan, the school is a home away from home. It’s 7 o’clock in the morning, and 13-year-old Ding Haoxuan is already gathered with his schoolmates in a courtyard at the center of a block of brick houses. By Daniel Holmes and Wu Huiyuan/Sixth Tone Yin Quanlin, principal of the Little Peony Art School, talks about the importance of passing on the art of Errenzhuan to future generations. “Without the opera element, errenzhuan is not errenzhuan,” says Yin Quanlin, who founded Little Peony in 2000. Though heavy on thumping modern pop beats, the performances are sprinkled with bursts of the traditional opera, too. In a brightly lit room, they stand in front of a computer livestreaming playful acts to a few hundred viewers online.

But with its popularity waning, institutions like Little Peony are attempting to pass down the errenzhuan tradition to youth.Įvery evening inside a classroom in Qiujiagou Village, nestled amid the cornfields two hours from provincial capital Shenyang, a group of students perform errenzhuan - but with a modern twist. Known for its witty, relatable narratives, the traditional opera was once so popular that locals skipped meals to enjoy errenzhuan, according to an ancient proverb. LIAONING, Northeast China - The Little Peony Errenzhuan Art School is teaching a few dozen students about a 300-year-old art form, in hopes that it will find a new audience among the younger generation.Įrrenzhuan, which translates as “song-and-dance duet,” exemplifies the rustic entertainment of China’s northeast.

Chinese opera student sings from audience