Veteran reinvents classic tale

Li Weikang, one of the country's most famous Peking Opera performers, wants to use her experience to keep the traditional theater form fresh.

When she applied to the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts, there were more than 2,000 people competing and only 60 stood out.

"I miss the days when I studied in that school. With no contemporary entertainment, we just focused on Peking Opera. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know about it," she says.

Li rose to fame at 30 after performing in the Peking Opera piece, Reply to Li Shuyi, which was based on a poem of the same title written by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1957.

Then she performed lead roles in both classic and contemporary Peking Opera works, such as Qin Xianglian and The Dragon and Phoenix in Auspicious Union.

For Li, two of her main interests are watching and performing the opera.

"When I watch Peking Opera shows, I like observing the reaction of the audiences, which help me improve and adjust my own performance," says Li.

"I also believe that the best place to train a Peking Opera actor is the stage."

"I didn't stop performing during the past 50 years because I belong to it," she adds.

Li says that this remake of The Magic Lamp is significant as it ties in with what President Xi Jinping said to artists last year.

He told them to produce work with artistic and moral values as well as shoulder the responsibility to pass on the traditional and classics in art and culture, during a cultural and art seminar last October.

Li also says that some performances now fuse with Peking Opera for the sake of gaining commercial success or simply to seek attention.

"It's not Peking Opera if its core has been lost. The balance between old and new is always an issue that deserves to be carefully handled and we should respect the classics," she says. "Peking Opera stands the test of time with its more than 200 years of history. It passes on the classic works and Chinese traditional art forms. I want to use my experience to keep it fresh and authentic."

Related:

Traditional Yuju Opera faces dilemma

Dian opera troupe concealed in Kunming food market