From stage to screen: Program brings Peking Opera to young audiences

The First Youth Peking Opera Performers Convention has been airing on TV and online since Nov 9, offering a chance for young audiences to get closer to this revered traditional art form and understand its artistry.

Featuring around a hundred young opera performers, the program, produced by China Media Group, is broadcast on CCTV opera channel as well as on online platforms like CCTV's official website.

Leveraging new technologies like 5G, 4K and AI, the opera gathering has brought Peking Opera from traditional theaters to both small and big screens, serving as a platform for the new generation of Peking Opera practitioners to display and exchange their talents.

Li Jia, a young performer from the Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing, expressed in the program her commitment to carry on the legacy of her grandmother and mother in Peking Opera art. She said that her dedication to this art form began after she was "deeply moved by their commitment to Peking Opera as a career and their rigor towards stage art".

As young performers demonstrate their passion for traditional artistry at this opera gathering and showcase results of their years of dedicated practice on stage, seeds brimming with passion and potential for this age-old art are taking root and sprouting in the artistic ground of Peking Opera.

Using primarily Beijing dialect, Peking Opera is a performance art incorporating singing, reciting, acting and martial arts. It was listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.

The Peking Opera gathering also invites veteran performers and experts to introduce various elements used in Peking Opera, such as other local operas, traditional costumes and the evolution of props, showcasing the mutual influence and intertwining of traditional art since ancient times.