Yueju Opera talent hopes for broader audience

The hit music reality show Riding Wind is a stage production showcasing female talent. Since its inception in 2020, it has been a platform for women over 30 to display their charms and talents through various pop music performances.

As a spotlight illuminated the vast, empty stage, the camera slowly zoomed in to reveal a handsome figure dressed in exquisite hanfu.

Holding a folding fan and radiating an heroic aura through eyes, the performer presented a Yueju Opera song with delicate vocals, portraying the image of a carefree, unambitious knight-errant of ancient China.

As the performance concluded, the audience waved red glow sticks and loudly chanted "Chen Lijun", the performer's name, over and over.

The energy was palpable, with enthusiastic screams and waving red lights that created an atmosphere more electrifying than a show put on by a pop star.

Celebrating diversity

Yueju Opera is a traditional style of opera popular in the Yangtze River Delta region. Its male roles are typically played by women.

The performance marks the first time the pop-dominated stage of Riding Wind has presented traditional opera as one intact section.

The show gathers female contestants at a minimum age of 30, to vie for a spot in the winner's group, celebrating the diverse beauty and confidence of women across different age groups in the youth-obsessed entertainment industry. The show concluded on Friday on the video-sharing platform Mango TV.

Throughout rounds of competitions with varied themes, they perform as individuals or in groups to win audience votes.

Usually, the show's participants are singers, film and TV actresses, female anchors, musicians or dancers who are or were active in the entertainment industry.

Chen, a 32-year-old Yueju Opera actress who performed in house theaters, is surprised by her immense popularity since her debut on the show.

Besides the Yueju Opera performance, she has often attempted to integrate it with pop music in the program.

She once joined singer-turned-actress Chen Haoyu, 32, anchor and actress Liu Yan, 43, and singer-songwriter Sa Dingding, 40, to perform an adaptation of the megastar Jay Chou's Chinese-style hit song Fa Ru Xue (Snow-like Hair) featuring Yueju Opera pieces.

"The four performers showcased four styles of beauty. Their performance included traditional elements such as sword and fan dancing. I believe this is a brilliant Chinese-style stage performance that more foreign audiences should see," comments a netizen with the username Yuegujiangnan.

Yan Qing, a 24-year-old viewer, says that Chen Lijun's performances in the show piqued her interest in Yueju Opera.

"I watched Chen Lijun's live, unedited Yueju Opera performance on the program. I immediately understood the beauty of this art form and her sincere devotion to the arts. After that, I started searching for Yueju Opera excerpts online," Yan says.

"I joined this show to promote Yueju Opera. I hope our traditional art forms can integrate into people's daily lives and reach a wider audience," Chen Lijun says, adding this journey is "not in vain".

"For each stage performance, I strive to incorporate Yueju Opera elements but also balance them to create performances that suit the stage style. Every other participant's attitude toward life and performance inspires me. Although we excel in different fields, I believe their enjoyment is the same as mine on the opera stage."

French chanteuse Joyce Jonathan is among the participants who have a keen interest in Yueju Opera.

Jonathan's mother runs a travel agency that began promoting tours to China in the 1990s.

"I first came to China when I was 10. I always feel that this is my second home," she says, noting her ability to listen to Chinese and sing some Chinese songs.

To help Jonathan better sing an excerpt from the classic Yueju Opera piece The Red Chamber, Chen Lijun patiently demonstrated each word. With another participant, Shang Wenjie, a singersongwriter and a French major graduate of Fudan University acting as the interpreter, Chen Lijun taught Jonathan how to accurately pronounce the lyrics and modulate her voice for Yueju Opera.

"Chen Lijun is very professional when it comes to opera. She showed me that traditional Chinese opera requires fine-tuned techniques and emotions. It made me appreciate how charming Yueju Opera is," says Jonathan.

Empowering women

On the program that pursues female empowerment, Chen Lijun says: "Feminine strength is diverse. It can be gentle, resilient, brave or wise. I believe feminine strength is undefined and infinite."

The "infinite female strength "runs through the evolution of the all-female Yueju Opera troupes.

When Yueju Opera was first created, the performers were male farmers, because women were barred from the theater due to constraints in feudal society.

Influenced by the New Culture Movement, an intellectual and cultural campaign in the 1910s and 1920s that sought to modernize Chinese society, women sought liberation and stepped out of home.

Inspired, a group of women from Shengxian county, Zhejiang province, formed the first all-female Yueju Opera troupe and went to Shanghai to make a living. And they got popular and recognized.

"The birth of the all-female Yueju Opera was influenced by the awakening of female consciousness at that time," Luo Huaizhen, a playwright and adviser to the China Theatre Association, tells China Art newspaper.

"Yearning for urban life and emotional freedom, they maintained independence and stayed sober-minded. These spiritual pursuits and values were intentionally or unintentionally reflected in the performances of the all-female Yueju Opera, becoming the era's voice for women's liberation," Luo says.

Defining strength

Chen Lijun has also demonstrated an undefined feminine strength in her career by portraying male roles one after another in Yueju Opera.

Growing up in Shengzhou, Zhejiang, the birthplace of Yueju Opera, Chen Lijun was familiar with the art by listening to her grandparents and parents often humming tunes.

At 13, she decided to become a Yueju performer and entered a local art school to start the long days of practicing gestures, expressions, movements and steps.

However, after joining a five-year training program in 2008 that prepares actresses for the renowned Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yueju Opera Troupe, she was advised to switch to performing xiaosheng (young man) roles due to her tall height.

This meant starting anew, practicing the body language and vocal techniques for male roles. She went through a difficult transition period, practicing martial arts until she had many injuries and singing until her vocal cords were strained.

Year after year, through countless rehearsals and refining different roles, she gradually learned how to portray male characters.

"I have learned to walk onto the stage relaxed, not worrying about whether every line, vocal part or movement is perfect. On stage, I worry not about making mistakes but about becoming the character."

In 2023, Chen Lijun got to play a supporting male role in the innovative Yueju Opera show New Dragon Gate Inn, which was adapted from a movie of the same name.

The show features six actresses dressed in exquisitely designed costumes who play roles from a spirited landlady to skilled swordsmen, spies and soldiers on a stage that intrudes into the audience, offering a more immersive experience with opportunities for interaction.

This is very different from a conventional Yueju Opera show.

Its 138 performances in small theaters attracted over 15,000 visitors with an average attendance rate of 97 percent, 80 percent of whom were young people experiencing Yueju Opera for the first time.

The show's first live online broadcast on the short-video platform Douyin drew over 9 million viewers.

Chen Lijun's portrayal of Jia Ting, characterized by a handsome face, swift and decisive fight scenes, and a charming, nonchalant demeanor, captivated many.

A video clip of Jia lifting and spinning the landlady with just one arm went viral. Many female viewers affectionately called her "Miss Husband" to express their admiration for her precise portrayal of male roles. Chen has garnered over 3.4 million followers on Douyin.

Chen attributes the show's popularity to the bold innovations by producer Mao Weitao, an established Yueju Opera actress, the creative ideas from the young production team and the audience's active editing of the show's videos, which helped to spread many clips to the public.

Facing sudden fame, Chen Lijun remains calm.

"This overwhelming attention isn't about me but about Yueju Opera and traditional culture. Public attention comes quickly and fades just as fast. My goal is to keep the focus on Yueju Opera for as long as possible."