Peking Opera actress to give two Cheng-style performances

Peking Opera actress Zhai Qian, a student of the Cheng performing style, will give two shows at Mei Lanfang Grand Theater in Beijing on Thursday and Friday.

As one of the four major nandan performing styles of Peking Opera developed by and named after Peking Opera master Cheng Yanqiu (1904-58), the Cheng performing style is known for interpreting tragic roles for women with frequent changes in rhythm.

During the two shows, Zhai will play excerpts from classic pieces, The Jewelry Purse, Tears of Huangshan, and Yu Tang Chun. Peking Opera actor Yi Lin, a wusheng actor known for his martial arts roles, will join Zhai's show on Friday, performing the piece, Lin Chong Flees by Night.

In 2016, the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts launched a project that enabled renowned Peking Opera actress Zhang Huoding, who is known for preserving the performing style of Cheng, to mentor young female students performing in the style. Zhai is one of the students of the project.

Zhai began to study Peking Opera in an art school in Shandong province in 2006 and in 2012, came to Beijing to study at the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts. In 2014, she began to study with Zhang.

As this year marks the 120th anniversary of Cheng's birth, a series of Peking Opera shows are being staged by the university to commemorate the master of the genre.