Changing stages

Er'renzhuan performers from the Northeast Wind Company in Changchun rehearse backstage. Feng Yongbin / China Daily

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Today's er'renzhuan is much more refined, both in terms of content and its venues. Most of the vulgarity, such as dirty jokes, has been removed. It is more like a mix of stand-up comedy, acrobatics, and song-and-dance show.

Ma recalls his experience watching er'renzhuan in a tiny, filthy room packed with people, 12 years ago. Such show rooms were everywhere. But now, Ma's three er'renzhuan theaters in Changchun are well decorated and large enough to house 500 people each.

"We have made big changes in the past eight years. Some are specially tailored for the young," adds Ma.

Performers improvise more now to interact with the audience and it's their aim to entertain every member of the crowd.

Jiang Panpan, an er'renzhuan performer, says residents in Northeast China invite their friends from other places to watch the folk show.

Jiang is the fourth-generation performer in her family. Her grandparents used to play er'renzhuan in rural areas for country folk, usually singing and dancing for hours, for food or money.

Today, the 25-minute show Jiang performs as part of an er'renzhuan live show earns her 500 yuan ($82). She sings, banters with her male partner and jokes with the audience - most of whom are young or middle-aged city folk.

In 2011, Jiang visited Australia with her er'renzhuan theatrical company to perform for Chinese communities in Sydney and Melbourne.

"Everything has changed. More people enjoy it. I'd never expect I would have had the chance to go abroad as an er'renzhuan performer," says the 27-year-old, who started learning the folk art at 13 after she completed her primary school.