When it comes to opera, you might think of Peking Opera. But have you ever heard of Qinqiang Opera(秦腔)?

Qinqiang Opera is one of the e    1     forms of opera in China. It started on the ancient folk songs and dances of the people in Shanxi and Gansu provinces. According to historical r    2    , the local opera dates all the way back to the Qin Dynasty (221-206B.C.).

Hou Yan is the president and Party secretary of Qinqiang Theater of the Ningxia Performing Arts Group. She started learning Qinqiang Opera at 4.

Training in the basic skills of Qinqiang Opera is very c    3    . In 1985, Hou studied at an art school where teachers were very strict with students. Leg stretching(伸展), waist bending(弯曲) and somersaults(翻筋斗) were just some of Hou’s daily training routines. While training, each basic move would have to be held accurately for half an hour and a single m    4     could mean she had to start all over again. Her hard work f    5     paid off. Hou became a performer with a troupe(剧团) in Yinchuan at 16. But in 1993, the sweeping trend(趋势) of pop and Western music hit Qinqiang Opera hard. The troupe was closed and Hou had no choice but to leave the opera stage.

In the past decades, however, China has made great efforts to develop its traditional culture. Hou r    6     to the stage in 2000 and put her heart into the opera form.

Now, Hou’s team gives hundreds of performances every year. The average age of Hou’s opera team is 30. In 2021, they staged about 150 school performances.

“As we become more c    7     about our culture, more young people feel proud of our traditional culture and take it as a fashionable trend. They also become promoters(倡导者) of our own culture,” said Hou.