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| (China Daily) |
Giants like Mei Lanfang experimented with new repertory when Peking Opera was on the rise. Mao faces a much tougher choice: innovate or die. All Chinese opera forms are fast shrinking in audience size. Yue Opera is among the lucky few with a sizeable base, albeit elderly women for a large part.
"It's easier for me to explore new territories because our art form is only 100 years old," Mao explains. "But Peking Opera is 200 years old and Kunqu is 600 years old. They'll encounter more resistance than I would."
The seeds of innovation were planted in the 1980s when Mao failed her college entrance exam. To make up for what she perceives to be her failure at higher education, she immersed herself in the intellectual pursuits of the day, such as reading newly permitted philosophy and literature from Western countries, frequenting fine arts exhibitions and befriending modern dancers.
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