Tang Youming, head of a troupe in Chongqing's Qijiang county, said almost all of the performers have second full-time jobs and only gather together for rehearsals, which are rare these days.
The group's performance quality has fallen due to less time spent practicing, and the troupe has even had to lease their theater to make ends meet, Tang said.
The Shanghai Yue Opera Troupe has managed to fare better. The troupe performs about 200 commercial shows a year and is able to pay its performers a decent monthly salary, but even with the government financing half of its annual operational costs, the troupe has no money for training.
"Many talented performers left for greener pastures, which is a blow to our troupe," said Li Li, the troupe's leader.
The troubles facing traditional Chinese opera could cause problems for the continuation of inheritance lines, as traditional opera is a form of intangible cultural heritage, according to Zhang Fengqi, director of the Literature and History Institute of the Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences.
The problems may become even greater after China finishes reforming its cultural industry, as state-owned and -financed troupes are being encouraged to transform themselves into private enterprises, with no more state funding.
Artists said traditional Chinese opera definitely needs the government's financial and policy support, but at the same time, it must adapt itself to keep up with the times.
While continuing to perform classic operas like "A Dream of Red Mansions," the Shanghai Yue Opera Troupe has also been writing its own operas, some of which have become popular, Li Li said.
Chen Zhaoshun, an opera artist who headed a delegation from Anhui province to the festival, said that modern technology has allowed opera troupes to gain more influence and attract new audiences.
Chen said traditional operas must make changes if they want to survive. For example, in "A Woman under the Feet of Duxiu Mountain," the director adjusted the pronunciation of certain words in Anqing dialect, in which the opera is sung, to standard Mandarin so that audience members can better comprehend the show.
But he warned that traditional Chinese opera must never abandon its roots and core elements.
As for the future of traditional Chinese opera, Chen said he would like to see opera education included in primary and high school curricula in order to encourage young people to take up the artform.
"You will love for a lifetime the things you like to listen to when you are a kid," he said.
Source: Xinhua
Editor: Liu Fang
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