Chinese dance drama "Opera Warriors" premieres in Vancouver

The Canadian premiere of "Opera Warriors" was staged at Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Canada's West Coast city of Vancouver Tuesday night.

The five-act performance tells the story through dance and movement of three talented Beijing Opera actors in the early 20th Century. The story follows their lives through their loves, losses, fears and shared struggles to bring beauty to the stage.

The performers have been training for three years to prepare for this show, whose story is brought to life by the feats of strength amid beauty and grace.

"Opera Warriors" is presented as part of the cultural exchange program called Image China, which introduces China's traditional culture and contemporary arts to the world.

The show is presented by the China Arts and Entertainment Group, and includes select dancers from the Huajin Dance Drama Ensemble of Shanxi Academy of Arts.

Liu Siyuan, a professor of theater and film with Canada's University of British Columbia, told Xinhua that it was really nice to see a dance piece done in this way.

"It's a dance piece that focuses on traditional theater and features all the skills so well, and it tells the stories of the hardship and the hard work of the Beijing opera actors so well," Liu said.

The show's production director Wang Jinghua told Xinhua the performance will introduce Canadians to a major slice of China's culture and performing arts history.

"I think there are many Chinese cultural things in this drama which can be shown to the world, to all of the audiences. I think it's very important to let the world know about this fantastic drama," she said.

One performer, Du Yuejiao, said that for every performance, she would put all her efforts into the rehearsal and also the main performance. Endi