China

A role to sink her teeth into

By Yang Yijun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-01 13:13

Xue Qiaoping, an actress of folk opera, performs on and off stage with pig's buckteeth in Ninghai, East China's Zhejiang province, in these two file photos. Photos Provided to China Daily

Performer keeps traditional art alive on stage

SHANGHAI - It is hard to connect her beautiful face with the ghostly images she projects on stage.

A slim young lady with big smiling eyes, Xue Qiaoping is unrecognizable on stage when a dozen long pig's teeth flail from her mouth and nostrils.

Xue, 29, is an actress in the traditional Chinese opera, Ninghai Flat Tone, created by Zhejiang artists more than 100 years ago. The essence of the opera is called shuaya in Chinese - literally, teeth playing.

"The beauty of the art lies in the fact that it looks rough, but at the same time it's delicate," said Xue, from Ninghai county of Zhejiang province.

When performing shuaya, Xue keeps several pairs of buckteeth in her mouth, usually 5 or 6 cm long, and then uses her tongue and mouth to swiftly move the ends of the teeth in and out. Different combinations of buckteeth express different moods for the characters, who are usually ghosts.

Xue often performs with 12 buckteeth at once, 10 in her mouth and two in her nostrils - and if you don't think that is enough, she also needs to speak, sing and do acrobatic fighting at the same time.

While it might be impressive to watch her perform, mastering the skills was a slow - and painful - process that took over 10 years.

"The teeth are made of pig's buckteeth, and they smell terrible. When I put them into my mouth for the first time, I felt really sick," Xue said.

"A month later, my mouth was all cut up by the sharp ends of the teeth," she said.

"Girls at that age all dream of being pretty, but I had to keep two buckteeth in my mouth for nine hours every day and my mouth just couldn't stop watering," she said.

She lost 6 kg in a month because she could hardly eat or drink and had to get an intravenous drip every day.

However, she eventually overcame all the pain and became a sixth generation performer of shuaya - and the first female in history.

She enrolled in the Shaoxing Opera Troupe of Ninghai county at the age of 16. Three years later she was transferred to the Flat Tone troupe with seven other girls when the local cultural authority wanted to protect its ancient cultural heritage, which was gradually losing followers.

The hardship of learning the traditional performances soon scared away the other girls. Only Xue kept practicing.

"I thought of quitting once, but I didn't give up," she said. "I take it as my responsibility to sustain the heritage."

In 2006, Ninghai Flat Tone was listed as a national cultural heritage.

Xue has since brought the unique performances to Europe, including France, Germany and Belgium.

"Foreign audiences were impressed by my performances, though a bit scared," she said. "I don't speak their language, but I could understand their gestures when they gave me the thumbs-up."

When Xue performed in the Shanghai Expo Garden in April and August, both performances were well received.

"I was glad to see the audience standing in the sizzling weather to watch my performance. It was almost 40 C that day," she recalled.

"I do hope more and more people will come to enjoy teeth playing," she said.

As successful as her performances have been, off stage Xue is still single. She broke up with her boyfriend when he asked her to quit teeth playing. After that, friends and family arranged several blind dates, but none succeeded.

"I'm kind of a workaholic. I practice several hours every day," she said. "I think work and love don't conflict. If he loves me, he must accept my job.

"I won't quit anyway because I know if I give up, some of our cultural heritage may be lost."

China Daily