Accompanied by a very rhythmic BGM (background music) quickly shows the oil paint, brushes, hair ornaments used in Peking Opera, and then the camera turns, Wang Mengting, who was originally in civilian clothes, instantly put on makeup - a modern girl transformed into Peking Opera Hua Dan, making a variety of classical Peking Opera gestures and postures.
This is a short video posted on the Douyin account by Peking Opera actress Wang Mengting, which received nearly 380,000 likes. This video not only made her fire out of the circle, gained the same traffic as the star short video, but also let more young people understand and fall in love with Peking Opera. In her opinion, Douyin let Peking Opera open the door a little and let more people in.
Wang Mengting is a professional Peking Opera actor of the Mei Lanfang Troupe of Beijing Opera House, who began to study Peking Opera at the age of 7 and has been on the Peking Opera stage for 25 years, performing traditional plays such as "Red Lady" and "Huo Xiaoyu", "Xi Jiao", "Big Mansion Gate" and so on. Since May 2017, Wang Mengting has released a total of 255 works on Douyin by integrating Peking Opera elements, works and short video gameplay, gaining 875,000 fans and 6.46 million likes.
Open Wang Mengting's Douyin account @ Peking Opera actress Wang Mengting, you can find that she is a living model that plays the old Peking Opera out of a new look. Wang Mengting often uses short videos to share the singing voice, makeup and knowledge of Peking Opera, and matches the traditional art form with her whimsical ideas, making short videos beautiful and interesting.
The blink of an eye is the basic skill of Peking Opera actors, and she follows the rhythm of the music on the vibrato to turn her eyes, which looks interesting and makes people appreciate the skills of Peking Opera actors. Peking Opera is very particular about gestures, and she makes them in the form of silhouettes, so that the audience can clearly and interestingly see dozens of Peking Opera gestures at once. Details of work in front of and behind the scenes, such as head pulling, patches, combing hair, thrushes, undertones, makeup removal, etc., allow fans to better understand and appreciate the beauty of Peking Opera. Even when she is shopping, she does not forget to show the stunning and beautiful after dressing up through the cross-dressing play of vibrato.
In addition to showing the wonderful details outside the Peking Opera, Wang Mengting is better at using Douyin to create momentum for her own works. In 2019, before and after the Peking Opera "Pansi Cave" starring Wang Mengting was staged, she shared the promotional film, costumes, rehearsals and complete performance scenes of her works through Douyin, which made fans addicted: "Teacher Wang carried forward the traditional culture of Peking Opera, people look beautiful, do things very rigidly, and especially like you." "Another restored traditional play, classic and innovative, so wonderful." "These days, various versions of Pansi Cave are staged in turn on Douyin, and traditional opera can also attract most young people, and the real reason for this popularity is self-evident!"
"Although we have some things that are very good now, because everyone's aesthetic is moving forward, I think the form should be diversified, and I have been thinking and working hard in this direction over the years." Wang Mengting introduced in the douyin short video that in the lost play "Pansi Cave", she integrated a lot of thoughts about art and Peking Opera. Like the creative innovation of "Pansi Cave", the dissemination of Peking Opera through short videos and live broadcasts on Douyin is also an indispensable part of the industry's innovation.
Wang Mengting believes, "The way I spread on Douyin is not to lower the position of Peking Opera, I just opened the door a little and let everyone in." Just as she hoped, through these simple but interesting and beautiful short videos, many young people who originally had stereotypes about Peking Opera began to contact Peking Opera and even became regular customers of the theater.
Nowadays, more and more young fans know Wang Mengting through the Douyin platform, and because she walks into the theater garden to see the real Peking Opera performance. Affected by the epidemic and other factors, more and more people on Douyin have learned, learned and approached Peking Opera through short videos and live broadcasts. According to Douyin's latest intangible cultural heritage data report, Peking Opera, together with xiangsheng and chess, was selected as the top three of the top ten most popular intangible cultural heritage projects in Douyin. Douyin has become the largest short video platform in China to record intangible cultural heritage.