A Huzhou opera trainee from Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hz66.com]

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province has been exploring ways such as launching special training sessions to revitalize local opera and bolster the inheritance of the art form.

Huzhou opera, which was created by local folk artists at the beginning of the 1990s, is renowned for its elegant and exquisite performance done in the Huzhou dialect.

As the only local opera from northern Zhejiang, it enjoyed huge popularity in Jiangnan, an area south of the Yangtze River Delta. It was listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage item in 2009 and was promoted to the national level in 2011.

However, the folk art, which was once loved by the people of Jiangnan, is now facing a shortage of performers. No large Huzhou opera performances have been staged for nearly 20 years since the beginning of reforms on State-owned troupes in 2001.

In an effort to promote the inheritance of this type of opera, Huzhou set up a special training class in 2018 that recruited over 10 students with an average age of 17.

After three years of training, the students can now stage many classic Huzhou opera programs. Their graduation show staged in June proved to be a huge success, marking the return of Huzhou opera to the stage after two decades.

In the same month, a facility designed to provide professional Huzhou opera trainings was inaugurated in Huzhou. The facility will explore market-oriented development paths for traditional operas.

Huzhou opera trainees from Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hz66.com]

A show staged by Huzhou opera trainees. [Photo/hz66.com]