Ｄｉｖｉｎｅ Ｄｉｖａ

Like her unexpected and fortuitousmarriage to a French diplomat， itwas by chance that Zheng Zirucame to love and perform PekingOpera. An artist in both traditional Chineseand modem Western song and dance genres，many of her friends could hardly believethat a person so dedicated to Peking Operacould turn her focus to a form of modemdance and drama so heavily infused withforeign culture.

Zheng's extraordinary talent for singingwas first evidenced in 1972， when she was astudent at the No. 7 Railway Primary Schoolin the Fengtai District of Beijing. Perform-ing in the Peking Opera version of The RedLantern， in the role of Grandma Li. Shelater entered the Central May 7 Universityof Art and learned how to perform the roleof laodan， an elderly female Peking Operacharacter. After seven years of study， at hergraduation ceremony she played the role ofShe Saihua， the dowager of the Yang familyof generals， as depicted in the historic taleThe Romance of the Yang Family Generals.The audience was enthusiastic and the di-rectors were particularly impressed. A yearlater they selected her to portray Jiang Gui-zhi， the lead role in The Dual of the FlowerSpears. The opera ran for 200 shows acrossthe country and Zheng's fame grew.

In September 1988， Zheng achieved adream when she took center stage for herown production in Beijing. She gained morefame upon winning the Best Performer ofthe Wenhua Prize， as granted by the gov-ernment for the opera Mu Lian Saves HisMother. Then 30 years of age， today she re-mains the youngest performer ever to winthe award.

In 2006， at the invitation of the PekingOpera Theater of Tianjin， Zheng acceptedthe leading role of laodan in the modem Pe-king Opera Hua Ziliang， based on the novelRed Crags， a tale of the revolution. The op-era was honored on multiple occasions， in-cluding being named as one of the Ten BestOperas of the First National Elite Projectsof Stage Arts， as designated by the PublicityDepartment of the CPC Central Committee，as well as taking the Wenhua Prize， awardedby the Ministry of Culture.

Perhaps it was Zheng's adventurous na-ture that brought her to try a very differentform of performance， when she turned hercreative focus from Peking Opera to mod-ern dance and drama.

In 1985， collaborating with the stu-dents of the Central Academy of Fine Artsand other art colleges， she tried her hand atthe modem dance drama， Uncle's Dream.Zheng took the lead role of Madame Maria.

\"It was fantastic，\" she says. \"I felt some-thing totally different from what I had expe-rienced before onstage， l was so happy andexcited!\"

Eventually， Zheng's personal lifeevolved along with her career. It was win-tertime when she came to know Blaize， aFrench diplomat stationed in China. Theylater married.

She relocated to France when Blaizereturned home in 1993 and was soon backin the world of modem dance， this time atthe invitation of the French Baroque Mod-em Dance Troupe. Zheng took the lead rolein Les Meteores. And later she cooperatedwith the Tokyo Modem Dance Troupe inNo Man's Land.

Upon returning to Beijing， Zheng becamethoughtful， questioning much about the genreof Peking Opera， such as the costumes of MuGuiying， the lead character in The Romanceof the Yang Family Generals. She wonderedwhy Peking Opera， considered to be imbuedwith the essence of traditional Chinese cul-ture， had not been widely recognized beyondthe nation's borders， while in China there aremany Western-inclined schools and institu-tions of higher learning， such as those teach-ing ballet， drama， and film.

Consequently， Zheng determined thatshe would attempt to expand the internation-al profile of Peking Opera through anotherpersonal show.

\"Suddenly，\" she recalls， \"I realized howdeeply Peking Opera is rooted in me. How-ever， I wanted to make some changes in theform， like with the stage scenery and light-ing.\"

Twenty years had passed before her fanswere again able to enjoy the role she playedbest， in The Dual oF the Flower Spears onMay 12， 2001， at her second personal showin the People's Theater.

Zheng began to conceive Jeanne d'Arc(Joan of Arc) in the form of Peking Op-era. She depicted the European heroine ofthe Middle Ages in traditional Peking Op-era tunes which she customized to matchher style of modem dance movement. Theunique Peking Opera drama went onstage inMarch 2003， as written， directed， and por-trayed by Zheng.

Zheng feels it is her responsibility toseek out and explore the potential for con-verging the Chinese and Western cultures.

For the past two years Zheng has de-voted herself to a contemporary stage play，Entanglement， integrating the Chinese andWestern art forms. These elements includekunqu， popular in southern Jiangsu， Beijing，and Hebei， Peking Opera and other stylesof modem dance and drama. The overallpiece combines myriad melodies and bodylanguages. Three pairs of performers inter-pret the complicated relationship betweenmen and women—solemn yet harmonious，peaceful yet passionate. The play attemptsto uncover the nature of humanity， an eter-nal theme， despite the changes of space，time and roles.

Entanglement， a feature at the BeijingContemporary International Art Festival，will be performed on October 14， 2007， atthe Oriental Pioneer Theater in Beijing.

\"I'm really passionate about combiningand developing elements of the traditionalChinese and the modem Western in futureendeavors，\" Zheng says.