New show gives ancient opera a fresh sound

It's a Friday afternoon in Beijing's Daguanyuan Theater.

The theater is inside a park, built in the 1980s, but inspired by the descriptions of Daguanyuan Garden in the classic novel A Dream of the Red Mansions. As the red curtain rises, Kunqu Opera performer Ma Jing walks slowly toward the center of the stage. Her exquisite garments, accessories and movements conjure up more images from the novel, a vision of scenic beauty and refined lifestyle.

However, the Kunqu Opera singing is not accompanied by the usual traditional Chinese instruments, such as the bamboo flute, pipa (four-stringed plucked instrument) and sheng (mouth-blown free reed instrument), but electronic music produced by a DJ followed by bass, drum and trumpet.