Center stage

Nadim Diab and Peking Opera actor Yu Huikang perform an excerpt of the Peking Opera piece San Cha Kou. This old adage sums up the rigorous training required for Peking Opera, the vivid, highly stylized ancient Chinese art form with a history of more than 200 years, combining music, dance, drama, acrobatics and martial arts. In the summer of 2021, Nadim Diab, from Lebanon, who has lived and worked in Beijing for nearly 10 years, took part in a 100-day training program coordinated by professional Peking Opera actors and actresses, including 25-year-old Zhu Lingyu, who specializes in wusheng, and veteran actor Liu Dake, who specializes in hualian roles. With a goal of performing in a Peking Opera at the end of his training to better experience and understand the ancient art form, Diab, along with Peking Opera actor Yu Huikang, performed an excerpt of the Peking Opera piece San Cha Kou, or At The Crossroads, which follows Ren Tanghui, a warrior escorting Jiao Zan, a Song Dynasty general, on his way to exile after Jiao is framed for a crime he didn't commit.