Opera Culture Week with robots and AI opens in Beijing — ECNS

The 10th Chinese Opera Culture Week has opened at the Garden Expo Park in Beijing, China. The opening ceremony’s program combined traditional opera performances with artificial intelligence technologies: the digital character Xibao served as a co-host, while robots performed traditional opera movements alongside actors.

Performances by different generations

Performers of different ages and experience levels took part in the opening, from renowned opera artists to students and child actors. Cameroon-born Chinese opera enthusiast Sim Nkemeni Darrin performed an excerpt from Henan opera. As ECNS reports, foreign students were also offered opera makeup classes and live performances introducing them to Chinese opera traditions.

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Digital resources and amateur competition

Organizers presented the Simai AI agent, created jointly with the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. It is intended to collect and systematize digital resources related to opera from the past decade. Visitors can use AI-powered interactive terminals, robots and autonomous vehicles to explore the history of opera and practice traditional movements.

The week will run until October 5. Its program includes stage productions, amateur competitions and academic discussions. Ten award-winning productions at the national level are planned to be shown, while more than 1,000 enthusiasts from different genres and age groups have registered for the amateur competition. Beijing’s Fengtai District became the main venue for the nationwide opera cities program, while another ten cities and regions are hosting events at additional venues.