Dr Li Ruru was brought up in a Beijing Opera actress family and received her first training when she was just 10 years old. After having completed her BA in Drama and Literature at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1982, she was keen to start conducting more in-depth research into Beijing Opera. Unfortunately, acting in the traditional theatre was not considered a proper academic topic at this time. The current project thus represents the culmination of her career's ambition.

The project's research fieldwork started in 2004, after Dr Li had worked on Shakespeare and Shakespeare theatre performance in China for some time beforehand. Her experience and knowledge in comparative and inter-cultural theatre studies had broadened her horizons and understandings of theatre, and helped her carry out the current work on Beijing Opera.

This research project explores how actors have had to respond to the radically changing China since the turn of the 20th century. Any traditional theatre has to deal with the fast changing world if it does not want to appear fossilised. The project focussed on the performers' perspective on theatrical performance and their negotiations with pressures arising from their tradition and from dynamic social, political, economic and cultural forces. It also deals with the changing demands of audiences, their cultural peers, master-disciple relationships, market forces, political authorities and increasing competition from new forms of cultural consumption.

The juxtaposition of the experience of performers on the mainland with that of performers in Taiwan yields significant comparisons for cultural studies. The target of this study is performers and performance, from details of singing style, gesture, movement, make-up and costume, to the performances as a whole in the theatre or in other locations. As the world has changed, the question of what is essential to Beijing Opera has been constantly addressed and the genre has thus developed. My own experience on the practical side and the unusual 'social capital' I have in the theatre circles have helped me carry out the project smoothly.

Publications related to this research include two single-authored books and two edited works for a Beijing Opera veteran:

• The Soul of Jingju: Creativity and Continuity in Performing Beijing Opera in Changing China (forthcoming February 2010), Hong Kong University Press.
• Translucent Jade: Li Yuru on Stage and in Life (晶莹透亮的玉：李玉茹舞台上下／家庭内外) (2009) Shanghai People's Publishing House.

This book is one in the first series of six artists under the aegis of the Municipal Publicity Department, aiming to promote traditional Chinese culture.  The two edited works are:

• 李玉茹谈戏说艺 (Li Yuru on the Art of Jingju), by Li Yuru, edited by Li Ruru. Shanghai: Literature and Arts Publishing House, 2008.
• 李玉茹演出剧本选集 (Selected Performance Scripts by Li Yuru), 李如茹编, edited by Li Ruru. Shanghai: Literature and Arts Publishing House, 2009.

I am now planning another volume (in Chinese) for this project, which is about a Beijing Opera school (1930-1940). I aim to explore how the school attempted to modernize the traditional theatre through education in tandem carrying out the traditional training. In addition, an article (in English) on traditional theatre training is also planned for a new journal (published by Routledge 2010) Theatre, Dance and performance Training.