Transgender performers fight for spotlight
By Xu Ming (Global Times)
13:25, January 09, 2013http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/8084554.html
(Yang Yunge in performance( Photos: Courtesy of Yang Yunge/GT )Conservatism forces transgender performers to fight for spotlight
As the music rose, a fine-looking woman in ancient Chinese clothes appeared on the stage, waving her long sleeves and the ribbons tied to her wasp waist, delicate and graceful. Dancing and singing, she looked like a fairy on the cloud-shrouded stage and every tantalizing move aroused applause and ovations.
This scene occurred at a concert in the Great Hall of the People at the end of 2012. The audience was thrilled not just because of the beauty of this woman, but because the performer was actually a man, Li Yugang, a male singer whose specialty is performing as ancient beauties. His imitation usually makes the audience forget about his gender.
Li rose to fame in 2006 in a talent show with his cross-gender act (fanchuan art), a fresh form of stage art that combines make-up and performances. Since then, there has been an increase in the number of both performers and audiences for fanchuan.
But that doesn't mean it's been a smooth path. Behind every successful performer are years of hardship and pain, because this form of art is not yet accepted as mainstream. Performers experience resistance from families, friends and society. They have to fight on their own all they way to clear all kinds of hurdles, both psychologically and financially.
