"Ninghai Shuaya (teeth play)" is a unique technique of Ninghai Pingdiao Opera enjoying a history of over a hundred years. When performing Shuaya, the actor keeps four, eight or even ten buckteeth of the wild boar in the mouth, which sometimes quickly pop out, sometimes pierce through the nostrils, and sometimes wobble up and down. In particular, two buckteeth should always be hidden in the mouth while the performer is singing and dance acting. Hence the technique is an exclusive which can rival the face-changing skill of Sichuan Opera.
Ninghai Shuaya is a kind of "mouth changing" technique with both delicacy and roughness, conveying sort of dexterity in wildness. The performer would keep the buckteeth of a 200 kg-or-above boar in the mouth, use the tongue as the major force to perform, assisted by his own teeth, lips and breath. It is a breath-taking skill indeed. The Shuaya technique of Ninghai Pingdiao Opera is unique, with strict procedures. It looks like an easy job, but is actually hard work requiring painstaking efforts before one could finally master it. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Ninghai Shuaya has been improved quite a lot – the traditional six buckteeth increasing to ten, which has won the unanimous acclaim of the audience.
During the theatrical festivals in Ningbo and Hangzhou, Ninghai Shuaya stunned the audience with its outstanding performance, receiving praises and rewards from provincial leaders as well as unanimous acclaim from show biz circle. Ninghai Shuaya has joined quite a lot of theatrical performances on the city, provincial and national levels, and has won the First Prize of Zhejiang Minor Operas Exchange Performance, the First Prize during the 5th China Azalea Folk Drama Festival, the Golden Award of China (Hangzhou) "Chenghuangge Cup" Folk Opera Highlights Invitational Tournament, and so on. Ninghai Shuaya was on the list of the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage authorized by the Ministry of Culture with the approval of the State Council on May 20, 2006.
