Festivals and Arts of China,

Japan, Indonesia and

Thailand

Festivals/ Theater Art Forms

Kodo Taiko Drum

Festival - Japan

Ati-AtihanPhilippines

Bali Dance Festival Lantern Festival- Indonesia

Thailand

Kabuki- Japan

Wayang KulitIndonesia

Nang Shadow
Puppetry- Thailand

Sarswela

Peking Opera China

Lunar New Year Celebrations Begin in

China

Kodo 30th Anniversary - One

Earth Tour

Tari Panyembrama - Balinese

Dance

Loy Krathong Festival in Chiang

Mai 2009

PEKING OPERA

PEKING OPERA
China is known for their traditional theater art form, the
Peking Opera or Beijing Opera which combines
music, vocal performance, pantomime, dance, and
acrobatics. It started in the late 18th century and
became fully developed and recognized by the mid19th century. During the Qing Dynasty court it became
extremely popular and came to be regarded as one of
the cultural treasures of China.

PEKING OPERA
Peking Opera Training:
Pupils were often handpicked at a young age by a
teacher and trained for seven years on contract from
the child's parents. After 1911, training took place in
more formally organized schools. Students at these
schools rose as early as five o'clock in the morning for
exercises. Daytime was spent learning the skills of
acting and combat, and senior students performed in
outside theaters in the evening.

Roles and
Characters

1. Sheng- is the main male role in Peking

opera
a. Xiaosheng actors are often involved

with
beautiful women by virtue of the handsome and
young image they project.

Sheng
b. Wusheng is a
martial character for
roles involving combat.
They are highly trained
in acrobatics, and have
a natural voice when
singing.

Sheng
c. Laosheng is a
dignified older role,
these characters have
a gentle and
cultivated disposition,
and wear sensible
costumes.

2. Dan - refers to any female role in Peking

opera

a. Laodan- old
woman

Dan
b. Wudan- martial woman

Dan
c. Daomadan are young female warriors

Dan

d. Qingyi are virtuous

and elite women

Dan
e. Huadan are vivacious and unmarried women

3. Jing
is a painted face male role
who plays either primary
or secondary roles. This
type of role entails a
forceful character, which
means that a Jing actor
must have a strong voice
and be able to exaggerate
gestures. The red color
denotes loyalty and
goodness, white denotes
evil, and black denotes
integrity.

4. Chou
a male clown role. The
Chou usually plays
secondary roles whose
name also means
"ugly". It reflects the
traditional belief that
the clown's
combination of
ugliness and laughter
could drive away evil
spirits.

Visual Performance
Elements of Peking
Opera

Peking-opera performers utilize four

main skills.
1. Song
2. Speech
3. Dance-acting - This includes pure
dance, pantomime, and all other types of
dance.
4. Combat - includes both acrobatics
and fighting with all manner of weaponry.

The Meaning of Colors in Peking

Opera Masks/Make-ups
Red - devotion, courage, bravery, uprightness and loyalty.
Black - roughness and fierceness
Yellow - fierceness, ambition and cool-headedness
Purple - uprightness, sophistication and cool-headedness
Reddish purple - just and noble character
Blue - loyalty, fierceness and sharpness
White - dangerousness, suspiciousness and craftiness.
Commonly seen on the stage is the white face for the powerful
villain
Green - impulsive and violent and stubbornness

Xiaohualian (the petty painted face) is a

small patch of chalk on and around the
nose. Clowns of traditional drama who
wears this special make-up show a mean
and secretive character.

Aesthetic Aims and Principles of Movement:

The highest aim of performers in Peking Opera is to put beauty
into every motion.
The art form, gestures, settings, music, and character types are
determined by long held conventions
Conventions of movement
Walking in a large circle always symbolizes traveling a long
distance
Character straightening his or her costume and headdress
symbolizes that an important character is about to speak
Pantomimic opening and closing of doors and mounting and
descending of stairs

Staging and Costumes:

Stages:
square platforms, the action
on stage is usually visible
from at least three sides
stages were built above the
line of sight of the viewers,
but some modern stages
have been constructed with
higher audience seating
divided into two parts by an
embroidered curtain called a
shoujiu.

Costume: Xingtou
popularly known as Xifu in Chinese
origins of Peking Opera costumes can be traced back to the
mid-14th century
enable the audience to distinguish a character's sex and status
at first glance if noble or humble, civilian or military, officials or
private citizens
give expression to sharp distinctions between good and evil or
loyal and wicked characters
oblong wings (chizi) attached to a gauze hat indicate a loyal
official.
In contrast, a corrupt official is made to wear a gauze hat with
rhomboidal wing

Props:
utilizes very few props
will almost always have a table and at least one chair,
which can be turned through convention into such
diverse objects as a city wall, a mountain, or a bed
a whip is used to indicate a horse and an oar
symbolizes a boat
Musicians:
are visible to the audience on the front part of the
stage

Viewers:
always seated south of the stage, therefore, north is
the most important direction
Performers:
immediately move to center north upon entering the
stage. All characters enter from the east and exit
from the west

SHORT QUIZ

MATCHING TYPE

1. It refers to any female role in Peking opera .

2. It is the main male role in Peking opera.
3. Actors are often involved with beautiful women by virtue
of the handsome and young image they project.
4. A martial character for roles involving combat. They are
highly trained in acrobatics, and have a natural voice
when singing.
5. A dignified older role, these characters have a gentle and
cultivated disposition, and wear sensible costumes.
6. An old woman in Peking Opera.
7. A martial woman in Peking Opera.