Arts 1

• 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
• Peking opera Training

  Pupils were often handpicked at a young age by a teacher and trained for seven years on contract from child's parent
• Sheng - is the main male role in Peking Opera
• Wusheng - is a martial character for roles involving combat. They are highly trained in acrobatics and have a natural voice when singing
• Laosheng - is a dignified older role. These character have a gentle and cultivated disposition, and wear sensible costumes
• Laodan - an old woman
• Wudan - a martial woman
• Daomadan - are young female warriors
• Qingyi - are virtuous and elite women
• Jing - is a painted face male role who plays either primary or secondary roles
• Chou- is a male crown role. It usually plays secondary roles whose name also means "ugly"
• Huadan are vivacious unmarried women.
• Stage-square platforms, the action on stage is usually visible from at least 3 sides
• Costumes: Xingtou , popularly known as Xifu , in Chinese origins of Peking Opera. Costumes can be traced back to the mid-14th century
• 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 objectsas a city wall, a mountain, or a bed
• Musicians, are visible to the audience on the front part of the stage
• Erh-huang – higher sound

  His-p'l - lower sound

  These styles are very similar and the only difference is the key.

  They also utilize the technique called fan-pan which is commonly used for sorrowful songs (sung by bearded characters).
• Each performance begins with the ta-lo and siag-lo , a small and large gong and cymbals