MAPEH

• Peking Opera


  Combines music, vocal performance, pantomime, dance, and acrobatics
• During the Qing Dynasty court, Peking Opera became extremely popular and came to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China
• Training of Peking Opera students


  1. Pupils were often handpicked at a young age by a teacher and trained for seven years on contract with the child's parents

  2. Students rose as early as five o'clock in the morning for exercises

  3. Daytime was spent learning the skills of acting and combat

  4. Senior students performed in outside theaters in the evening
• Peking Opera performers' four main skills


  • Song
  • Speech
  • Dance-acting (pure dance, pantomime, and all other types of dance)
  • Combat (includes both acrobatics and fighting with all manner of weaponry)
• Peking Opera stage elements


  • 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
• Xingtou (Peking Opera costumes)


  • Popularly known as Xifu in Chinese, origins can be traced back to the mid-14th century
  • Costumes enable the audience to distinguish a character's sex and status at first glance (noble or humble, civilian or military, officials or private citizens)
  • They also give expression to sharp distinctions between good and evil or loyal and wicked characters
• Peking Opera costume elements


  • Oblong wings (chizi) attached to a gauze hat indicate a loyal official
  • A corrupt official is made to wear a gauze hat with rhomboidal wing
• Peking Opera props


  • Performances 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 Peking Opera stage
• Viewers are always seated south of the Peking Opera stage, therefore, north is the most important direction
• Peking Opera performers immediately move to center north upon entering the stage, and all characters enter from the east and exit from the west
• Chinese New Year


  The longest and the most important festivity in the Chinese calendar, marking the end of the winter season
• Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, like: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines, Vietnam

  
• Dragon dance


  • Has been indispensable to Chinese festivals since ancient times
  • Symbolizes power, strength and good luck

  
• Kabuki


  • A form of traditional Japanese drama with highly stylized song, mime, and dance, now performed only by male actors
  • The word "Kabuki" is interpreted as "ka" for song, "bu" for dance, and "ki" for art/skill
• Kabuki's highly lyrical plays are regarded, with notable exceptions, less as literature than as vehicles for actors to demonstrate their enormous range of skills in visual and vocal performance
• Many Kabuki actors trace their ancestry and performing styles to the earliest Kabuki actors and add a "generation number" after their names to indicate their place in the long line of actors
• Mie in Kabuki


  The actor holds a picturesque pose to establish his character and his house name yagō, sometimes heard in a loud shout (kakegoe) from expert audience member, serving both to express and enhance the audience's appreciation of the actor's achievement
• Kabuki actor categories


  • Onna-gata (female roles)
  • Aragoto (male roles)
• Kabuki play structure


  Five acts: jo (auspicious and slow opening), ha (speeding events up, culminating almost always in a great moment of drama or tragedy in the third act and possibly a battle in the second and/or fourth acts), kyu (quick and satisfying conclusion)
• Kabuki props


  • Flowing water is usually represented by fluttering roles of linen; and creatures like insects and foxes
  • Props often have symbolic meanings (fans can symbolize wind, a sword, a tobacco pipe, waves or food)
  • Costumes are swung from sticks or manipulated by helpers who come on stage dressed in black hooded robes so they are invisible to the audience
• Kabuki costumes


  • Female characters generally wear an elaborate kimono and obi
  • Pleated hakuma trousers are worn by characters of both sexes
  • Actors playing both sexes often have a supported midriff because a straight and curve less figure are regarded the essence of beauty
  • Costume changing is considered as an art, with special teams that take care of complete and partial costume changes as part of the performances
• Kabuki wigs


  • Specialized craftsmen shape the wigs to the head
  • Wigs are made of human hair or horse hair or, bear fur or yak-tail hair imported from Tibet
• Taiko drumming troupe Kodo


  • Based in Sado Island, Japan, they had a big role in popularizing taiko drumming, both in Japan and abroad
  • Their name, "Kodo" conveys two meanings: "heartbeat" the primal source of all rhythm, and "children of the drum," a reflection of Kodo's desire to play their drums simply, with the heart of a child

  
• Main focus of Taiko Drum performances


  • Uchite (the Taiko drummer)
  • Different drums such as taiko, and odaiko
  • Other traditional Japanese musical instruments such as fue and shamisen

  
• Traditional dance and vocal performance are part of the Taiko Drum performances, which include pieces based on the traditional rhythms of regional Japan, pieces composed for Kodo by contemporary songwriters, and pieces written by Kodo members themselves

  
• Kodo's performances normally last for about one hour and forty minutes
• Historical uses of drums


  • Signify the boundaries of a village
  • Used in peasant events such as the rice harvests or dance festivals
  • Used to pray for rain and other religious ceremonies
  • Led warriors into battles in order to scare off the enemy