Stilts (Gaizhou stilts)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: stilts (Gaizhou stilts)

Applicant: Gaizhou City, Liaoning Province

Item No.: 112

Project No.: Ⅲ - 9

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Liaoning Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Gaizhou City, Liaoning Province

Protected by: Gaizhou Cultural Center

Introduction to stilts (Gaizhou stilts)

Applicant: Gaizhou City, Liaoning Province

Stilts, also known as "stilt Yangko", is a kind of folk dance with a long history, which is widely spread all over the country. It gets its name because it often uses both feet to step on stilts when performing. Stilts are usually performed in the form of dance teams, with more than ten to dozens of performers. Most of them play characters in ancient myths or historical stories. Most of their costumes imitate the costumes of traditional opera. The commonly used props in the performance include fans, handkerchiefs, sticks, knives and guns, etc. Stilt has two forms of performance: "stepping on the street" and "abandoning the field", of which "abandoning the field" is divided into "big field" and "small field". The "big stage" is performed by the dance team, and various formation patterns are carried out while dancing; the "small stage" is performed by two or three people, mostly men and women, sometimes singing while dancing. Stilts used in various places range from 30cm to 300cm. According to the performance style, stilts can be divided into "Wenqiao" and "Wuqiao". Wenqiao focuses on twisting and stepping and plot performance, while Wuqiao focuses on dazzling performance.

Gaizhou stilt Yangko is a kind of folk dance form for the working people in Gaizhou area of southern Liaoning Province to entertain themselves. It is developed and evolved from ancient folk acrobatics, stilt walking and Baixi. It is mainly performed in Spring Festival, celebration, temple fair, sacrifice and other activities. Gaizhou stilt Yangko flourished in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty. It flourished during the reign of Kangxi and Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, and reached its peak in the middle of the Republic of China. It was even more prosperous in the early days of the founding of new China. During the "Cultural Revolution", it was destroyed and its development was hindered. Since the early 1980s, it has been restored and has made some progress under the government's attention. There are many famous artists in the history of Gaizhou stilt Yangko. During the period from the middle of the Republic of China to the founding of new China, Guo Xicheng and other "four famous Dan" appeared.

Gaizhou stilt Yangko combines singing, dancing, drama and acrobatics. It has the artistic characteristics of twist, stability, wave, beauty, bravado, phase, tease, interest and silence. It is lively, romantic, fiery, unrestrained and full of local flavor.

Gaizhou stilt Yangko contains a lot of historical, cultural and folk information, which is of great value in the study of historical customs, local customs, folk art and local aesthetic concepts in southern Liaoning. At present, the famous artists of Gaizhou stilt Yangko have all died. There are few new generation talents, and some unique skills are almost lost. They are in urgent need of rescue and protection.