On the basis of the "Bamboo Horse Lantern" dance, the Bamboo Horse Opera in Zhangzhou absorbs the performing arts of Siping Opera, Liyuan Opera, Peking Opera and other dramas, and integrates the music of Nanqu, Jinge and folk songs, and gradually develops into a small song and dance drama with a story, characters and singing style. Mr. Shen Jisheng's "Historical Investigation of Zhangzhou Drama Culture" holds that the drama made by excellent people in Song Dynasty is the bamboo horse drama. The reasons are as follows: 1. "Playing bamboo horse" is the legacy of the Han folk song and dance "bamboo horse" in Song Dynasty. From the artistic form, it is not only a song and dance, but also a "costume", which is endowed with certain drama content, that is, "acting stories". Second, most of the performances of Zhuma Opera are "Dui Opera" (that is, once in a lifetime, or once ugly), or "Nongzi Opera". Nongzi opera preserves the legacy of "Tang teasing" (or joining the army) and is a relatively primitive and ancient drama.

Performance form

The performance of Zhuma Opera can't be separated from "Running Four Beauties", that is, singing "Four Seasons Beautiful Scenes" in spring, summer, autumn and winter with Han folk tunes. The so-called "running four beauties" means that in the opening program, four Xiao Dan should play the roles of spring, summer, autumn and winter, ride a bamboo horse, and sing four seasons songs while dancing, such as "spring tour on the green grass, enjoying the green lotus pond in summer, drinking yellow wine in autumn and singing snow poems in winter". The name of Zhuma Opera

Theme

There are more than 5 kinds of repertoires of Zhuma Opera, most of which come from reality, have a strong local flavor, reflect the life of the market and village, and some historical dramas. Once a child is ugly, or once in a lifetime, the program is short, there are few actors, the plot is simple, the lyrics are easy to understand and catchy, like a dialect, so it is deeply loved by the audience. Clowns occupy a prominent position in the performance, and the twisting of the upper body and the flirting of the face are very distinctive. Danjiao's performance is rigorous and beautiful, with the rules of "hands on the chest and feet stepping", as well as broken steps, moving steps, quick steps, grinding steps and shaking steps. There is a saying in the play that "be ugly;" Imitation of Dan makes the eye arrow ","Raise your hand to your shoulder, and raise your hand to your breast ",which shows that its performance is simple and rough without losing its delicacy and femininity. The makeup of the bamboo horse show is relatively simple, and the horns are not painted with powder. Only cheek fat is slightly applied to the cheeks, and the clown can appear on the nose and lips with white powder.

Band instruments

Their instruments are more ostentatious, and the orchestral music includes pipa, three strings, two strings, big blow, small blow, hole flute, clapper and double bell. This reflects the artistic characteristics of Zhuma Opera, which mainly focuses on singing. In addition, there are percussion instruments such as gongs, bowls, drums, cymbals and cymbals, which are used for dance and martial arts performances.

Artistic features

In the early days of Zhuma Opera, "Nongzi Opera" was mainly performed.

For example, Chopping Wood and Nongs, Riding a Crossing Nongs, Tang Bie, etc., there are only two roles, Dan and Ugly, and their performances are rough, and their musical vocals are mainly Han folk tunes.

Running Four Happiness

Running Four Beauty, also known as Playing Four Happiness, is a unique performance form of Zhuma Opera in rural areas to celebrate the bumper harvest and pray for a good "winter" in the coming year, also known as "begging for winter". The early bamboo horse show was still in the stage of "sweeping the ground". During the performance, only a straw mat was laid on the ground, and four horns appeared, with the left hand twisting the horse's head? Twist clothes into a horse's head shape on the chest to show riding? Holding a bamboo pole in your right hand? Later changed to whip? . Each actor appeared from the left inside, with a small leap and a whip to "walk four doors", that is, four corners After that, he appeared in Taichung, singing four lines in spring, summer, autumn and winter respectively, and went off from the right inside. Finally, the four actors appeared together, walked in a "double-water" team style, and sang a line and then ended up.