What are the characteristics of Northeast Yangko?

Folk dances in kanto region include yangko, dragon lantern, roller boat, butterfly flapping, double wrestling, Hua Gun and stilts, which are collectively called yangko.

Yangko has a smooth melody, cheerful and concise rhythm, and its prosperous scenes, rich dance vocabulary, interesting posture and lively performance style have always been deeply loved by people.

Yangko originated from the assembly and performance of Han people during the Lantern Festival celebration, and has a history of thousands of years. It is a national group dance, which has developed for more than 1000 years and will certainly form its own mature and stable style, and many similar art forms will be born without losing the opportunity.

Guandong Yangko has a long history. It is an artistic wealth created and accumulated by the working people in the north for a long time. It originated from the working life of transplanting rice seedlings and ploughing fields, and was also related to the carols and barnacles sung when praying for a bumper harvest and disaster in ancient times.

In the process of development, it constantly absorbs the skills and forms of agricultural songs, yangko, folk martial arts, acrobatics and traditional operas, thus developing from ordinary yangko singing to a folk song and dance that the masses love to see today.

According to historical records, as early as the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, kanto region had the custom of holding Yangko on the 15th day of the first lunar month. Men and women dressed as soldiers are singing and dancing.

"Liu lue" recorded the yangko activities of the local people:

On the last night of the Yuan Dynasty, the busybodies played yangko. Yangko people dressed as three or four women with boys, three or four people dressed as soldiers, each holding two logs, suddenly banging on the opposite dance, pretending to sell paste, holding cymbals (umbrella lights) as the leader, beating drums and gongs until the end of the song and singing until the end of the dance.

By the end of the Qing dynasty, yangko dancing had become a Spring Festival entertainment activity all over Kanto.

Northeast yangko can be divided into two categories: dancing yangko and stilt yangko. Dibengzi, also known as Diyangzi, is widely spread; Stilts are prevalent in Liaoning, especially in Yingkou, Haicheng and Gaixian.

The traditional music of Northeast Yangko music is very rich, which can be summarized in three words, namely, fluency, liveliness and rhyme. "Smooth" means smooth. Melody changes, music cohesion, tonality and mode conversion should be smooth. "Living" means having high improvisation ability and making music flexible. "Rhyme" is a sense of rhythm and style.

Northeast Yangko music is dominated by five tones, with a considerable number of six tones, and seven tones only account for a small part.

The modes of northeast yangko music are mostly palace mode and fine tuning mode, followed by feather mode and monk mode, and there are few music with angle mode. The court mode and fine tuning mode are brighter, and the reason why these two modes are more is related to the warm and cheerful mood of many songs in Northeast Yangko music.

The rhythm of the Northeast Yangko is varied, one of which is reflected in the main footwork "kicking".

The way of kicking is: fast and powerful kick, fast kick and fast return, short stay in the air, long return to the ground, resulting in a rhythm difference between short kick and long return.

The Kanto Yangko is humorous in form and unique in style, and it is pungent, humorous, quiet and steady, which vividly shows the warm, simple, rigid and flexible personality characteristics of the Kanto people. Steady waves, waves, stalks, stalks, stepping on the board and twisting the waist are the biggest characteristics of Northeast Yangko.

Kanto region folks like to use "twisting waves" to describe Yangko, that is, it not only dances beautifully, but also has a large swing of waist and buttocks, a strong sense of rhythm and an infectious expression. In short, it should not be dull but exaggerated, which conforms to the generous and enthusiastic folk customs of Kanto.

In addition, the marching performance formation of yangko should be lively and fresh. In addition to the usual circular venue, there are many tricks, such as "Two Dragons Spitting Beards" and "Tai Chi Eight Diagrams", which are fast and slow, changing as they walk, and the bright colors of the actors' costumes are dazzling.

The highlight of yangko is stilts, commonly known as stepping on high feet. The seesaw stick is two or three feet long, which is also the yangko step and formation in the performance. It is better to twist it quickly and happily.

The roles played in Yangko are not only red and green girls and little wives, but also ugly girls smoking long pipes, county officials wearing gauze hats, stupid pillars, and performances of rolling donkeys, dry boats and other props, all of which are simple, simple and funny.

Another kind of characters are well-known figures in novels and operas, such as the four masters and apprentices in The Journey to the West, the White Snake and Xu Xian in The Legend of the White Snake, the Eight Immortals who traveled across the ocean, the childe maid and fisherman farmer who are common in New Year pictures, etc.

In the old days, all yangko dances were male, so most female roles were disguised as women, which made them more daring, provocative and funny.

The most enjoyable thing to watch yangko is to compete against Taiwan, that is, two yangko teams come to the same venue. Because most of the Yangko during the Chinese New Year are rewarded, according to unwritten rules, only one Yangko team can be left in a performance venue.

If two groups of yangko teams arrive at the same time, or the later yangko team is unwilling to give in, it can only be divided by acting. Good twisting can attract people to stay, and those with poor skills will automatically quit.

At this time, the two yangko teams have to show their housekeeping skills, redouble their efforts and twist vigorously.

The main instruments of Yangko are suona and gongs and drums. During the performance, the yangko team followed the rhythm of suona and gongs and drums. A good trumpeter not only knows a lot of tunes, but also has high playing skills and practices many unique skills.

A skilled person can put a burning cigarette in each nostril, a bowl of water on his head and in each arm, blow while walking, turn around, board the table and blow, the horn will not go out, the cigarette will not go out, and the water bowl will not spill.

This trick is not needed at ordinary times, and it will only be shown when you want more money or fight against Taiwan. Therefore, people who do yangko try to invite local famous suona craftsmen.

In Northeast Yangko, the main form of performance is New Year greetings. In the town, yangko teams go to local government offices and businessmen to perform in the name of New Year greetings. In rural areas, they pull carts to nearby villages, perform in village offices or rich families, and also have the intention of visiting New Year.

For this kind of performance, worshippers should prepare rock tea, give money to yangko when the yangko team leaves, and some even have to take care of themselves. Usually, the Yangko team has already selected the New Year greetings in advance, mainly for those who can afford the rewards. Of course, local men, women and children can watch the performance for free.

In the past, China New Year was celebrated in rural areas of kanto region. The second is to talk about face. If any village doesn't come to the Yangko team to pay New Year's greetings, people in the village will feel unhappy. Therefore, there is no yangko in the village, so each family divided the money according to the rich and the poor, and sent people to other villages to pick up yangko, which added a festive atmosphere to the village for the New Year.

The initiator and organizer of Yangko, either a wealthy businessman, an administrative organization or a non-governmental organization, is responsible for recruiting local people who are good at it, setting up costume props, hiring drum groups, organizing rehearsals and planning performance arrangements. Specific matters are generally arranged by the yangko head with good acting skills, high prestige and strong processing ability.

The New Year's Yangko Dance reached its climax on the 15th to 16th of the first month. At this time, the New Year greeting in every village has ended, and the shops on the street have also started their business in the new year.

On the day of Lantern Festival, the Yangko team gathered in the most bustling towns and streets in the area to perform a parade. Some also perform yangko, which blends in with the atmosphere of lanterns.

There are wonderful performances one after another in the market, which is very lively. Actors who love yangko also show their talents in the cheers of the audience all over the street and are addicted to yangko. Because after these two days, they will take off their makeup and go back to the fields and workshops to become ordinary workers.