Kellett tell it summer 2015

Page 1

Tell It KELLETT PREPARATORY SCHOOL, JUNE 2015

Festive Music and Dancing by Olivia Woolhouse Chinese Dancing and music is a very interesting way to entertain people in festivals and celebrations. The most popular music performance is Cantonese opera, Dragon dance and Lion dance. These are usually used for festivals and are very popular in Hong Kong.

!

The Chinese created all of their own musical instruments for the performances. Some instr uments are adaptations of existing instruments and some are entirely made up from scratch, for eg a harp like instrument called Gou Zhang which is unique to the Chinese culture.

use different colours to show their personality. Like if they were evil or good. As well as having colour, the costumes also have amazing detail, fabulous patterns, that are outstanding to the eye. The clothing is actually one of the many reasons that it is so popular.

Usually in most performances you would try to use lots of Chinese instruments, this is because in opera or a big performance like that you would need a big orchestra to perform so the Chinese try to fit in as many instruments they can.

One of the most popular dances in Chinese culture are the Lion and Dragon dance. They are mostly per for med during the New Year celebrations. The difference between Lion and Dragon dancing is that the Dragon dance is performed by lots of people. The dragon is long and its body is held up by sticks which are then held by lots of people. Whereas a Lion dance is only performed by two people and the body of the lion it is held up by body parts instead of sticks.

!

The Cantonese opera is one of the most popular festival performances in Hong Kong. The most performed Cantonese opera performances is called the Tin Kay Shon Zi, performed at the Tin Hau Festival. It is a legend about a man who falls in love with a beautiful woman but find outs that she is a goddess. They have a baby but then the goddess has to go back up to heaven and leaves her child with her husband. The opera is about their love and their parting. It is popular because baby means good blessing.

!

The elderly usually teach younger generation about the cantonese opera, and some schools also help teach children about what people used to enjoy watching to encourage them to watch it as well. In May the Chinese have activities for the rising star of Cantonese opera and create a special performance band which includes all the traditional Chinese instruments like the Guo Zheng.

!

In the Tin Kay Shon Zi, the dancers will dress up in costume, they will wear different things and

!

!

Another performance to enjoy is the Fire Dragon Dance which is performed in the mid autumn festival in Repulse Bay. The Fire Dragon Dance is very special dance in Hong Kong it is also part of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage. The Dragon is 50 metres long and made with lots of different materials- a hemp rope makes the spine which is wrapped in pearl straw to makes up the body. It is carried around through the streets. The Fire Dragon dance is usually for celebration and also for the committee and the villagers to seek blessing.

!

I recommend you to watch as many performances during your time in Hong Kong especially the Tin Kay Shon Zi, the cantonese opera per for mance as it sounds ver y entertaining and is quite popular.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.