The basic characteristics of Yu opera are shown in:
(1) The generation and development of Yu opera has obvious multiple origins.
(2) The construction of Yu opera has obvious diversity.
(3) Yu opera is good at absorbing and melting in the process of development, showing inclusiveness.
(4) The repertoire and music of Yu opera show the richness of content. Many of the Yu Opera's special tunes are dedicated to music, which in turn shows its programmatic nature. However, under the aesthetics of a set of programmes with thousands of variations and a multi-purpose opera, many of the opera programmes of Yu Opera can be used flexibly and variably, which shows the versatility of the programmes of Yu Opera.
(5) Due to the long-term influence of the culture of the Central Plains, especially the local culture of the Yellow River Basin, Yu Opera has developed its own repertoire, stage performances, characterisation and expression. The music and singing have all formed a unique Henan local style and characteristics, with strong regional characteristics.
(6)The literary language, performance and music of Yu opera are simple, easy to understand, close to the people and life, with strong cultural characteristics of Henan, showing the unique simplicity and pristine of Henan culture, which constitutes the simplicity of the characteristics of Yu opera.
The musical structure of the Yu Opera singing voice belongs to the plate style, and there are four main vocal plate styles, namely, the two-eighth plate, the slow plate, the flowing plate, and the scattered plate. The two-eight plates are the most expressive and the most varied among the four major types of plates in Yu Opera. The slow board is generally a three-eyed board with 4/4 beat, and its upper and lower lines start from the middle eye and fall on the board. The sound of the upper line is more free, and the sound of the lower line is different between the Yu Dong and Yu Xi tunes. The [Slow Plate] is one of the commonly used plate styles in Yu Opera singing. Its prelude to the door has a variety of forms, of which the most commonly used are "six bang", "four bang", "guide four bang" and "wind a bang "and so on. The flowing board is also one of the commonly used boards in Yu Opera, which can be divided into flowing board, slow flowing board, fast flowing board, flowing board, etc. The singing is usually done with the eyes on the board. Different speed changes can be made according to the needs. Flying board is also known as "non-board", free rhythm, belonging to the category of loose board.
The lyrics of the above four major types of panels are generally in "three-three-four" metrical cross sentences, or "two-two-three" metrical seven-word sentences, and sometimes also use a number of short and long sentences with varying numbers of words. For example, the quacks in the two-eight panels are based on five-word sentences, and the rolling white in the flying panels are prose sentences with singing and white.
The roles of Yu Opera are composed of "Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou", which are generally known as "Four Sheng, Four Dan and Four Fancy Face". The troupe is also organised in accordance with "four sheng, four dan, four Fancy face, four soldiers, four generals, four maids; eight scenes and two boxes of letters, plus four handymen". "Four students" that is, the old man, big red face (red), two red face (Wu Sheng), the younger;"Four Dan" that is, the main Dan (Qingyi), small Dan (Hua Dan, Lady's Dan), the old Dan, colour Dan;The "Four Flowery Faces" are the Black Head (Deputy Pure), the Big Flowery Face, the Two Flowery Faces, and the Three Flowery Faces (Ugly). Actors generally have their own speciality, but there are also some actors who are multi-talented, working in one line and performing in other lines at the same time. During the early days of Yu Opera, the "Outer Eight Roles" (Four Shengs and Four Huafangs) were the mainstay of the theatre, with the Sheng line occupying an important position. The boundaries between the big red face and the two red faces of the Sheng line were very strict, with the big red face specialising in Guan Yu; the two red faces specialising in Zhao Kuangyin, Qin Qiong, Kang Maocai and other types of roles, which were mainly Kung-fu plays. Little Sheng line is generally divided into civil and military, there are actors who are both civil and military, martial arts play is more outstanding.Dajing mainly wins by virtue of singing.In addition to the witty and funny performances of the three flower faces, there are also a lot of tricks in the martial arts theatre. Dajing mainly wins by virtue of singing.The Dan role in the "Outer Eight Roles" as the main era, only plays a secondary role, but with the gradual increase in the number of female actresses on the stage, in the Yu Opera has achieved a dominant position.Dan role in the "outside eight" as the main era, only plays a secondary role, but with the gradual increase in the number of female actresses, they have achieved a dominant position in the Yu Opera.
Each role has its own performance tips, such as gestures tips are "flower face over the item, red face with eyebrows, little Sheng with lip, little Dan with chest". Martial arts theatre is a short fight tips "body like a snake eye like electricity, fist like a meteor leg like a drill; stable as a heavy boat like an arrow, fierce, brave, fast, fast, sit, stand steady as a mountain. In the gun method, there are "walking silk" "even nine guns" "thirteen guns" "nine nose" "Eight Rods", "Single Pour" and other routes. Qingyi in the women's door Dan's performance tips are "on the field reach out like a goose, back to the sleeve on the hand neck; floating down to worship like a son, kneeling down can not show the neck of the feet," "talking without looking at people, walking without kicking the skirt, men and women do not hold hands, sit down and look at the lapel". Colourful Dan's performance tips are "squinting eyes peeping at people, talking and biting lips; a twisting body movement, walking and falling sweat towel". The performance style of the young dan is "going out and pressing the sideburns, tucking in the collar with both hands, bending down and lifting the embroidered shoes, and then adjusting the corner of the clothes". The key to the performance of the little sheng is "clean, pure, punch". "Qing" is clean, singing the words clear, elegant manner; " Jing" is the action is clean and sharp, just right; "Chong" is the martial arts courage, the spirit of excitement.
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