Saturday, August 8, 2009
Huadan is a role for a vivacious maiden, a young woman with a frank and open personality, or a woman of questionable character.
Stepsister: Qingyi
A Qing Yi actress portrays a lady of good and sympathetic character Usually of a quiet, gentle disposition and graceful in her movements, she is the Chinese ideal of a beautiful woman. As a wife she is faithful, as a young girl a model of propriety.
Stepmother: Laodan
Laodan usually represents aged women. He/She sings in their natural voices, in a style similar to that of Laosheng but in milder tones. In some types of opera, Laodan is called Fudan or Bodan.
Fairy Godfather: Jing
The Jing (净) is a painted face male role. This type of role will entail a forceful character, so a Jing must have a strong voice and be able to exaggerate gestures.
Each design is unique to a specific character.
The patterns and coloring are thought to be derived from traditional Chinese color symbolism and divination on the lines of a person's face, which is said to reveal personality.
- Red stands for loyalty and general goodness (and hence is virtually the national colour of China). Black stands for wisdom and bravery. Gold and silver represent the supernatural.
- Pink powder (which symbolizes humor) is applied to their cheeks.
Prince: Xiaosheng
Young male characters are known as xiaosheng.
These characters sing in a high, shrill voice with occasional breaks to represent the voice changing period of adolescence. Depending on the character's rank in society, the costume of the xiaosheng may be either elaborate or simple. Off-stage, xiaosheng actors are often involved with beautiful women by virtue of the handsome and young image they project.
13th AUG IS OUR ASSESMENT DATE! Time now:10:25 PM.
