Most movements, including four-directional somersaults, are done with the hands placed on the ground or with leaps and jumps.īazi (bundle) skills are combat techniques. It got its name because practice is carried out on a carpet or rug. Tanzi (carpet) skills are needed to make all kinds of somersaults, leaps, jumps, and falls. Waist and leg exercises include somersaults, swaying from right to left and from left to right, kicks, leg stretches and pulls, and upward straightened leg movements. Dances and acrobatics call for supple waists, so that the performers can control their centers of gravity. Waist and leg exercises are necessary for developing the ability to do leaps and somersaults. It is very important for all opera actors and actresses to master these basic skills.

The basic skills include dance movements, and special acrobatic movements while singing or reciting. Waving a whip means riding a horse, and waving an oar means rowing a boat. Actors shake these flags to represent waves, fire, wind, or moving vehicles. In addition, there are water, fire, wind, and vehicle flags. A square flag with the Chinese character for 'marshal' on it, a rectangular flag with the Chinese character for 'commander' on it, and a flag with the name of a certain army on it represent the location of army camps and commanders-in-chief. Flags are also frequently used on the stage.

Chinese opera singers