short sentences. An example is the founding piece of the China National Opera when it was founded in Yan'an in 1942, which was with a performance of a Yangge drama Brothers and Sisters Opening up the Wasteland (). The Yangko owed something to normal huaju spoken drama, but with dance, and songs added. Regional variations North Shaanxi The dance may be in large groups of a dozen to a hundred people, or in two or three-person groups. The dancers move from location to location, visiting different parts of the town. The leader of the procession of dancers is called the santou or "Umbrella" who wields an umbrella to lead the movement of the group. He also sings, usually improvised, while the others will repeat his last line. Various characters may appear in the procession, such as the two comic characters Big-Headed Monk and Liu Cui (), and the Eight Immortals. The procession first follows the santou in a single file to form a large simple circle, and later then forms other more intricate patterns. Shandong The Shandong yangge is thought to be the purest forms of yangge. There are three major types of yangge in the Shandong province, the Haiyang yangge, Jiaozhou yangge, and the guzi ( "drum") yangge. In guzi yangge each dancer takes one of five roles - "Umbrella", "Drum", "Stick", "Flower", "Clown" - the first three are named after the props the dancer holds, while the fourth refers to a female dancer. Liaoning In Liaoning and Beijing, a popular form is the stilt yangge where the dancers perform on stilts. There are many types of stilt yangge, for example "Jietang" is a group dance performed in the street; "Jiaxiang" involves the formation of a pyramid of different poses; "Dachang" is group dance done in a large open air space; and "Xiaochang" characterized by its love-story plot. Northeast China The performers of Manchurian Yangge in Northeast China usually wear traditional Manchu clothes of the area. The movement is free and brisk, imitating the valor of a tribe excelling in horsemanship and marksmanship. See also Dance of China List of ethnic, regional, and folk dances sorted by origin Pungmul & Samul nori of the ethnic Koreans in China Square dancing (China) References External links Yangge "Rice Sprout Songs," (Princeton University History 325) A yangge dance procession in Shaanxi Syllabus-free dance Dances of China Chinese folk music