The performance time of stilt walking is generally during the lunar month and the first month of the lunar calendar, and it is often performed during the agricultural season or holidays, or at large-scale gatherings such as business openings and celebrations.
Walking on stilts is a mass sports entertainment performance activity in China's folk tradition, and it is also a dance form of folk performance. As soon as the New Year arrives, people put up leggings, step on stilts, and dress up. The performance form of stilts is diverse, a stilt dance team is less than a dozen people, more than dozens of people, the flexibility and mobility of the performance are very large, you can perform in the open space of the square, you can also walk the streets and alleys, enter the village and enter the house.
Some of the characters played in the stilt dance come from real life, and some come from historical stories and myths and legends. In real life, there are fishermen, matchmakers, silly boys, daughters-in-law, monks, nuns, etc.;Historical stories and deepening legends, there are Xu Xian and White Snake in "The Legend of the White Snake", Lu Zhishen in "Water Margin", Tang Seng and Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West", as well as Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Most of the costumes and makeup of the characters imitate the costumes and makeup of the characters in traditional opera, such as painting faces, wearing mustaches, etc. Judging from the characters played and the form of performance, it has similarities with Yangge, so some places call stilts "stilt Yangge".
Stilts are all made of wood, that is, they are made by nailing a foot pedal to the top or middle of a planed smooth wooden stick. There are usually two kinds of Hakka stilts in southern Gansu, one is made of nailing a pedal to each of the two round wooden sticks with a diameter of about 5 cm and a length of about 150 180 cm from the ground dozens of centimeters, and the other is to nail a pedal at the top of each of the two round wooden sticks with a diameter of about 5 cm and a length of several inches or feet. The former is easy to balance, simple to move, easy to master, and is mostly seen in entertainment, fitness, games, and competitionsThe latter movements are difficult to master and require special training, and are mostly seen in rally celebrations and holiday performances.