Shawan Fluttercolor Show

Shawan Fluttercolor Show

Nominating Unit: City of Guangzhou

Shawan Fluttercolor Show is popular in the area of Panyu District, Guangzhou. Performing on ‘Segui’, the moving stage or the cupboard ,the performers display a story or a legend by processing along the streets with various figures and poses. It is a unique folk art which aggregates the theories of opera, acrobatics, decoration and mechanics together.

Shawan Fluttercolor Show enjoys a history of more than 100 years. In the reign of Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty (1850~1861), folk artists in Guangdong Province dressed up as characters in operas to make performances on ‘thanksgiving temple fair’. At that time, the performance was called “Saise” or “Caise”, which later developed to “Mase” (performances on horses) and “Shuise” (performances on water) . “Piaose” is also developed from it, in which artists performs on “Segui” carried by people.(https://www.daowen.com)

Shawan Fluttercolor Show is famous for its brilliant coloring, beautiful shaping, cleverly installing, veiled content and the ingenious use of mechanics. The basic unit of it is “board”. There’re more than 100 boards in Shawan Fluttercolor Show, each telling a story, such as “the Premier of Six Kingdoms”, “Liu Bang Killing the Snake”, “Yue Fei, the Patriot” and so on. The action is composed of “Sexin” (performance core), “Sejiao” (performance foot), “Segeng”(supporting steel sticks) and “Segui” (the moving stage). “Sexin” and “Sejiao” are smartly placed on the well-designed “Segeng” which is fixed to “Segui”. Lifted by four men with unifi ed steps during the procession, the entire board undulates, on which lovely girls make all kinds of cute poses three meters above “Segui”. It’s very graceful and harmonious, leading up to meaningful afterthoughts for the audience. The procession of Shawan Fluttercolor Show is mainly held on festival, which is welcomed by people. During the procession, there’s a Drums and Gongs cupboard between every two boards, forming a moving stage of a combination of sound, color, and art. After the procession, the rotating host for the activities will award the best performances of the procession.

However, currently Shawan Fluttercolor Show is in lack of successors for the techniques. Besides, the cost of it is relatively high and it’s only held on major festivals. Thus it is difficult to upgrade the techniques. Therefore, relevant departments should attach great importance to it and take effective protective and supportive measures.