Editing Yangge (section)

==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.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SWuPCNxdsQgC&pg=PA18 |title=Popular Chinese Literature and Performing Arts in the People's Republic of Chinaa, 1949-1979 |editor= Bonnie S. McDougall |author= David Holms |chapter=Folk Art as Propaganda: The Yangge Movement in Yan'an |pages=13–21 |publisher=University of California Press |year= 1984 | isbn=978-0520048522}}</ref>  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 ({{lang|zh|柳翠}}), 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 City|Jiaozhou]] yangge, and the ''guzi'' ({{lang|zh|鼓子}} "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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arts.cultural-china.com/en/96A14845A16219.html |work=Cultural China |title=Guzi Yangge |access-date=2013-10-27 |archive-date=2013-10-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194057/http://arts.cultural-china.com/en/96A14845A16219.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/21/content_64927_2.htm |title=Collection of Chinese Folk Dances |work=ChinaCulture.org |access-date=2013-10-27 |archive-date=2013-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030005829/http://www1.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/21/content_64927_2.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Northeast China===
The performers of Manchurian Yangge in [[Northeast China]] usually wear traditional [[Manchu people|Manchu]] clothes of the area.  The movement is free and brisk, imitating the valor of a tribe excelling in horsemanship and marksmanship.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Sun Jingchen |author2=Luo Xiongyan |author3=Zi Huayun |title=Excerpts from Chinese Dance |url=http://www.chinesedance.com/danceBookEnglish/chineseDance_2_2.html |work=Toronto Chinese Dance Academy}}</ref>