Stilt walking, also called Cai Gaoqiao in Chinese, is a traditional folk art form in China. It is often performed by dancers, who stand respectively on the two wooden stilts to walk. Performances are often given during the folk festivals.
Most scholars believe that the origin of the performance is related to the totem worship of the primitive clans. It is said that around 2033 BC., danzhu clan regarded crane as their totem and used to standing on two stilts to imitate the dance of crane. According to the book of Lei Zi, the performance was popular and widely spread at the early 500 BC. At that time, stilt walking had already been divided into three categories, namely “Gao Qiao”, “Zhong Qiao” and “Pao Qiao” respectively.
Stilts are mostly made of wood. A support point can always be found in the middle of the stilt as performers could stand on it. Their feet will be tied to the stilts. The performance has various forms but each form requires high skills.
Stilt walking is very popular in China, especially in Shanxi, Shandong, and Beijing. Nowadays, the performance can be divided into two types: gentle stilt and valiant stilt. The former one mainly focuses on walking and dancing with simple dance movements. While the latter attaches importance to the unique skills, such as “standing on one’s head”, “making a human pyramid”, “doing the splits”, etc.
So far, stilt walking is not only among the most popular art forms for Chinese people, but also is favored by the people throughout the world.
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