IT IS a giant step that Chinese opera is taking at the Young People's Theatre this year. In an effort to win young hearts and minds to this traditional art form, the Chinese Theatre Circle is using stilt-walkers in one of the excerpts it is presenting at the Victoria Theatre next Thursday. It is the first time that Chinese opera is offered as an item in the Young People's Theatre. Together with a host of other captivating stunts, the amateur group is introducing the rare skill of stilt-walking which has not been fea- tured in local opera performances before. Five stilt-walkers, all members of the Circle, will be showing off their skills in the opera excerpt, Princess Iron Fan And The Monkey God - an action-filled episode from the Chinese classic, Journey classic, Jo To The West. In that scene, 10 little monkeys disciples of the Monkey God- engage themselves in play at Water Curtain Cave. Five are exceptionally tall they are the stilt-walkers who will walk and roll gracefully on stilts measuring about 1.2-m high. The punchy kick-off to the 40-minute opera performance - one of three opera excerpts presented - may last a short three minutes, but getting the act right took nearly four months of hard training. Mr Choy Yien Chow, the group's artistic director and martial arts instructor, said: "Stilt-walking is a difficult stunt, the actors kept falling and suffering bruises during practice sessions." The art of walking tall dates back to 2000 BC, in the reign of Emperor Shun. That period of Chinese history was known as The Golden Age when Emperor Shun's subjects enjoyed good harvests and a happy But the good life did not last long. The Yellow River burst its banks and rice crops were destroyed. It was said that the whole of China was flooded. Emperor Shun, known for his wisdom, came up with an idea to help his people wade through the high waters. It was said that he invented stilt-walking by using two long bamboo po Loops were connected to the bamboo poles to keep the feet above ground. This ingenious idea then caught on among his subjects. In later years, children began to take a keen interest in this method of managing in floods and stilt-walking gradually developed into a sport. The one who could beat the others to the top of the hill became the village marathon walk champion. The five stilt-walkers are Xu Xiaotian (13), Huang Qiuwen (13), Lin Jiafu (18), Chen Mingshun (19) and Chen Yongqiang (18). They are coached by Huang Shuijun, 25, a local expert in stilt-walking. Huang plays the Monkey God but will not be on stilts. Mr Choy said that two types of stilt-walking are employed in Chinese operas. One uses tall stilts, as high as 1.8 m. This is used mainly by men in martial arts sequences. The other type makes use of hard and soft stilts. These are used by women in the portrayal of the comic or caidan role. The hard stilts measure about 15 cm high and the soft stilts, 7.5 cm high. The rest of the episode will showcase Monkey God and his little monkeys in an exciting battle with Princess Iron Fan. The other two opera are Stealing The Magic Herb (from Madam White Snake) and Duel At The Crossroads. These promise to be as thrilling as Princess Iron Fan And The Monkey God. Duel At The Crossroads, in particular, is a feast of magnificent stunts presented by Lu Liangwei, a martial arts competition winner here. Set in the period of Song dynasty, Duel centres on a warrior, Ren Tanghui, who is assigned to protect his colleague, Jiao Zhan, who has been arrested on false charges. A duel the highlight of the opera ensues when Ren (played by Zhang Xiaohui) and inn helper Liu Lihua (played by Lu Liangwei) meet in the dark, each suspecting the other of trying to harm Jiao. Fifteen-year-old Liangwei won fourth prize in the Short Weapon (Youth) Section of a national pugilistic contest last year. In Duel, he will display such breathtaking stunts as rolling down from a table and balancing himself on the table legs while fighting with his opponent. Xu Xiaotian (one of the stilt-walkers) and Lan Weihua (one of the monkeys) also won prizes in the same contest Xiaotian won fourth prize in the Long Weapon Section and Weihua, third prize in the Boxing Section. NLB The third excerpt, entitled Stealing The Magic Herb, will give Zhang Shulian a chance to show her mettle. It is taken from Madam White Snake, a popular story about the love between a snake and a man. In this episode, Zhang (who plays Madam White Snake) tries to steal a magic herb to save her husband. Four fairies guarding the herb engage her in battle.

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These shoes are typical in Chinese opera and are worn by men.

Masks are often used in Chinese opera. This is an example of the mask of "Monkey God", a main character in the play that was performed on stilts.