1, Guizhou lantern theater is the end of the Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China in the local folk songs and dances on the basis of the development. At first, the lanterns are called flower lanterns, only songs and dances, and then in the songs and dances to add a small play, and then later by the influence of foreign opera, the development of the performance of this play. Guizhou lantern theater is mainly popular in Dushan, Zunyi, Bijie, Anshun, Tongren and other places, with different titles. In the north and west of Guizhou, it is called "Lantern Folder Opera", in the Dushan area it is called "Table Lantern", and in the Sinan and Yinjiang areas it is called "Gao Tai Opera" or "Lantern Opera". "The original lantern theater was simple and easy to perform. Initially, the lantern theater performance form is simple, to play folk drama, the subject matter is mostly taken from rural life and folk stories, there are "New Year's Eve", "Sisters to see the flowers", "three visits to relatives", "Liu Sanmei picking water", "cattle stopping his wife" and other plays. Its performance is characterized by "twisting", and the actors often use folding fans and handkerchiefs as props to express their emotions. The dance steps include two and a half steps, four-square steps, fast and slow three steps, pheasant steps, shuttle steps, broken rice steps, short pile steps, women's field steps, fast steps, etc.; the fan plays with a small flower fan, a large flower fan, a cross-fan, a cover fan, a poor fan, a butterfly fan, etc.; the body has a rhinoceros cow looking at the moon, planting flowers in the knee, a yellow dragon wrapped around the waist, the bottom of the sea to find the moon, the top of the snowflake, the eagle spreading its wings, etc.. Some of the tunes of Guizhou Lantern Opera are more dramatic than others, and some of them are derived from lyrical folk songs, among which "Embroidered Lotus Bags" is the most famous. In the course of its popularity, Guizhou Lantern Opera gradually broke the song and dance program of "lamp, fan, and pas", and the footwork was no longer limited to "two small" and "three small", but had the divisions of "pure", "last", "old", "colorful" and so on. The program is also not limited to "two small" and "three small", but has a net, end, old Dan, color Dan and other divisions.
2, Sinan Tujia lanterns to the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the influence of foreign theater culture, has developed into a lantern play - Gao Tai Opera, which is a big leap in the history of lanterns. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, the Sinan Tujia lanterns were changed from indoor performances to short stage performances in courtyards and dams, which the Tujia people called short stage plays. In 18th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, Luo Fanglin, a native of Sinan, returned to his hometown from Yunnan, built a formal stage in his hometown Luojiaba, and moved the Tujia Shorter Stage Opera to a high stage. Gao Tai Opera got its name from this. Formation of a strong national characteristics of the Gao Tai opera, immediately shocked the county, and even across the county line, the people regardless of red and white celebrations, New Year's festivals, are scrambling to invite the troupe out of the play.