CBA halftime shows experiment with traditional performances

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In the CBA match between Tianjin and Liaoning on Sunday night, hosts Tianjin presented a Kuaiban show to replace the regular cheering dance during halftime. It was the first time that the traditional Tianjin art form went to the CBA's court.

Thirty-five Kuaiban performers in traditional gowns rattled bamboo clappers to produce an accompanying beat, with which they rapped to in Mandarin. This special arrangement was in honor of Tianjin city's 614-year-old birthday.

Tianjing folk art performers play Kuaiban during the halftime of the CBA match between Tianjin and Liaoning, Tianjin, China, December 22, 2018. /VCG Photo

Kuaiban is mainly a form of storytelling with slight differences in different regions. Tianjin's genre is one of the most famous.

In recent years, more and more traditional elements have been incorporated into basketball games.

Last year the host team in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region chose to play the Chinese national anthem using traditional instruments used by the regions ethnic minorities before the CBA match against Shandong.

Urumqi Orchestra plays China's national anthem with instruments unique to the region in the CBA match between Xinjiang and Shandong, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, February 17, 2017. /VCG Photo

The capital team Beijing Jinyu put Peking Opera in a halftime in 2012. The male performers also incorporated a couple basketball skills into their performance.

Peking Opera performers show their freestyle basketball skill in the half time of the CBA match between Beijing Jinyu and Guangdong Hongyuan, Beijing, China, March 30, 2012. /VCG Photo

The Cantonese invited Sichuan Opera artists to perform the Changing Face show during the match between Guangdong Hongyuan and Tianjin Ronggang in 2011.

Sichuan Opera performers perform the Changing Face show at halftime, during the CBA match between Guangdong Hongyuan and Tianjin, Guangdong, south China, March 6, 2011. /VCG Photo

The league's cheerleaders have also performed wearing modified cheongsam (Qipao in Mandarin), a Chinese gown worn by women during the Qing Dynasty during the Spring Festival earlier this year.

Cheering girls pose during the CBA match between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Guangdong, south China, February 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

Last weekend, the CBA introduced the Winter Solstice Games, a version of the NBA's Christmas Day Games, under the reform of the association's current chairman Yao Ming. Winter Solstice Day is widely celebrated in China, and a way to integrate the popular holiday with basketball.