It is generally believed that the original dance is square rather than theater, self-indulgence rather than performance, participation rather than viewing, random rather than standardized, labor-saving rather than deliberate, and inheritance rather than creation. Original dances are folk dances handed down by ordinary people in folk rituals or folk activities.
Grappling from the perspectives of ethnology, folklore, and ethnic and cultural psychology, one will find that the original dance has some of the following spiritual and cultural connotations: worship with totem symbols as the sacred power; ceremonial with the theme of life essence; thematic with the harmony between man and nature; and popular with the tone of folk life. Each of these dances may not necessarily contain all of them, but they are all related to one or more of these elements.
Worshipfulness with totemic symbols as sacred power. Totem is the mark and symbol of primitive clans and tribal groups, and totem culture, as the primitive accumulation layer forming the deep structure of national culture and psychology, has the original significance of the yuan of the national culture, the source of the national soul, and the true nature of human nature. Primitive dance is the expression of totem worship or itself is a kind of animal movement as a totem symbol for the dance movement, so that it obtains the mark of group identity and satisfies and realizes the social collective consciousness and belonging mentality. For example, the Dragon Dance is inseparable from the Han people's totem worship of the dragon. The worship of copper drums in the minority, the worship of bamboo, many ethnic Nuo Nuo dance of heaven and earth in the worship of the gods, is an important element in the original ecological dance. Totem worship dance, originated from the worship of the gods and the need for ancestral beliefs.
Ritualistic with the theme of life essence. Rituals are people's way of behavior, and ritual dance occupies an important position in the original dance. Ceremonial dance arises from the reverence and reliance on supernatural deities. In the primitive society, primitive religion, totem worship, witchcraft sacrifices and other activities are inseparable from the dance. Ceremonial dance can be divided into two kinds in terms of behavior, one is the act of worship and the other is the act of simulation. Whether it is the worship of the gods or the attachment of the gods and pretending to be gods and ghosts, the purpose is to use the power of the gods to realize the exorcism of evil spirits, reflecting their pursuit of life and the aspiration of life, and entrusting people with the wish for a better future.
The theme of harmony between man and nature. China is a traditional farming society, in the relationship between man and nature, the dominant idea is "the unity of man and heaven". This concept is reflected in the psychology of primitive culture, which is the reverence for nature and obedience to the natural order, and on this basis to achieve harmony between man and nature. The initial meaning of "heaven" is "God", people can only passively obey. Later on, people believed that heaven was nature, referring to nature and the laws of evolution of the natural world. The "unity of heaven and man" is the harmony and unity between man and nature. Expressed in the original dance, is to reflect the people praying for heaven and praying for the ground, to get the wind and rain of the various ceremonial dance, and has the nature of the original folk dance, also contains a large number of similar content.
Popularity based on folk life. The original dance exists in the people as the content of human activities, is a part of the folk life and production activities, is the folk life as the tone of the folk dance art to the public aesthetic interest. Production activity is the most basic human activity, the form of human physical activity as the basic form of expression, the formation of the original dance reflecting labor activities, while showing the natural flow of labor in the beautiful feelings.