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.
The folk dance, as it is currently referred to in the dance world, is a concept that is prone to misunderstandings except in the dance world, in the domestic art world and by international counterparts. Because the meaning of folk dance is originally from the people spontaneously, and in the folk dance (a more appropriate name should be called "folk dance"). What we call "folk dance" today is actually the folk dance created by professional art groups and the theater folk dance under the academy training system, and the "folk dance" in these two sections has decidedly formed its own cultural and aesthetic attributes independent of folk culture, and has become an art form with its own cultural attributes and aesthetic attributes. These two plates of "folk dance" have decidedly formed a cultural attribute independent of folk culture and aesthetic attributes, and have become dance varieties with a strong upper-class cultural nature, presenting distinctive rational thinking, artistic thinking, and aesthetic interests of cultured people and artists.
Strictly speaking, folk dance (hereinafter referred to as "original folk dance") is characterized by a strong peasant culture, which is colorful, straightforward, vivid, simple, happy to make fun, and less patterned, and permeated with a strong sense of community and the appeal from the essence of life, which is significantly different from that of theater folk dance in terms of cultural nature. The following is a rational view of the nature of the dance from three aspects:
From the material basis of the dance, the human body. The original folk dance is used to keep the body in a plain and natural state, which can be clearly felt in many video recordings and dances of the people in the field. Theatre folk dance, the dance of the material basis of the reserve, the dancers without exception have received strict, systematic training, the performance of the body at any time in a prescribed state.
From the ontology of the dance - action form. Original folk dance, its action posture is relatively casual, performance, although there are some corresponding requirements and even inherent provisions, but the original folk dance is not subject to too many constraints, the degree of freedom, improvisation is strong. Theatre folk dance is to extract the stylistic factors (including movement, posture, form and rhythm) of a certain ethnic group and a certain region for transformation and development - or to keep its shape and raise its spirit, or to change its shape and save its spirit, and to standardize its moves and styles. Therefore, compared with the original folk dance, the theater folk dance is the abstract deformation of the original folk dance movement form and the extreme strengthening of style and rhythm.
From the analysis of the function and purpose of the dance. Original folk dance is an indispensable and inseparable part of the life of the people of all races, with universal participation and spontaneity. Like Tibet, Mongolia, Miao, Dai, Wei and other ethnic groups, its improvisational dance at any time, anywhere is commonplace, which is also the characteristics of other ethnic minorities in China **** there. Therefore, the original folk dance for the people is mainly a means of entertainment, a spontaneous activity and catharsis. Therefore, the original folk dance in the simple emotional release or insertion of the content of the majority, the dance is also expressed by the people's daily life is heard and seen, simple and understandable, close to the people. In addition, the original folk dance has a strong practicality as it takes on the task of welcoming and sacrificing to the gods in the activity of welcoming the gods and becoming an important part of the folk rituals and ceremonies. In addition to its non-utilitarian aesthetic attributes, the theater folk dance has a completely different cultural mission from the original folk dance. That is to say, as "art", theater folk dance must reflect the reality, reflect the spirit of the times, and must have its own independent cultural thinking and cultural symbols, which determines the essential difference between it and the original folk dance - a kind of self-conscious rational behavior and high-level artistic creation. This determines its essential difference from the original folk dance - a conscious rational behavior and high-level artistic creation. Therefore, it advocates the innovation of expression and the excavation of cultural connotation. Innovation in expression involves borrowing from different kinds of dances and creative methods, while the excavation of cultural connotation involves understanding, learning and researching different regional environments, ethnic traditions and real life. It is precisely because of this that "Yellow Earth Yellow", which sublimates the yellow soil into the "root" symbolizing the spiritual dependence of the nation, "A Rice-planting Song Twisting Person", which seeks for the life realm of rice-planting song; "The Remnant of Spring", which is sentimental about the passing of time; "Mosuo Woman", which praises the mother's sentiments; "Sister's Drum", which is in reverence to the cycle of life; and "Good Big Dance", which is the collision of the soul with the society. The Great Wind", which collides with society; "Fan Bones", which faces the vicissitudes of life; and ...... There is no doubt that such deep cultural propositions and thoughts as the national spirit, the realm of life, or life, society, destiny, and the soul are obviously not inherent to the conscious pursuit of peasant or folk culture. -Although these things as cultural deposits will be different degrees from the original folk dance refracted, but it is not the original folk dance consciously show the content, but undoubtedly is a variety of philosophical thinking of cultural people and cultural complex, is the artist of human history and social life of the deeper nuances of the full embodiment of the attributes of the culture of the upper levels.
To sum up, the domestic dance industry is referred to as "folk dance" (actually theater folk dance), in fact, is not "folk". Because as mentioned above, theater folk dance has already had the cultural attributes and aesthetic attributes independent of folk culture, and it is a kind of product taken from the folk, purified, refined, rationalized, standardized, technologized, and aesthetized. In this transformation process, the original folk dance has undergone a process of cultural filtering and foreign cultural input, after which, the original folk dance has been transformed into a purely theatrical aesthetic form with a considerable distance from the original state of the folk - the theater (including the academy) folk dance. It can be seen that the "folk dance" on the Chinese stage has not finally taken folk culture as its own culture to rely on, but has intentionally or unintentionally changed the original peasant cultural attributes under the artistic mission of "portrait of the spirit of the times". From the point of view of the establishment of dance varieties, this change can not be faulted.