Catalog
Basic Introduction
Categories
Artistic Characteristics
Development of Folk Dance
Representatives
Introduction to Chinese Folk Dance
Han Dance
Diversification of Dance Subject Matter
Expansion
Folk Dance
Editorial
Basic Introduction
Ethnic folk dance is a multilayered concept and a scalable interface that accommodates various degrees of processing. Folk dance is the signifier of a nation, the soul of a country. It requires a high degree of recreation by the artist, coming from the folk and finally returning to the folk. The benefits of practicing folk dance are as follows: 1. having a strong sense of fun 2. cultivating the temperament of the dancer 3. making people in a happy mood.
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Classification
Folk dance is a form of dance that is created collectively by the working people in the course of long-term history, accumulated and developed, and widely circulated among the masses. Folk dance has the closest connection with the people's life, and it directly reflects the life and struggle of the laboring
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movement people and expresses their thoughts and feelings, ideals and aspirations. Due to the differences in the way of life and labor, historical and cultural mentality, customs and habits of the people of various ethnic groups and regions, as well as the differences in the natural environment, thus forming different national styles and regional characteristics. Each country in the world, each ethnic group have their own different styles and characteristics of folk dance. In the European ballet folk dance, generally known as representative dance or character dance, it is through the professional processing of dance, so that it is harmonized with the style of the ballet, unified together.
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Artistic features
Singing and dancing, free and lively. One of the main features of Chinese folk dance is the close combination of dancing and singing. This form of singing and dancing, free, lively, lively, can be easier than pure dance to show more life content, and easy to understand, so it is very popular for the masses of people in China. Artful use of props and combination of skills. Many Chinese folk dances use props skillfully, such as fans, handkerchiefs, long silks, tambourines, single drums, flower sticks, lanterns, umbrellas and so on, which greatly strengthens the dance's artistic
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performance ability, making the dance action more rich and beautiful, colorful.
The plot is vivid and the image is clear. China's folk dance is very important to the content, most of them have certain stories and legends as the basis, therefore, the character image is distinctive, outstanding character. Although some dances only show a certain kind of emotion, but it is also mostly as a complete storyline of the fragment and appeared. For example, Guangdong's "Ying Song" is a performance of the story of Liang Shanbo heroes and heroines attacking Da Mingfu; Fujian's "Big Drums and Cool Umbrellas" legend is a performance of Zheng Chenggong's activities of practicing against foreign invaders.
Self-entertainment, unity of purpose. Many Chinese folk dances are often the unity of self-entertainment and performance. Some dance activities, for the dancers, he is self-entertainment, but also to perform to the audience, so the dancers pay close attention to the improvement of their own dance skills, so China's folk dance has been a high degree of development.
The feeling of improvisation. Folk dances from all regions of China have been passed down, although there are certain formats and norms, but there is also a tradition of improvisation, especially in the case of some folk dancers, which is particularly prominent. At their most emotionally charged moments, it is often the time when a dance can emerge that shimmers with a unique luster.
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Development of Folk Dance
In the early 1950s, under the government's strong encouragement and serious implementation, a large-scale "rescue heritage" work was carried out. Embodied in the field of dance, on the one hand, it was to effectively investigate, collect and organize the folk dances of various ethnic groups, and through processing and re-creation, to display their essence on the stage; on the other hand, it was to inherit and develop the opera dances, and to turn them into independent dance art.
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The naturally transmitted dances of various ethnic groups--especially the more skillful ones--often concentrate their basic styles in the process of transmission on a number of representative artists, most of whom are peasants and can be called folk dancers, but they have long been in a low position, even living a starving and dislocated life. They were mostly peasants, but had long been in a low position, even living a life of hunger and displacement. Therefore, the "rescue heritage" is also the rescue of folk artists with great skills, they themselves and their art have been respected as never before - unprecedented access to the hall of elegance.
This work is not a temporary expedient, but a long-term basic policy, which can also be said to be the continuation and development of the "Yan'an New Rice-planting Song Movement". A new generation of dancers consciously along the guiding ideology of the speech, in-depth life, to the masses to learn, seriously for those who seem to be "rough" but "the most vivid" folk dance to learn, collect, organize, in the spirit of "Remove the dross" - eliminate the unhealthy elements left over from the feudal society, and "take the essence" - select the most popular aesthetic qualities. The most popular aesthetic qualities are refined, processed and recreated.
In the decade after the founding of the People's Republic of China, under the guidance of Mao Zedong's policy of "let a hundred flowers blossom" and "push out the old and bring in the new", a number of excellent dances have emerged with strong national and regional characteristics, full of the flavor of the times, and reflecting the people's spiritual outlook. Excellent dances have emerged. They are not only popular among the general public, but have also attracted the attention of the world dance world in international cultural exchanges. As mentioned before: Dai Ailian's "Lotus Dance", "Flying Sky"; Jia Zuoguang's "Ordos Dance" ...... and so on are the masterpieces leading the trend of the times in this period, and there are a lot of works like this. Such as: "Red Silk Dance" (group dance) premiered in 1949, choreographer: Jin Ming (1927 -), etc., choreography: Cheng Yun, premiered by: Changchun Literary Troupe Zheng Jianji, Wang Yabin, Liu Hairu. A group of young men and women, holding up "torches" and dancing a joyful rice-planting song,
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The "torches" turn into long red silks, like fiery dragons flying, and the athletic dances and the changing styles of the dancers are all in sync. The dance is based on the folk rice-planting song and the traditional skill - "Baizhanfan", and the meaningful form of "burning torches" is chosen to give vent to the people's voice of liberation***. In 1950, the dance was first performed in Beijing, which was a sensation in the capital. The following year, selected to participate in the 3rd "World Youth Festival" won the gold medal. For half a century, it has been performed all over China and the five continents of the world, and people coincidentally say that it is: "the symbol of China's fire".
Other Han dances, such as: "Flower Encouragement", "Harvest Song", etc., can be called a masterpiece. The Flower Drum (group dance), premiered in 1956, choreographed by Zhang Yi (1934-), composer anecdotally; premiered by the Dalian Song and Dance Troupe, led by Zhang Yi. "Flower Drums" have been passed down in Shandong Province for many years as a form of entertainment for poor peasants wandering and begging. The drumsticks are attached to a half-meter long spike, and the dancers use the tops of the drumsticks and the spike to beat the drums alternately, creating a unique technique. Zhang Yi gave the "Flower Encouragement Dance" the optimistic spirit of the times and lengthened the drum spikes to highlight its skill. In the exciting, changing rhythms, the human body's athletic rhythms intertwine with the colorful lines of the drum spikes, constituting the unique charm of the dance. The dance was awarded the gold medal at the 1957 World Youth Festival.
In this strong trend of the times, the flowers of minority dances are beautiful and red, opening everywhere. The Peacock Dance (women's group dance) is another masterpiece of Jin Ming, premiered in 1956, composed by Luo Zhongrong, premiered by the Central Song and Dance Troupe, led by Zi Huajun and Cui Meishan. On a high hill, a peacock with open screen rushes down the hill with beautiful wings, and a pair of wings turn into peacock girls who step on the sound of elephant foot drums and gongs, and sing a beautiful melody. And with the beautiful melody, surrounded by the "king of birds" dancing - drinking, photography, bathing, flying ...... Peacock is the Dai people living in the southwest border of the ancient totem worship - religious art remains, and the peacock is a symbol of the Dai people. --Religious art remains, has been regarded as a symbol of good luck and happiness. The traditional "Peacock Dance" handed down in folklore is performed only by men, and the dancers carry heavy props symbolizing their wings, which restricts the freedom and stretch of their bodies. The choreographers broke with tradition and tried to show the beauty of the peacock as a woman, and also revolutionized the costumes by removing the heavy props and replacing them with long, wide-swinged skirts covered with peacock feathers.... ...This dance debuted in 1956 in the National Dance Festival, with its novelty and beauty, favored by the audience, and the following year in the "World Youth Festival" won the Gold Medal.
There are many stage masterpieces created on the basis of collecting and organizing traditional folk dances. The government regularly organizes cultural performances for the exchange of experience and the prosperity of creativity. People of all ethnic groups who have suffered a lot are proud to show their dances on the stage.
Due to historical reasons, some regions or ethnic groups, the life of the natural reproduction of the dance on the verge of extinction. In the face of the new era, they are also eager to dance to express their hearts and establish the image of their own ethnicity. They even proposed to professional dancers, "Design a dance for us!" It was in the midst of this "call" that the "Happy Longing" and the "Grass Hat Dance" were born.
The above-mentioned folk dances represent the largest number of "mood dances" of this period - short and small
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refined, without complicated plots, and using the techniques of comparison and expression to express feelings. Whether it is processed and created on the basis of traditional folk dances or elaborated by professional dancers, they all emphasize the national style - striving to reflect the aesthetic qualities of different nationalities.
The richness and colorfulness of life has created a diversity of dance themes, genres, styles, and patterns, and during this period, there were many works that reflected life more directly by refining the dance vocabulary from life without emphasizing specific styles. For example, among the military-themed dance works, the duo dance "Hard Times" left an extraordinarily deep impression on people. This work was premiered in 1961, choreographed by Zhou Sheng (1934-1988) and Peng Erli (1936-); composed by Yank and Zhou Fang; and premiered by the Guangzhou Military District Warrior Song and Dance Troupe, Zhu Guolin and Liao Junxiang. The choreographer was inspired by the sculpture of the same name, or rather, the dance is a "dynamic" presentation of this famous sculpture: an old warrior and a young warrior on the Long March, facing the enemy's pursuit, trekking in the midst of hunger and cold. The young warrior fainted a few times, the old warrior played the bamboo flute, the exciting, beautiful music aroused the warrior's yearning for the future, they encouraged each other, helped each other, and moved forward indefatigably towards the set goal. With its unique creativity, condensed structure, touching details, and distinctive dance images, Hard Times presents the romance of battle. It focuses not on explaining events, but on showing the sublimation of characters' feelings.
The classical dance that refines the vocabulary from the opera - "Moonlit Night of Spring River Flowers" is quite representative. The women's solo dance "Night of the Spring River Flowers and Moon" was first performed in 1959, choreographed by Li Chenglian (1932--1993); premiered by Chen Ailian of the Beijing Dance School. The dance uses the ancient song of the same name as the dance music, with the help of the famous Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu's poem of the same name: "The river and the sky are colorless, the moon in the sky is bright and lonely ......", and appropriately draws on some of the formulae and beautiful figures in opera dance to create a graceful and soft dance posture and a delicate and subtle dance. The dance posture, delicate and implicit rhyme, expresses the moonlit night of the girl's longing for happiness.
All of the above are representative dances of the mid-50's and 60's, which have endured a long period of social selection and have been handed down to the present day. The choreographers and leading performers of these works are the leaders of the first generation of dancers in New China, who, while receiving strict professional training, paid special attention to learning from life, learning from the masses, and consciously pursuing the mingling of artistic individuality with the national style and the spirit of the times.
After 10 years of devastation during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the art of dance was revitalized, and entered a new period of reform and opening up in China. In this historic social change, people's way of thinking, value
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concepts, psychological state, aesthetic consciousness have undergone obvious changes. Reflected in the trend of literature and art, it is more centrally reflected in the reflection on traditional culture and traditional concepts, and the exploration of its value assessment in the process of China's modernization. The open debate of different viewpoints in various fields reflects the unprecedented activity of cultural thought and the further promotion of the policy of "let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend" under Deng Xiaoping's call for "seeking truth from facts and emancipating the mind". This progress is profound, comprehensive, the new era of dance creation has also had an important role and influence.
The dance before the "Cultural Revolution" has basically formed a relatively stable general pattern - the imprint of the times. Excused by the ideological concepts of the time, the creators seemed to be very afraid of their own works, from the life prototype or the original form of folk dance is too "far", on the subject matter, the choice of genre and the processing of dance movements, generally cautious attitude and tend to convergence. Therefore, in the creation of brilliant, there is also a certain tendency of similarity and pattern.
The majority of dancers after the recovery of the arts and culture, eager to try, despite the values, aesthetic awareness of the mutual existence of various differences, but without exception reflects a strong sense of innovation - the desire to the past habitual methods and inherent patterns - even if the "successful experience". Even if it is a "successful experience", it reflects a strong sense of innovation - a desire to break through the usual methods and inherent patterns of the past. In retrospect, reflection, after confusion, exploration and even the pain of gestation, a number of new and impressive works have emerged.