--Editor
"Knowing dance, like knowing anything else, requires deepening one's understanding through identification and dissimilarity, which involves the classification of dance. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are as many territories separated by mountains, rivers and seas as well as countries and nations formed in the long development of history, there are about as many kinds of dances as there are ecological factors (including the natural environment and the human environment) closely related to their generation and development, and over time they have constituted the concept of classification of dances, one by one, generally with the type of dance as the basic level. The basic level. However, the scientific categorization of dance is a very complex issue, and at present, in people's impression of the conventional dance titles: ballet, modern dance, classical dance, folk dance ...... is actually not the same level of categorization concept.
"For example: people usually mention the classical dance, modern dance, basically based on its generation of the period of classification; ritual dance, social dance, etc. belongs to the functional classification; lamp dance, dragon dance, lion dance belongs to the form of classification; Japanese dance, Russian dance, etc. is to disseminate, spread the geographical area to classification. Although ballet and folk dances are categorized by a combination of factors such as function, form, region of spread, and genealogy of origin, the differences between these two types of dances are not at the same level. Ballet' has become a classical stage art with distinctive features and strict programs, which originated in Europe but is international in nature; 'folk dance', on the other hand, encompasses a very large scope, referring to the natural reproduction of the people of various countries, which is mainly for self-entertainment and is closely related to folklore. The 'folk dance', on the other hand, encompasses a very broad scope, referring to all kinds of dances that have naturally spread among the people of each country, are mainly for self-entertainment and are closely related to folklore. Different ethnic groups have different styles of dances, which have been preserved because of their relatively stable areas of distribution. Although 'folk dance' and 'folk dance' are closely related and often compared, they are not strictly categorized in the same sense. 'Folk dance' (F O L K D A N C E) is defined primarily in terms of mass self-indulgence - 'unstaged processing' - and is sometimes called 'square dance' (however, staged works of art can also be performed in open-air squares, making it imprecise to use the performance setting as a criterion for categorization). 'Ethnic dance' (E T H N I C D A N C E) refers to a specific type of dance with a particular style and cultural background, owned by a certain ethnic group and passed down in a relatively stable geographical area. It is rooted in the people, and artists can take its aesthetic qualities as a creative element and process and design it in different ways to become a creative stage artwork. Therefore, 'folk dance' covers the dances of various ethnic groups that are naturally transmitted among the people, while ''folk dance' includes both natural transmission and stage art works.
"The criteria for categorizing dances are not static. For example, ballet has long formed its classical stage style, so the categorization criteria are clear. However, with the expansion of artistic practice, in recent years the creative concepts and practical achievements of 'modern ballet' have emerged, and there exists a certain degree of ambiguity between 'ballet' and 'modern dance' in such works, which people do not deny. Similarly, the creative folk dance (stage art) has diversified development, and there is no lack of 'blended' works that incorporate movement elements and expression methods of other dance genres, which is different from the original folk dance (stage art). There are many 'hybrid' works that incorporate movement elements and expressive techniques from other dance genres, thus distancing themselves from the original folk dances (which are naturally transmitted). However, as long as there is no qualitative change in its basic mood and style, people recognize it as a 'folk dance'.
"A truly scientific and fundamental classification of dances needs to be confirmed through a comprehensive examination of their form, function, genealogy of origin, and geographic area of dissemination -- form, function, origin, and area. Introduction to Dance Ecology puts forward the concept of 'multi-dimensional dance species', and gives the interpretation of 'extraction of dance morphological features, generalization of homomorphic dance categories, and construction of multi-dimensional dance species systematization', which needs to be examined, applied, and gradually improved in long-term practice, before a more ideal --- dance classification --- can be established. This principle needs to be examined, applied and gradually improved in long-term practice before a more ideal - scientific dance classification system can be established.
"To summarize, dance can be divided into two major categories: those that are naturally reproduced by the public - dance in life; and those that are deliberately designed by artists - stage art. There is a clear hierarchy between the two, but there is also a certain degree of ambiguity at the interface, which should be defined by the 'degree' of artistic processing and creative personalization.
"As a stage artwork of dance, according to its creation of artistic style, and there are genres, subject matter classification. For example: solo dance, duo dance, group dance, group dance, dance poetry, dance drama, etc. that is, different genres of dance; many dance works and contains a variety of different subjects: history, modernity, mythology, folklore, love, revolutionary themes, and so on and so forth. In a general sense, genre is just a formal categorization. For example, a solo dance is performed by a single person, a group dance is performed by a group of people (more than three people), confirming the standard is obvious. Different dance genres have their own style characteristics and limitations, inevitably involving the subject matter, content and form, which also has a certain regularity. For example: the content of a solo dance work is obviously not comparable to a dance drama, the choice of subject matter is bound to be different; dance poetry and dance drama of the difference is not necessarily related to its content content, depth, but focus on the artistic presentation of the different
same, the former focus on the sublimation of feelings and poetic, dance meaning, mood, imagery of the creation of; the latter focus on the drama of the conflict and the characterization of the laying out of the image. The latter focuses on dramatic conflict and characterization. Many dance styles are not exhaustive, the times are advancing, human creativity continues to develop, dance themes, genres, styles are bound to expand, but the merits of the dance and the aesthetic value of the dance is not based on its themes, genres, and should be the ideological and artistic works to determine."
......The above explanation of the basic concepts of dance classification is quoted from one of the sections of the main entry of dance in the Encyclopedia of China (second edition) written by me (the book has been finalized by the General Editorial Committee and will be published soon). Due to the limitation of its length, it has not been fully developed, but the basic principle has been clarified. At present, in the practice of dance creation, various phenomena are emerging - not limited by the existing classification framework, encounter dance competitions, classification issues are often related to the judging rules, standards, and the results have a certain role in guiding and involving specific units, individual merit. Therefore, the pre-competition discussion of classification is often sensitive, complex, originally clear concepts have become "chaotic", and even the existence of endless debates, repeatedly "chaotic" trend. Therefore, in recent years, combined with the problems encountered in practice, to talk about the personal opinion, teaching the dance industry counterparts and the majority of dance enthusiasts.
First of all, it should be clear that the significance of discussing the classification of dance is not for the competition; the prosperity of dance creation is not only dependent on the organization of various competitions. With the development of the cultural and artistic market, maturity, various competitions on the creative impetus, attraction, will be increasingly weakened, this is not by the will of the transfer of people (and not a bad thing). But the debate over categorization is often highlighted in the setup and operation of competitions, so it may be useful to use this as an "entry point" to discuss the issue.
In accordance with the author's vision, over the years to participate in various competitions of the dance (even on behalf of the amateur front of the "Group Star Award") is mostly processed to varying degrees of stage works of art, the rules of the competition is divided into two categories: l, the classification of dance (such as the "Lotus Award", "Peach Blossom Award", "Peach Blossom Award"), and the classification of dance (such as the "Lotus Award", "Peach Blossom Award", "Peach Blossom Award"). ", "Peach and Lee Cup", etc.); 2, genre classification (such as the National Dance Competition, etc.). Practice has proved that both have their own strengths and weaknesses. The classification of dance genres recognizes the differences in the cultural background and presentation of different dance genres, as well as the objective reality of the different effects produced by specific works, and advocates the distinctiveness of the language carriers of the works. This is of positive significance for the protection of the classification of dance genres, especially the attributes of folk dances, which have been historically formed and have existed for a long time. But the soul of art is innovation, and innovation must constantly break through the inherent pattern. Looking at the specific practice of contemporary dance creation, there is a trend of inevitability in the continuous development of themes, genres, and the inevitable "blended" language forms. Although there is no lack of some kind of "incongruity" or "inferior hybridization" phenomenon, the positive effect of the reasonable intermingling of foreign cultures on artistic innovation and development has a universal regularity. Therefore, we should not be too harsh on those "hybrid" - exploratory and experimental works that have serious pursuits but are not successful enough (mature). In this sense, a competition categorized according to "dance genres" is somewhat restrictive to the freedom of creativity. In contrast, the classification of genres is a kind of liberation for choreographers, and the rules for judging seem to be simpler. But in fact, different choreographers' cultural and educational backgrounds and practical experience constrain their own creative personalities, and the differences in dance genres created by long-term historical development (ethnic folk dances with a long and colorful history have their own inheritance, mutation and complexity of the law of development and social change), so it is difficult to use homogeneous ideological and artistic standards to measure and judge works originating from different dance genres, and it may be difficult to take one thing into account over the other. In practice, it is difficult to judge works from different dance genres by the same ideological and artistic standards, and it is inevitable that there will be bias and imbalance in the sense of losing sight of the other. In my opinion, it may be difficult to distinguish between the two types of competition rules for a while, and there is a complementary nature for them to co-exist in the long run. And the above historical formation of classification standards and the current use of the two systems, and the international dance world common classification concepts and rules are relatively close, easy to exchange and cooperation or "convergence".