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Ancient Chinese Ballroom Dance
From the Han Dynasty (206BC-220 AD) to the Wei Dynasty (220-265)
and the Jin Dynasty (265-420), there was a kind of dance very popular
on the parties of officials and aristocrats. People danced for social
intercourse and making friends. The dance was just like today's
ballroom dance.
On parties, the host will dance first. After the host finishes
dance, he will invite one of the guests to dance continuously. After
the second dancer ends his dance, another one will be invited to
dance. Thus, the dance goes on and on.
During the dance, if one is invited, he or she should not decline,
otherwise, he or she will be regarded as impolite. It is an insult
to the one who offers invitation.
During the Tang dynasty (618-907), there was once another kind
of ballroom dance very popular. The dance was calledDa Ling, a custom
on parties.
Modern Dance in China
Development of the modern Chinese dance has followed a long and
tortuous road. Broadly speaking, in the process of the development
of Chinese modern and contemporary dances, it seems that all forms
of dances without specific national characteristics and classical
patterns could be included in Chinese Modern Dance.
Chinese modern dance pioneers like Wu Xiaobang, Dai Ailian and
Jia Zuoguang had intensive professional training in western modern
dances. In their dancing, they not only retain the spirit of freedom
and innovation, but more importantly, they pursue the national character
of China and the trends of the time and combine that with what they
were taught. Dance Classics of the Chinese Nation in the 20th century
represented by great works such asMarch of the Volunteers,Song of
the Guerrillas,Fire of Hunger, as well as Wu Xiaobang's motto "to
dance to the rhythm of the times" should be considered treasures
of the Chinese Modern Dance.
At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, Wu Xiaobang
set up the Tianma Dance Art Studio to promote his own teaching system
that originated from modern dance. His works of this period include
the Great Ambuscade, Three Variations of Plum Blossom, Wild Geese
Landing On the Sand, which abide by a traditional cultural spirit.
Also, we have shepherd Boy Learning Chinese Characters,Soccer Dance
and Butterfly, which were based on modern life. His principles of
art remained the same, however, and the above-mentioned works couldn't
compete with the dances he created during the Anti-Japanese War
in terms of their influence. Later, the pursuit of modern dance
in China faded with the closing of the Tianma Dance Art Studio.
Chinese modern dance began to create a new development trend at
the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s with the deepening
of China's reform and opening-up. It was in the recent ten years
that China directly brought in "authentic" Western modern
dance and started new explorations into this field. Guangzhou, the
pioneer of Chinese reform and Beijing, the political capital and
cultural center became the bases for modern dance.
In 1987, the first experimental modern dance class opened in Guangdong
Province; in 1991, the Beijing Dance Institute officially launched
the modern dance teaching and research office. Many well-known Western
modern dance experts were invited to China successively to give
systematic training in shape and choreography. They were Sarah Stackhouse,
Ruby Shang, Douglas Nielson, Claudia Gittleman, Lucas Hoving, Birgit
Akesson, Ren Lu Wang and Chang Ching, etc., from the United States,
Britain, Sweden, Canada, and Australia.
Soon after, young Chinese modern dancers began to emerge on the
world stage with their unique style. The pioneers were Qin Liming
and Qiao Yang from the Guangdong Modern Dance Class. They clinched
the gold medal of the pas de deux at the Fourth Paris International
Modern Dance Contest in 1990 with the dances. Passing Voice(choreographed
by Cao Chengyuan) and impression of Taiji. Later in 1994 and 1996,
gold medals at the sixth and seventh Paris international modern
dance contests were again snatched by Chinese Xing Liang and Sang
Jijia. Aside from performing works by Cao Chengyuan, both of them
presented the Light and Dangling created by themselves. To experts
in world modern dance circles' surprise, Chinese artists began to
rapidly enter modern dance circles with their works of international
standard and the charm of the Orient.
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