What dances are there in China?

As we all know, China dance is a traditional dance with exemplary significance and unique style in various regions or ethnic groups in China. The main features are: standardized dance skills, rigorous training system and relatively stable aesthetic rules. It is representative, traditional and exemplary of regional, ethnic or national dances.

The name and origin of "China Dance"

There was no such thing as' China Dance' in the early days. Of course, this doesn't mean that the dance we are dancing is not China. Great country for five thousand years, how profound the cultural heritage is, so I won't elaborate on the development history of China dance here. Let me talk about the origin of the name' China Dance'.

In 1980s, the colonial government of Hong Kong decided to strongly support the development of local arts, and invited Professor Peter Billison, a famous British scholar, to visit Hong Kong and put forward feasible methods to assist the development of local dance in Hong Kong.

As professional dance companies, City Contemporary Ballet and Hong Kong Ballet were established in 1979 respectively. After visiting these two dance companies, Billison made a suggestion to the colonial government at that time: Hong Kong already has a modern dance company and a ballet company.

Therefore, professional dances in Hong Kong can be divided into three categories: modern dance, ballet and "China dance". The City Contemporary Dance Company dances modern dance, the Hong Kong Ballet Company dances ballet, and the Hong Kong Dance Company established under the operation of the colonial government dances China dance.

Subsequently, 1984 The Dance Academy of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts was established, and the discipline construction followed the pattern of professional dance companies, and the modern dance department, ballet department and China dance department were established.

Interestingly, many young people and their teachers who studied China folk dance in their spare time soon listened to the statement of the colonial government and changed the dance to "China Dance".

In 1980s, China Mainland first tasted the taste of reform and opening up. Many social changes have not been well thought out, so China followed the advice of foreigners. "China Dance" is an example.

Prior to this, dance schools all over the country followed the art discipline planning of the former Soviet Union, and were only divided into two categories: folk dance and baco, namely, national dance and ballet, while national dance could be subdivided into China classical dance and China national folk dance (that is, the "narrow China dance" mentioned earlier).

According to the data, before 1980, Mermaid and Moonlight on a Spring River, which were created in 1950s, and White-haired Girl and Red Female Soldier, which were created in 1960s, were called China folk dance classics or China ballet classics, not China dance classics.