Regional and Ethnic Differences of Foreign Folk Dances

On the regional and national differences of foreign folk dances

Any kind of national folk dance has its unique style and characteristics. The following are the regional and ethnic differences of foreign folk dances that I searched for you. Starting with the concept and cultural characteristics of dance, this paper analyzes the regional and ethnic differences of foreign folk dances, so that we can have a deeper understanding of foreign folk dances. I hope it helps you!

Dance is an art form, which expresses feelings through human forms and ways. Its manifestations include human form and spirit, and there are obvious differences between performers and appreciators because of their different cultural qualities and artistic accomplishments. Dance also has the characteristics of nonverbal culture, which accumulates cultural phenomena such as national psychology, aesthetic taste and customs, and has the unique function of inheriting national culture.

Foreign folk dances emphasize etiquette. No matter from the perspective of teaching and learning, to understand them, we must first start with cultural personnel. Dance is inseparable from culture. It is an important part of culture and the most primitive way for human beings to express their emotions. Different cultural backgrounds gave birth to different dance forms and created different dance civilizations.

Folk dance is an organic part of folk culture belief, and folk culture is often the product of residents in a certain area adapting to and conquering their living environment; Therefore, the three elements of "time", "space" and "people" are important ways to distinguish the dances of all ethnic groups.

First, the concept and cultural characteristics of national dance

(A) the concept

Scholars from all over the world have their own interpretations of the concept of "folk dance" and different views on its scope. Combining various discourses, comparing folk dance with other dance forms such as court dance and theater dance, we can find that it has five characteristics:

1. Volkswagen: It is the result of collective creation of the public, and it communicates directly among the public.

2. Self-entertainment: it is an activity of self-entertainment, with fixed procedures and improvisation.

3. Universality: simple and easy to learn, which facilitates the harmony of the masses.

4. Tradition: It is combined with folk activities, passed down from generation to generation, and can absorb other ingredients and develop continuously.

5. Region and nationality: influenced by region, natural environment, history, nationality and economic life, they form different style characteristics.

According to the characteristics of folk dance, we can define its concept as a dance form directly created by working people and spread among the masses in the process of the development of material civilization and spiritual civilization of a nation or region. It has distinct regional and national characteristics, which not only shows the cultural background under the economic conditions in a certain historical period, but also injects new elements with the development of social life. At the same time, it will disappear because of losing its social function or being strongly prohibited by society, and become a historical folk dance.

(2) Cultural characteristics

The cultural characteristics of folk dance are shown in the following four aspects:

(A) with the body to preserve culture and performance of culture

Folk dance is developed from primitive dance. The cultural characteristics of the ancient life of this nation will be preserved in folk dances with special symbols such as physiology, psychology, form and expression. Some of these special dynamic signs are easy to understand, such as the expression of emotions such as emotions, prayers and reverence, and the simulation of hunting, war and farming. However, signs such as special posture, social thinking and national consciousness are not easy to be understood by people outside the ethnic areas. But these are the cultural characteristics that distinguish a nation or region from other nations or regions. Therefore, we must explore its cultural background from these special symbols.

(2) Direct inheritance among the masses.

The inheritance of folk dance culture is carried out among the masses through specific people. The physical quality, posture, cultural accomplishment, personality and hobbies of performers directly affect the mastery and inheritance of folk dance culture. Under the influence of local natural environment and national culture, all performers gradually mastered the performance form, style and charm of folk dance.

(C) in a certain inheritance environment

The inheritance of folk dance culture is carried out in a certain environment. Only in a specific environment and atmosphere can people deeply feel the essence of their national culture and accurately grasp the style and characteristics of national dance.

(D) With the changes of life and development

With the development of science and technology and the change of economic and cultural life, the social function of folk dance has also changed obviously. In industrial cities where entertainment is commercialized, folk dances gradually decrease or even die out. But it is still popular in general towns and villages, especially in remote towns and villages.

Second, analyze the regional and ethnic differences of foreign folk dances.

Foreign national dances are mainly ballet, that is, "personality dance". The openness of Russian culture and its realistic artistic principles make the Russian classical ballet school carry forward ballet art. Including the improvement of ballet national dance teaching system. Ballet folk dance also incorporates European folk dance. Here we take the following popular dances as an example to illustrate the regional differences of foreign folk dances.

Waltz: German rural folk dance originated in the17th century, with beautiful and soft characteristics. Today's waltz has been improved; Waltz combined the characteristics of the Swiss and Austrian folk dance "Viennese Waltz" to slow down the music. Waltz is mainly rotating, so it is called "round dance". Rotation is the essence of waltz. Because the dance is beautiful, the music of Sanpai is moving, and the lyrics are a little romantic and sad, so it is very popular. Music 3/4, stress in the first beat, waltz steps of about 32 bars per minute run smoothly in slow three-beat dance music. Because of the obvious lifting action, it looks like continuous waves, coupled with gentle and dexterous tilting, swinging, reflexive, rotating movements and various beautiful shapes, it has a unique charm that is both solemn and elegant, generous and gorgeous. Waltz therefore enjoys the reputation of "the queen of dance". 1833, Miss Selbat published a book called Good Conduct, in which she called the waltz "a girl's dance style: the movements are smooth as water and brilliant as clouds. Unique, elegant and generous. "

2. Spanish dance: the dance is full of enthusiasm, crisp and powerful movements, and more hands and feet movements. Due to the living habits and cultural characteristics of Spanish people, Spanish dance is not so enthusiastic as indifferent. This kind of performance is the same as falling in love. Rejection or indifference is the most effective means to seduce men. In addition to teasing the audience's emotions, Spanish dance is also another manifestation of self-motivation, and the hip movements are incredibly sensational. At first, female dancers danced mainly with their arms holding castanets, while male dancers stamped their feet instead of holding castanets. Later, female dancers absorbed footwork skills and formed a "flamenco" with male strength. There are castanets, high fives, arm dances, footwork and so on. To perform "Flamengo" harmoniously, we must master the correct posture and temperament; Keep your body straight, your feet together, your hips folded, your chest slightly raised, and your shoulders shrugged.

3. Tarantella: Originated in Naples, Italy, also known as "Naples Dance". In the local area, it is a favorite dance of middle and lower class women. At least three people attended the dance. One plays the tambourine and rings the bell beside the drum, while the other two dance with castanets. The dance steps are irregular, ugly and rough. The dancer beats the time with the pedal when she turns in a circle somewhere, and then rotates to change her position. This kind of dance is exclusively for women. No one can touch the tambourine.

4. Polka: It's a duet in 2/4 time; Both Poland and the Czech Republic believe that it originated from their own cultural traditions. Polka dancers, as a pair of male and female dancers, stand face to face, with the male right hand holding the female companion's waist and the left hand reaching out to hold the female companion's right hand. When dancing, dancers rotate counterclockwise around the ballroom in pairs. There are mainly two kinds of dance steps: one is the one-legged bouncing step, which can move forward, backward and rotate. Because it is typical, it is called "Polka Dance". The other is the action of heel and toe landing in turn.

5. Tap dancing: the rhythm is bright. The movements are concise and eclectic. Tap dance, which combines Irish folk dance and African black dance, is an infectious traditional American folk dance. It mainly wears special shoes with wooden soles or iron palms, and uses flexible dance steps to play various rhythms on the wooden floor. The kicking sound is crisp and neat, and the dance form is very free. Compared with the Tibetan folk dance in China, although it is also called "tap dance", Tibetan tap dance pays more attention to the coordination of limbs and the graceful dance.

abstract

As can be seen from the above, culture determines the characteristics and changes of dance. Foreign folk dances range from folk dinner performances to court performances. In addition to ordinary working people, foreign folk dances are also loved by the upper class, so they are brought into the court and become a part of the court dance. In the interest of dance, foreign folk dance pays attention to emotional communication and etiquette between people. In the form of dance movements, foreign folk dances are influenced by ballet and British gentleman's demeanor, with different postures and temperament, mostly foot movements. In the principle of dance combination, the west pays more attention to the beauty of the human body, which is regular and distinct. In the musical expression of dance, most foreign folk dances are musically strong, and the combined dance language is developed through theme variation.

Extended data:

Indian Dance in the Southwest of the United States In the United States, the term folk dance refers to a much wider range than some countries. Many dances in traditional dance, ritual dance, social dance and social dance can be called folk dance, and the boundaries between them are often difficult to distinguish, which is related to their dance culture composition. American folk dance is mainly divided into three parts: Indian dance; Dance of European immigrants and their descendants; Black dance.

dance of india

Indians are the earliest inhabitants of America. Before European colonists came to America, North American Indians had a relatively developed culture, and dance was an important part of it. Their dances are social and ceremonial, closely related to work and life, and are used to treat diseases. Almost all dances are counterclockwise, often permeated with the worship of "supernatural power", such as: the dance of worshipping the sun, the dance of worshipping the gods of grains, beans and pumpkins, and the dance of offering sacrifices to the gods for harvest or after harvest. The masked dance is a dance used by wizards to prevent and treat diseases, and there are certain procedures. For example, the masked dance of Indian and Iroquois tribes living around the Great Lakes is a highly ceremonial dance. Every spring and autumn, wizards wear black, red or white masks and visit every family. The wizard is singing; After entering the door, perform exorcism ritual dance. On the one hand, medical ashes are smeared on the hair of patients. Secondly, two men and two women dance together; Then there is a circle dance that everyone can join at any time; Finally, the collective exorcism ceremony: the wizard rides on the bench, slams with tortoise shells or wooden boards, and sings loudly at the same time. Everyone imitates bison, bears and other animals to roar, thus driving the disease out of the patient's body.

There are forms of ballroom dancing in which men and women dance in pairs, taking turns, and female partners dance with male partners. Most of them imitate animal courtship, such as pigeon dance, raccoon dance and robin dance. Most Indians have no writing, so it is of great significance to carefully preserve traditional dances and songs, so they are rarely integrated with foreign dances.

Immigrant descendants

European immigrants-British, Irish, French, German and Spanish-flooded into the North American continent, bringing their own traditional folk dances, court dances and ballroom dances. They combined these dances with the new local living conditions and created a new dance form with American characteristics.

Among them, the most popular ones are related to English country dance and French Cadrill dance, and there are many varieties: round dance, which is obviously a dance revolving around the ballroom on the basis of Polkasotiche and other dances; Group games and dances are usually sung while dancing, and onlookers clap their hands while singing. Dance movements are generally simple, lively and interesting, and you can change partners at any time.

Black dance

Black Americans play an important role in the development of American dance and the formation of American dance style. Since 1 7th century, 8 million African blacks have been brought to the United States as slaves, bringing the passion and syncopation rhythm of African black dance (that is, changing the tradition of remaking European music on1to remake it on the second beat or on the weak beat), and black dance and white dance have merged and exchanged, creating a new dance form. Jazz dance, for example, is to change the rhythm of Irish wooden shoes dance into syncopation rhythm, which is opposite to Irish dance with stiff body and expressionless face, and add the movements of body and arms to form a brand-new dance.

Black slaves imitated and laughed at those arrogant white slave owners and created gait dance. Others such as foxtrot, blues and Charleston have also become popular new dances. Many of these dances later became popular modern ballroom dancing, which not only spread all over the United States, but also swept across the European continent.

;