Characteristics of Tibetan Dance

Dance art, accompanied by human social life and productive labor, has become an indispensable part of human historical development.

One of the earliest art forms. For thousands of years, the industrious and intelligent Tibetan ancestors living on the snowy plateau have created world-famous ancient song and dance art and religious dance with strong mystery in the long historical evolution and the changes in the situation of conquering nature and class struggle. These colorful folk song and dance arts, like twinkling stars in the night sky, spread all over the vast Wan Li Plateau. They are witnesses and living fossils of Tibetan history, and they show the world the unique features of the people in the snowy plateau.

When it comes to the aesthetic characteristics of Tibetan dance, we must first understand how to treat dance in history and how to position dance art in Tibetan culture. In the Tibetan traditional cultural classic "The Study of Five Civilizations", dance is classified as "ingenious" (that is, technology), which shows that dance art is theoretically positioned in the category of big culture and has formed one of the mature art forms. In Tibetan history, most dances, such as "Qiang Mu", were not only accompanied by written "dance scores", but also recorded "dance music" with "lines". The music of "Karl" dance "Zang Gu Pu" has been passed down to this day. In ancient Tibetan folk songs, there are many songs about "talking about dance". Among the numerous dance discourses, dance theories such as what is dance, body application and "Nine Dances" are the essence of ancient Tibetan dance, and the most representative part is dance theory. In Tibetan ancient books, it is said that "all kinds of movements and postures of dance are wonderful ways to shape the human body". It is this living "craft" that shows the thoughts and feelings of the local people at that time. Due to the different geographical environment, political history, religious beliefs and folk customs of various ethnic groups, they have formed a style with national and local characteristics. Dances in different regions are different in strength, softness, openness, amplitude and dance rhythm. Some national dances focus on the lower limbs, and the upper body movements are small. Some folk dances have rich upper body movements and less lower body movements; It is many dance styles that contain national aesthetic taste and characteristics.

Aesthetic consciousness is a dynamic reflection of objective aesthetic objects in people's minds, which is generally called' aesthetic feeling'. It includes aesthetic taste, aesthetic ability, aesthetic concept, aesthetic ideal, aesthetic feeling and so on.

Tibetan dance has its own aesthetic characteristics, but due to geographical and climatic differences, dialect differences, clothing differences and religious influences, it has formed a unique aesthetic taste. Many ethnic and folk dances are widely circulated among Tibetan people. There is a Carl dance specially prepared for the upper class; There are also Qiang dances specially used for religious ceremonies, and Tibetan opera dances of many sects. Although the above dance forms and techniques are different, the basic body rhyme, movement, posture and skills of dance are very similar, and the basic musical structure and rhythm style of music are similar; In terms of clothing, except for the differences in width, fat, thin and color, the styles are basically the same; The dance method based on circle dance is also very similar. Therefore, similar or similar body rhyme is the "root" of the aesthetic characteristics of Tibetan dance and a reflection of relatively stable aesthetic feelings. Tibetan ballads say that if you want to dance, you must dance in the boundless sky, and "unshakable dance in the mountains" is called "Zhuo dance, as fast as lightning in the night sky". The dance of the former Tibetans is lively and powerful, warm and elegant, soft and agile, with the characteristics of pure agricultural areas and urban citizens; The post-Tibetan dance is bold and unrestrained, and its pace is dexterous and changeable, which fully embodies the personality characteristics of the alpine people in the west; The dance pace in Ali area is elegant and steady, graceful and free and easy, which fully embodies the charm of ancient elephant culture; The dance of Kangba people in eastern Tibet is bold and unrestrained, which fully shows the temperament characteristics of Kangba people.

Regarding the formal beauty of Tibetan dance, we can find the relevant explanation in the chapter "Opening the Gate of Songs" in China Ballads Collection Tibet Volume. For example, the song "The Three-story Facade of the Singer and Dancer" in Linzhi area sings:

The cabinet is the warehouse of the pot farm, and the warehouse door will be opened today; Arms are the wings of Zhuo dance, and today I will spread my wings;

Waist is a place where songs and dances sway. I want to relax today. Knee is the wind wheel of the pot farm, today I want to turn and turn;

My feet are the bowls of the pot farmers, and I'm going to roll them today.

The morphological requirements of Tibetan ancient books for dancers are as follows:

The upper body moves like a lion, and the waist moves enchanting. Limb joints should be dexterous and tendon activities should be relaxed.

The whole body posture should be soft and the performance expression should be arrogant. Move slowly like running water, and your knees will shake.

Toes should be flexible, generally requiring a heroic attitude. ……

Tibetan dance attaches great importance to the unified cooperation and application of knees, feet, waist, chest, hands, shoulders, head and eyes. The lyrics of many Tibetan ancient folk songs about specific physical requirements are so consistent with the theory of ancient books that it cannot be said that a nation has the same aesthetic feeling for dancers' body and dance. The above requirements for dance forms are not vague and divorced from reality, but have been preserved in many Tibetan dances so far, such as Reba Dance, Changdu Guozhuo, Dingrijia Harmony, Kampot Arrow Dance and so on. Male dancers pay great attention to the movements of the upper body. Whether holding props or not, the movements of the upper body are magnificent and have the taste of plateau people. At the same time, in many dances, such as "Guo Zhuo" and "Guo Xie", the chest or upper body of male and female dancers are slightly forward, which is not a dance of showing things on the back. This phenomenon is not only related to the hypertrophy of clothes and decorations, but also closely related to the size, strength and contrast of movements from the perspective of dance. To sum up, the aesthetic characteristics of Tibetan dance are the concentrated expression of many cultural phenomena formed by the Tibetan people in the long historical development, and also the basis for the formation of Tibetan dance styles and characteristics. Exploring the aesthetic characteristics of Tibetan dance is the need to inherit excellent Tibetan dance art, develop it in line with national aesthetic taste and carry forward excellent national culture. Tibetan dance is not only a popular art form in people in Xizang, but also the most powerful "image language" to express national thoughts and feelings.

As pointed out in Tibetan ancient books, "Musical drama (drama) is a musical drama that used to express various languages in forms like languages. It mainly focuses on the changes of the dancer's hands and head, such as the repeated movements of the hands when rolling wool, forming a beautiful and charming dance. "It can be seen that the movements of their hands are particularly important in Tibetan dance. From the basic requirements of the hand, in addition to flexibility, the gesture should be like a "lotus seal", that is, the hand should be like a lotus petal in full bloom, and it should be rotated layer by layer to produce a beautiful imagination in the rotation. When we watch different styles of Tibetan dances, we will find that their hand movements are very rich and full of vitality. Hands movements have evolved into various dance vocabulary in Tibetan dance, including Tibetan opera dance. For example, gestures in Tibetan opera dance are integrated with drama vocabulary, which has become an indispensable expression of Tibetan opera. Similarly, in Qiang dance, many dances are full of gestures to express the content; " "Shoulder-shaking Dance" in Reba Dance; Fruit and sound, hands swinging back and forth, chest swinging. As for the "bracelet dance", the conch bracelet dance has more gestures. Many gestures in Tibetan opera dance and Qiangmu dance directly reflect life. With the change of plot and rhythm, gestures are also changing. Hands always dance with the changes of dance content, and innovate and develop for sublimation to specific emotional needs, which has a high artistic level and unique aesthetic characteristics.

Folk songs and ancient books also mentioned that "the foot is the ball of the pot", "the foot is the wheel of dancing", "there is no thorn under the foot" and "the toes should be flexible", and the foot is the key to dancing and stepping. Dancers' feet are required to be as flexible as "wheels" and "balls". If the gesture is "Gail" singing and dancing, and the foot is "Zhuo" dancing, dancing forms a dance. Dancing like "no thorns under your feet" has a strong sense of rhythm. Tibetan dance feet are flexible and light, with distinct rhythm and warm and neat steps, such as lively and refreshing tap dance steps, with warm, powerful and clear rhythm; Fruit harmony dance step is a typical collective dance step. Dance is full of labor, neat pace, and full of vitality in rough and high-spirited singing. Although there is no music in Qamdo Guo Zhuo's "Aba Dance" dance step, the music is produced by the powerful stamping of his feet, and a sound that shakes the sky echoes over the dance floor. In addition, folk songs and ancient books also talk about head movements, "the head is the shaking place of the dance", "When making right hand movements, the head should look to the left, and the left movement should be reversed, and when doing the following movements, it should look forward". It is not difficult to see the standard degree of many Tibetan dances and the aesthetic characteristics of harmonious use of body. The head movements in Tibetan dance are also very rich, including head-twisting dance, head-shaking dance, back and forth dance, left and right dance and so on. These are all dances with unique head movements, which are closely combined with the changes of dance content and body shape.

The whole body requirements of dancers are also discussed in folk songs and ancient books, such as women's "soft posture", "light posture like no meat, soft dancing like waist without bones, seemingly no hips from the back and seemingly no abdomen from the front", and men's "generally require heroic spirit". These physical requirements may have been idealized at that time, but the aesthetic desire it reflects conforms to the basic requirements of dance art and embodies the aesthetic thought of ancestors paying attention to symmetry. The body is a tool of dance artistic expression, so what kind of body is beautiful? Different times and different nationalities have different requirements. The physical requirements of dancers reflected in Tibetan ancient books and ballads reflect the aesthetic consciousness of Tibetan people and are also one of the aesthetic characteristics of Tibetan dance. In addition, creating dance by metaphor is also an important aesthetic feature of Tibetan dance. There is a discussion on creating dance postures by metaphor in Tibetan Dance Music, which can enrich people's imagination and produce new associations, such as "the lion shakes its green mane and burns itself" and "Dapeng spreads its wings and flies". ……

..... At present, in Tibetan dance, there are many action names that imitate animal gestures, but few completely imitate animal gestures. This is because movements are developing in more dance directions. In a word, metaphor enriches Tibetan dance, thus forming a colorful Tibetan dance language.

"Trembling", "opening", "smooth", "left" and "winding" are the same characteristics of different Tibetan dances, or the five elements of Tibetan dances, which constitute its aesthetic concept different from other brother dances. The formation of these five elements is closely related to the historical conditions, social system, customs and beliefs, geographical environment, production methods and cultural traditions of the Tibetan people, and is an aesthetic standard that has been condensed among the people for a long time.

In addition to the main features mentioned above, Tibetan dance generally has the same basic laws as "three steps and one change", "step back first", "handstand turn" and "four steps turn". On the basis of this * * * same law, there are various changes, coupled with the operation of gestures, the rhythm of the waist and the difference of music, forming different dance styles.

The pace of Tibetan dance is very rich, which can be summarized as rubbing, dragging, stepping, kicking, pointing, tucking, kicking, sucking, jumping and twisting from the foot movements.

The gestures of Tibetan dance can be summarized as seven changes: pulling, leisurely, swinging, winding, pushing, rising and rising.

The techniques in Tibetan dance mainly include: tossing turn, planing turn, kicking turn, fruit harmonic turn, cross-legged turn, jumping turn, grinding turn, squatting turn, kneeling turn, twisting back and forth, stepping turn, inching turn, flat turn, small jump, dead jump, lying jump and so on.

Excerpted from Baidu Library

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