Archive November | Ocean Rain Chinese Arts Academy, Victoria, BC

Archive for November, 2008

What’s Chinese Dance?

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 5 Comments

What’s Chinese Dance? — Cerntainly not an easy question to answer. Chinese Dance has a rich history of 5000 years. We begin with the main folk and ethnic dances that Ocean Rain Chinese Arts Academy teaches and performs.

Fan Dance: Fans play a big part in Chinese folk dance; especially people in the north part of China use all kinds of beautiful fans in their dances to express their excitement for the coming springs.

Dai girls by the rosy clouds stream: Dai ethnic group has a lot of festivals, and the most famous one is the “Water-Splashing” festival in early summer. “Water-Splashing,” still held every year, is the most important festival, during which the Dais splash water on one another, and hold dragon boat races in the hope of chasing away all the illnesses and bad fortune of the past year and bringing about good weather and bumper harvests. ”Water-Splashing,” still held every year, is the most important festival, during which the Dais splash water on one another, and hold dragon boat races in the hope of chasing away all the illnesses and bad fortune of the past year and bringing about good weather and bumper harvests.

Themed Chinese Folk Dance:

1. Sewing for The Spring: Although winter is very cold, all of the young girls in China certainly don’t mind because winter means that spring is not too far away, and the Chinese Spring Festival is coming. All of the young girls in China can’t wait to wear their new clothes and hopefully meet someone that they like. Therefore, winter is the sewing and embroidering season. We know that a lot of people in Victoria like the oriental silk and embroidery arts. However, most of you don’t really know most of the embroidery made of silk is handmade by the Chinese people. Now, our Chinese dancers are bringing their embroidery work up on stage.

2. Pride of the snow: In northern part of China, there grows a unique kind of plum blossoms, called the Pride of Snow. In extremely cold weather, the flowers are always blossoming. Especially, if one plum tree started to flower, then the other trees started to compete with it. Today, we will use our dance to express our admire for the Pride of Snow. We wish to bring you some warmness in the cold winter, just like the plum flowers bring some colour into our lives.

What are we learning right now?

1. Tibetan Dance:

“Tibetans who live in the snow-covered highland are mysterious and holy. They are also, generally speaking, good at singing and dancing. There are two sayings in Tibet that “Tibetans who can walk can also dance.” and “The Tibetans who can talk can also sing.” Tibetans are born good at singing and dancing, make the snow covered highland a well-known “song and dance sea.”

The Tibetan dance is a display of Tibetan life. It’s the cultural accumulation of the 5000 years of the history of Tibet. It shows the life of the people who conquered the highest mountain in the world and it shows the ability and wisdom of the Tibetan people. It’s the treasure of the Chinese civilization and it has already had its own status in the art and literary circles in the world. The folk Tibetan dance usually combines singing and dancing. The custom of carrying water on their back gives them a lean figure. Because they wear special Tibetan long gown, they all tend to have a special beauty which is known as the “Same Direction”. The “Same Direction” means that the hands and the feet of the dancers move in the same direction and makes special well-regulated movements. The reason for forming the “Same Direction” was because they could save much physical strength in moving this way. So it became the basic gait in their daily life. The Tibetan makes the “Same Direction” the basic movement in their dance.”

(Quoted from http://www.e-l-e.net.cn/teacher/read/lishi/200809/16524.htm)

2. Chinese Classical Dance — DunHuang Dance

中国古典舞 ―― 敦煌舞蹈

“DunHuang, an ancient city in Gansu Province, Western China, was the gateway to what was called the “Silk Road” leading to Central Asia and Europe. The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to not one but many routes of trade and cultural and religious exchange extending from China, through Central Asia, to the Middle East and Western Europe. DunHuang is world famous for its artistic sculpture statues and fresco paintings of the 4th - 14th century in China, which reflect Silk Road civilization and important aspects of the Chinese people’s religious life, arts, and customs in the history, including the introduction of Buddhism to China during this period. Over 1,000 caves were cut out of the cliffs in Dunhuang in this period, and a wide variety of colored frescoes and murals were preserved in these caves before it excavations in the 20th century. It has been regarded as a national treasure of China.”

“DunHuang frescoes contain many artistic representations of famous images as depicted in various Buddhist stories and sutras - classic religious texts of Buddhism. These outstanding and graceful artistic images show as aesthetic form that often reflected daily life in China in the age the frescoes were painted. In the late 1980’s, after close study of these images from Dunhuang frescoes, leading Chinese dance experts created a special Silk Road style dance called “DunHuang Dance.” With a breathtaking beauty and elegance, this cultural performance reflects a rich and distinctive dance tradition in China.”

(From http://www.worldartswest.org/plm/guide/locator/chinese.shtml)