It is well-known that Chinese culture has a very long history. But some students who come to learn Chinese in China may know that Chinese dance was produced in the period before the characters were invented to record things. The fantastic dancing scene indicates the harmonious living of different peoples in China and the nature.
As the development of Chinese culture, Chinese dance has developed into a set of mature dancing type. Besides, we have formed our styles and characteristics in dance. Students who study Chinese in China should know that Chinese dance can be divided into different types from different perspectives.
According to the functions of dancing, Chinese dance can be divided into three types, namely, the self-entertainment dance, the religious sacrificial dance and the performance dance. We will introduce these three types of Chinese dance to the foreigners who study Mandarin in China in the following parts.
Self-entertainment is the nature of dance. When people express their inner emotions by body language, the self-entertainment dance was formed. It is so easy that you can dance as long as you see it. This kind of dance has strong rhythm and the dancers can dance freely and impromptu. When you learn Chinese in China, you may also be told that it is rich in fun and joy and not constrained by time and place.
The Yangge and the Flower Drum Dance danced by Chinese people were all originated from the self-entertainment dance in the farming season. Besides, those who study Chinese in China may also know some dance of this type of the ethnic people such as the “tiao yue” of Miao people, the “xian zi” of Zang people and the “an dai” of Mongolian.
As the development of the history, the self-entertainment dance is gradually combined with the performance, becoming the enjoyable performance during the festival. The Yangge has become the essential dance in festival time. Foreigners who study Mandarin in China should realize it is a tendency of civilization development that the self-entertainment dance is developing into the entertaining and performance dance.
For the religious sacrificial dance, the learners who learn Chinese in China should know that it appeared in the original totem worship period. People applied the self-entertainment dance to entertain the deity, hoping they were protected. Therefore, we can see that the religious sacrificial dance was a kind of famous Chinese dance produced between the period of self-entertainment dance and the entertaining dance.
“Nuo” dance was an ancient religious sacrificial dance in China. It was an interesting Chinese dance because the dancers wore a mask to protect people against evil spirits. Later, this type of dance was reserved in the imperial palace and the folk. But those who study Chinese in China should notice that the meaning of entertaining the deity was lost, becoming a dance for entertaining people.
Even in the villages in south China, the “nuo” dance is still often held for the purpose of expelling the devil spirits. For example, the Dongba dance danced by Naxi people in Yunnan is the most original and the best preserving religious sacrificial dance, when you come to study Mandarin in China, you may also heard about the dance in inner Mongolia and Tibet.
When the dance is standardized and stylized, it becomes the performance dance. After the dancers rehearse again and again, the dance becomes more beautiful and delicate. When foreigners learn Chinese in China, they can feel that the performance dance has not only standardized movements but also outstanding theme. It has become a kind of popular Chinese dance at present.
There are two kinds of dancers in performance dance, namely, the professional dancers and the amateur dancers. But they all need to train very hard to form skilled dancing techniques for fantastic performance. What’s more, foreigners who study Chinese in China all know that the dancers should cooperate with the music, costume, light and so on to strengthen their performance effect.
Since the ancient times, the performance dance always takes the responsibility of civilizing the populace. When westerners study Mandarin in China, teachers may tell them that the dance was combined with poem and song coordinately. They thought that the performance dance was a means of cultivation which can improve the fame of the country. Therefore, it had important function in society in ancient time. But it faded as time goes by.
There are many types of Chinese dance in total. What being introduced above is some knowledge of the three types of dance divided according to the functions.