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CHINESE VILLAGE DANCING
TRADITIONAL CHINESE DANCING
When you hear the term Chinese dances, what kinds of images do you conjure in your mind? Men dressed in flaming red, dancing with a sword or stick in hand, in the Chinese martial art style? Or do you see women wrapped in smooth, soft silk, floating about the stage making graceful and delicate movements? You might be surprised by the diverse styles in Chinese dancing. Classical dances were performed in the Ancient Chinese courts as entertainment for the royal family, nobles, and important guests. The movements are elegant and sophisticated, and the theme of the dances often comes from poetry or legends involving the heavens. Traditional dances are also used for religious purposes, such as praying for rain in spring. The dances for men are usually more vigorous and involve more action. The Sword dance is performed by Chinese warriors, and symbolizes strength, power, strength, and invincibility.
>?>The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word. - Mata Hari 1876 - 1917
Dance is the hidden language of the soul. - Martha Graham 1894 - 1991
Chinese folk dances, commenced from the villages and were used to capture the daily lives of people through artistic expression. They may also be used in ceremonies such as weddings and festivals, celebrations, rituals, and emphasis on cultural identity. The Dragon dance, the Long Sleeve dance and the Fan dance are examples of folk dances that are very popular in China. Some dances, such as the Waist Drum Dance (originally performed by soldiers to raise alarms and also for entertainment and recreation), are at least 2000 years old and have played an important role in Chinese history. These dances not only represent China’s ethnicity. They are also a big part of Chinese people’s everyday life. When you go out into the streets of China, you might see groups of women in their fifties or forties practicing the fan dance; and traditional or village dancing will nearly always be in the spring festival celebrations every year. As time passes, Chinese people can always remember their ethnicity through a unique way, and dance through the days, the months, the years and the centuries.
Picture Sources: in numbered order http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/02.27/photos/28-cultural4-450.jpg http://www.houstoncul.org/eng_culexg/c004.htm http://www.wells.edu/images/naini1.gif http://www.washingtonchineseopera.org/opera/opera.html http://www.ameinfo.com/images/news/1/41961-ChineseFolkdance.jpg http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa070998.htm
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