Chinese Classical Dance

Introduction

The dance system built in the twentieth century on the movement of Chinese opera

Chinese classical dance is the dance system built in Beijing in the 1950s. Its main material is the dance movement preserved in Chinese opera together with martial arts, joined to ballet training methods to give it its own basic training and performing style. In 1950 Ouyang Yuqian proposed the name 'Chinese classical dance', and in 1954 the Beijing Dance School was founded with it as a core subject; around 1980 Li Zhengyi, Tang Mancheng and others created the shenyun (body rhythm) course, Gao Jinrong built Dunhuang dance from the Mogao murals, and Sun Ying developed Han-Tang classical dance. Its signature works include Flying Apsaras and Stepping Song.

Timeline

1. 1954OriginIn 1954 the Beijing Dance School was founded with Dai Ailian as principal, and Chinese classical dance became one of its core subjects, with basic training compiled from opera movement and ballet method; Ouyang Yuqian had proposed the name 'Chinese classical dance' in 1950.
2. 1955EvolutionIn 1955 Dai Ailian created the duet Flying Apsaras from the Dunhuang murals; it won a prize at the World Youth Festival and became a signature early work in the classical style.
3. 1980EvolutionFrom 1978 Tang Mancheng and Li Zhengyi studied and systematised opera movement, and in 1980, when the Beijing Dance Academy admitted its first undergraduate class in classical dance, shenyun teaching began; in the same year Gao Jinrong, inspired by Rain of Flowers along the Silk Road, opened the first Dunhuang dance class, with over a hundred mural pose sketches given to her by Chang Shuhong.
4. 1997EvolutionIn 1997 Sun Ying's Stepping Song premiered as part of Yanhuang Ji, and in 1998 it won the classical dance gold award at the first Lotus Awards for Chinese dance, making Han-Tang classical dance widely known.