Artsource
DANCE MUSIC ®
The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts
TRANSFORMATION
ENDURING VALUES
ARTISTIC PROCESSES
TRADITIONAL CLASSICAL
1. CREATING (Cr)
CONTEMPORARY
2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr)
EXPERIMENTAL
3. RESPONDING (Re)
MULTI-MEDIA
4. CONNECTING (Cn)
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION
THE POWER OF NATURE
THE HUMAN FAMILY
Title of Work:
About the Artwork:
The Flying Goddess: T’ang Dynasty (619-907) The Fan Dance: Ch’ing (Qing) Dynasty (1644-1912)
Chinese civilization, which is over 5,000 years old, has both classical and folk dance. There are many dialects spoken in China and the cultural differences of these groups are expressed in their music, art and folk dances. Chinese classical dance reflects the philosophy and aesthetics of each dynasty of Emperors. The circle is the guiding principle upon which these dances are based. Ms. Cai has selected two classical dances which show a contrast between dynasties. A golden age for culture, the T’ang Dynasty, is represented by The Flying Goddess - the flying and floating of the ribbon representing a goddess. The aesthetics of this dynasty were based on the concept that beauty was full and round and the costumes were transparent to reveal the outline of the body. In contrast, bodies were completely covered in the Ch’ing dynasty and the movements were more reserved. This dance uses a fan to highlight the dancer’s elegance, beauty and reserved feminity.
Creator: Lily Cai - born in the Chinese Year of the Sheep (Ram)
Background Information: Lily Cai, a Chinese-American, preserves her traditional Chinese culture by performing ancient classical court dances. Born in Shanghai, she began to study dance at the Children’s Palace when she was five. As she matured, her talent became evident and she was selected to study with special teachers.This new training was very difficult and required great discipline, patience and perseverance. However, she states that “dance is my nature and I made myself into a dancer as a career.” Her training required strength of character; she was challenged physically, as well as through her mind and spirit. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution suppressed traditional ways and her classical dance study was forbidden. She remembers that everyone on the street was fighting and students dropped out of school to promote the writings of Mao Tse-tung, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. At this time, all the people learned a Revolutionary Dance. It required no technique, but used movements designed to make everyone feel powerful and determined to make change. Mao’s wife, Chiang Ch’ing, took charge of the cultural expression in the performing arts, allowing only five ideologically pure revolutionary stories, or themes, to be presented. Ms. Cai danced in these productions as a principal dancer with the Shanghai Opera House. In 1970, she was able to resume her life’s work. She immigrated to the U.S. and settled in San Francisco where she teaches and performs. In fact, she produced the first performance in Chinatown to feature Chinese dance.
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture: Near Tun-Huang, there are more than 100 caves covered with elegant paintings depicting the Buddhist vision of paradise. Ms. Cai has matched the styles and colors of her costumes to those found in the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas. She connects us to the people and aesthetics of these ancient cultures through dance. Photo: Lee Hanson
“Different dances are like different dialects. They show variations in expression.” Lily Cai
CHINA SHANGHAI