In anticipation of NTDTV's Chinese Dance Competition, following is one in a series of articles that gives our readers insight into the history and meaning authentic Chinese classical dance.
Traditional Chinese art and culture differ greatly from our Western art and culture. One media company intent on exploring that difference is New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), an independent television network better known for producing the NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular.
Headquartered in New York with bureaus around the world, NTDTV is dedicated to bringing Chinese traditional culture to the West in authentic yet accessible ways. For the last four years, the network has produced its Chinese New Year presentation of traditional Chinese culture.
It now supports the Divine Performing Arts Group which performed in the Spectacular and this year is also holding the International Chinese Classic Dance Competition in New York. Over $60,000 in prizes will be awarded in the competition. "The competition aims to support and promote Chinese classic dance," said NTDTV spokesperson Yin Lei earlier this month.
"It is about deepening Western society's understanding of Chinese culture," he said, "and providing a platform for inter-cultural communication."
Originating in the early Zhou Dynasty, which dates back to 1122 BC, Chinese classic dance is believed to have drawn qualities from each successive dynasty in Chinese history, eventually developing into its own art form.
Ancient court dances were the original source, but over time folk and religious dances were incorporated. More recently, the art form has absorbed movements from qigong (pronounced "chee gong") and martial arts.
Tia Zhang, founder of the Lotus Flower Art Troupe based in Toronto, chairs the competition's preparatory committee. Ms. Zhang says the grace and subtlety of Chinese classic dance is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. "Classical dance not only depicts events and characters, but can also fully convey the deep meaning underpinning the ancient stories," she told The Epoch Times.
Choreographer and principal dancer with the Divine Performing Arts Group Vina Lee describes Chinese dance style as one of the most unique dance forms in the world. Ms Lee, a graduate of the Beijing Dance Academy and a former dance teacher at the Sydney Dance Company, said working with NTDTV had been a process of discovering traditional Chinese dance, as much of Chinese culture had been wiped out by the Chinese Communist Party.
"Unlike Western ballet, Chinese classic dance is subtle and deeply layered," she said, "and combines many different techniques including flips, tumbling, turns, jumps, rhythmic steps, and body movements incorporating hand gestures and more."
According to Christine Jiang, spokesperson for NTDTV in Australia, judges of the New York dance competition will be looking for proficiency in these different techniques. Other requirements, she said, were difficult to explain in English, but were to do with self-control.
Xue Jun Wang, formerly with the Sydney Dance Company and now a principal dancer with the Divine Performing Arts Group, said a stillness and purity sets classical Chinese Dance apart, not only from Western ballet, but also from what is presently taught in Mainland China.
"In Mainland China, the technique they have is amazing," Mr. Wang explained. "They can do amazing things with their bodies, but what about their minds, their hearts?"
"The Communist Party says you have to do this, do that—propaganda…You have to do something to represent the Communist Party." Mr Wang said the roles he has been playing in the NTDTV productions were challenging in that the body was being used to represent core values. "It depends on your heart, to express the feeling through movements," he said.
Vina Li says she had been brought up to believe the arts were about self-expression, but Chinese classical dance embraced an entirely different approach. "With Chinese dance we are not expressing ourselves…but presenting the essence of the Chinese culture to our audiences," Ms Lee said. "It is not me to present myself or how I would get the audience moved. In fact, the audience and I are all beneficiaries."
Albert Einstein, no less, said, "Dancers are the athletes of God." Dancers will have a chance to show their mastery of Chinese classic dance later this year in New York. May the best dancer win.
NTDTV's International Classical Chinese Dance Competition will be held in July 2007. This is a wonderful opportunity for Chinese dancers throughout the world to present and promote authentic Chinese culture. As co-host, The Epoch Times is proud to support this important event.
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