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Popular Dances in Chinese Culture


The Chinese dance has a history of over five thousand years. It has originated before the Chinese manuscript. It reached its peak during the Tang dynasty. Each nationality, region and type of dance has its own unique features and flavors. Even today, some distinctive dances are appreciated and widely enjoyed by people.

The 'Yangge Dance' is the most popular form of folk art in northern china. It is also known as 'Yang song' and it is a ritual performed in sun ceremony. 'Yangge' and 'waist drum' Dances are performed by the Han dynasty people from 'Shanxi', a

northern part of China during spring and Lantern festival. Dancers dressed up in colorful costumes like red, yellow and dance together in a line or in a circle. It is performed in different styles but it shows an expression of happiness. This dance form is especially popular among the older people.

People inhabiting in Tibet, Gansu, and Sichuan and Yunnam regions of china perform Tibetan dances. The Tibetans sing anytime at any occasion and dance at festivals, weddings, gatherings and during their spare time. Folk religious and Sorcerers dances were performed in Tibet for more than a thousand years ago. Most popular form of Tibetan dance is Guoxie, a group dance popular in rural areas of Tibet .The dancers dance hand in hand and sing in rotation. The rhythm is marked by stamping their feet. Duixie dance is a round dance popular in rural areas and it refers to the tap dance performed by the urban areas.

The people of Xinjiang's in china perform the Uygur type of Folk dance. The Uygurs are famous for their skills in dancing and singing on festive days and at gatherings. Movement of head and wrist distinguishes the dance form. Dance form of this type includes Sanam, Dolan, and Xadiyana etc that enjoy wide popularity among the ughurs. Their dance demonstrates the diligence, openness and bravery of the ughurs.

The inhabitants of Taiwan as a part of harvest festival perform Gaoshan dance. It has distinctive primitive color and fine movement and scenes of fishing, hunting and farming. People form circles joining hand in hand, stamp their feet, jump, shakes their bodies and waves their hands rhythmically. Dai dance is a folk dance of Dai nationality. The dance imitates movements of sub tropical features. Some of its forms are Elephant-foot-drum, peacock dance, fish dance and Gabanguang dance etc. It has one special drumbeat and vocabulary. The drumbeat communicates a language of feeling to the people. Peacock dance is best-loved dance of dais.

Miao dance, Ballet dance and classical dance are also popular form of dances in china. Miao dance is a hymn, or responsive, singing and competitive dance by people of southwestern china. Ballet dance is a dance form that is a blending of the traditional dance form with western dancing. Swan Lake is a popular form of ballet in china. It expresses the movement of the body with open mind. Chinese folk dances are closely related with the real life and reflect the ideology, struggle and aesthetic value of the common people. It is in short a full expression of common life and is restricted by folk customs.

The Chinese dance has its unique features and expressions. It has undergone changes with the change of time. However, the color, expressions and grace contributes a rich cultural heritage.

To know in detail about the particular dances of China, click on following links:



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