Creating with Roots
External Review of Whole Manuscript
Contemporary Chinese National Folk Dance Choreography
Abstract
Creating with Roots is a critical introduction to the history, theory, and creative practice of Chinese national folk dance, the Chinese-speaking world’s most popular contemporary dance form. A complex cultural and artistic phenomenon that resists simple categorization, Chinese national folk dance merges folkloric material with contemporary stage aesthetics and blends rural folk dances of the Han majority with dances representing China’s minoritized ethnic communities, bridging cultural differences of geography, economic class, and ethnicity. As such, Chinese national folk dance has become a lightning rod for current debates in the arts worldwide—how to balance local heritage with artistic innovation, how to maintain cultural integrity amid commercialization and Eurocentrism, and the ethics of representation in contemporary multiculturalism. Chinese national folk dance is increasingly a globalized phenomenon: schools, classes, competitions, and performances of professionals and amateurs now exist all across the world. Originally published in Chinese and authored by prominent Chinese dance scholar, Rui Xu, this English translation will be an essential resource for the global conversation about how dancers and choreographers navigate tradition and innovation in contemporary national folk dance choreography.
Creating with Roots offers a detailed breakdown of key terms and concepts necessary for understanding Chinese national folk dance and analyzes 37 examples of choreography dating from the 1940s to 2000. The author situates these explanations within the longer history of cultural practice and theory in China and in relation to the international dance discourses of the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and North America.
Keywords
Chinese Dance, Chinese Ethnic Dance, Chinese Folk Dance, Contemporary Chinese Choreography, Chinese Concert Dance, Chinese Ethnic and Folk Dance, Peacock Dance, Yangge Dance, Mongolian Dance, Uyghur Dance, Han Folk Dance, Dai Ailian, Wu Xiaobang, Beijing Dance Academy, Chinese Dance Criticism, Xu Rui, Emily Wilcox, Yang Liping, Jia Zuoguang, Chinese Dance History, Chinese Dance Theory, Socialist DanceDOI
10.3998/mpub.12912253ISBN
9780472077151, 9780472057153, 9780472904792Publisher
University of Michigan PressPublisher website
https://www.press.umich.edu/Publication date and place
2025Classification
History
Asian history
Folk dancing
Dance