Walking history and culture Portfolio for The Performance of Heritage: Dance in Historic Sites
After watching the special exhibition of the late Qing Dynasty in the British Museum, I was thinking about how to make Chinese dance culture flow on the world stage while Chinese historical exhibits can flow on the world stage. When I learned the course of heritage performance, I went to the British Museum again to explore the long history of Chinese dance. When I visited various museums in China, I found that traces of dance can be found in the historical relics of every dynasty in China, and dance is also a part of historical heritage inheritance. After I came to the UK, I was deeply touched when I saw that Chinese historical relics in British museums all had traces of Chinese dances of different dynasties. I thought, why not try to make these historical relics in the display window flow through dance? So that visitors from all over the world can better and more intuitive understanding of Chinese history and culture and Chinese dance history and culture. As a result, I began my exploration.
Wendie Hou (Wendy)
British Museum and Chinese historical relics Exhibition area
The British Museum is located in Russell Square, north of New Oxford Street, London, England. It is the oldest and grandest comprehensive museum in the world, and one of the four largest and most famous museums in the world. The museum has collected many cultural relics and treasures from all over the world and the manuscripts of many great scientists. The richness and variety of the collections are rarely seen in museums in the world, which is one of the reasons why I chose the curatorial address here.
The British Museum's China Section, located in Hall 33, is a permanent exhibition dedicated to Chinese artefacts and one of only a few country galleries in the museum. The Chinese Pavilion of the British Museum has a large collection of Chinese cultural relics, so far, the number of more than 23,000 pieces, these cultural relics cover the entire category of Chinese art, from ancient stone tools, Shang and Zhou bronzes, Wei and Jin Buddhist scriptures, Tang and Song paintings and paintings to Ming and Qing porcelain, covering the entire Chinese history of important cultural achievements. Some of the famous cultural relics, such as "Jingtai Blue dragon pattern large lid pot", "Hebei Qingliang Temple three Bodhisattvas murals" and "Yuan and Ming Jade Headdress", not only reflect the social life and cultural background of the time, but also contain the artistic characteristics of the dynasty, which is also an opportunity for this curated dance to combine with historical culture.
Art in The Britsh Museum
Admonitions of Women's History is a silk painting by Kaizhi Gu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty of China. The original has been lost, and there are copies of the Tang Dynasty. The original 12 sections, due to age, only 9 extant sections, painted on silk, is now collected in the British Museum. The works depict the deeds of female fan, including the story of Feng Yuan shielding herself from bears to protect Emperor Yuan of Han Dynasty; There is a story of Jieyu Ban refusing to share the same chariot with Emperor Cheng of Han, in case Emperor Cheng was greedy for women and misgovern the government. The remaining paragraphs describe the moral feelings of the upper-class women, with a certain didactic nature. Since the cultural relic is rich in Han Dynasty dance color, it is created based on Han Dynasty dance characteristics and combined with cultural relic characteristics.
The murals of the three Bodhisattvas were created in 1424 at Qingliang Temple in Hebei Province, China. Qingliang Temple is an important stop for pilgrims traveling to and from Mount Wutai, a sacred site of Buddhism. It was later donated to the British Museum by G. umorfopoulos. The mural depicts three statues of Bodhisattvas, each with a prominent headlight. The Bodhisattva in the middle is Avalokiteshvara, who wears a crown on his head with an image of Amitabha Buddha. On the left is a Bodhisattva with a whisk in his hand and three jewels on his head. On the right is Manjusri Bodhisattva, who also has a Buddha statue on his crown and holds a wishful hand. The most prominent Chinese mural dance is Dunhuang dance, which combines the dance image in the mural with the characteristics of Dunhuang dance to create.
The calligraphy work of Wang Xizhi, a famous calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, shows Wang Xizhi's calligraphy art style with beautiful strokes and smooth-running style. This work is regarded as one of the treasures of ancient Chinese calligraphy. In Chinese calligraphy, the concept of promoting qi circulation enables characters to express the essence, qi and spirit of the calligrapher through the correct use of force and speed. Therefore, the feelings and souls of calligraphers are recorded in Chinese calligraphy works. In Cursive Script by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, an internationally renowned Taiwanese dance company, dancers try to identify the copied works of famous ancient Chinese calligraphers. Through dance, they attempt to reproduce the essence, qi and spirit of these calligraphers, as well as the qi and rhythm of Chinese calligraphy, and reintegrate them with the power and beauty of modern dance. The curators of this exhibition chose the combination of "lively Qi rhyme" in Chinese classical dance and "Qi" in calligraphy.
In Beijing Opera, the palace dress is the daily dress of the empress, the concubine, the princess and other noble women in the Yan house occasion, which is used for the more casual and comfortable harem occasion and should not be used for the solemn and grand environment, and the specification is lower than the formal dress female python. Later, it was widely used for shire lords and rich girls to show their identity. Palace clothes are more common in opera performance, so it starts with the costume characteristics of opera dance and combines "doing" and "beating" in opera performance as dance elements to create.
Blue and white porcelain is one of the mainstream varieties of Chinese porcelain, which belongs to underglaze color porcelain. Blue and white porcelain is made of cobalt ore containing cobalt oxide as raw material, painted on the ceramic body, then covered with a layer of transparent glaze, and burned at a high temperature reduction flame. Cobalt is blue after firing, and has the characteristics of strong coloring power, bright hair color, high firing rate and stable color. The technological characteristics of blue and white porcelain in Ming Dynasty mainly have three aspects. First of all, enamel: the enamel of blue and white porcelain in the Ming dynasty is white and delicate, giving people a pure aesthetic feeling. Secondly, decoration: the decoration of blue and white porcelain in the Ming dynasty has smooth lines and natural strokes, which is full of strong artistic atmosphere. Finally, modeling: the blue and white porcelain of the Ming Dynasty is beautiful in shape, and the proportion is coordinated, giving people a calm and atmospheric feeling. There are examples of Chinese folk-dance creation based on the shape and pattern of porcelain, combined with the characteristics of classical dance in the Ming Dynasty. For example, “Blue and White Porcelain Rhyme”.
Project Description
Location: British Museum
Choreography: On the basis of the original corresponding cultural relics, the dancers present a characteristic dance segment based on the dance elements contained in the cultural relics background. The selected dance features with the background of dynasty culture and corresponding characteristic costumes can also enable the audience to better integrate into and understand the dance culture of various Chinese dynasties.
- The look of Emperor Yuan in Gu Kaizhi's painting Admonitions of Female History echoes Jieyu Feng's divine gesture. For this cultural relic, I chose the Han Dynasty female music and dance boutique "Pan Drum" to echo the painting. Choreography of Han Dynasty dance elements to highlight the Han Dynasty dance culture. As the Han Dynasty scarf sleeve dance is particularly prominent, so the dance is mainly displayed in the Han Dynasty scarf sleeve dance. Props select pan drum.
- For the painting of Three Bodhisattvas, one of the outstanding paintings in Chinese mural art, I choose Dunhuang dance, a mural dance, to echo the cultural relics. The choreography of the dance is based on the typical Dunhuang dance patterns of crooked neck, twisting waist, shifting hips and hooking feet, as well as the multi-edge, multi-angle and multi-bend arms.
- The choreography of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy work "Oath of Tomb" is created by combining the smooth style of Chinese classical dance with the strength and speed of calligraphy. Among them, the work of Cloud Gate dance collection "cursive" is a good combination of calligraphy and modern dance characteristics to create.
- For the late Qing Palace clothes, I will use opera and dance to echo cultural relics. The choreography mainly focuses on the creation of the choreographic movements of "doing and fighting" in the costume characteristics and the four artistic means of opera performance: "singing, reading, doing and fighting".
- For the blue and white porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, the dance costumes will closely fit the patterns of the blue and white porcelain in the exhibition area. The choreography is carried out from the three technical characteristics of blue and white porcelain: ①the enamel is white and delicate, giving a pure aesthetic feeling; ②decorative lines smooth, natural strokes, full of a strong artistic atmosphere; ③beautiful shape, proportion coordination, giving a calm and atmospheric feeling. The characteristics of blue and white porcelain in Ming Dynasty are represented by dancing.
Dancers: 6 people
Organization: British Museum
Costume creativity: Refer to the costume characteristics of various Chinese dynasties and the integration of the characteristics of corresponding cultural relics and clothing.
Interaction with the audience: Objects with distinctive echoes of the dancers' costumes or props will be distributed to the visitors at the entrance of the Chinese Exhibition area of the British Museum. When visitors find dancers wearing costumes with distinctive historical and cultural characteristics, standing in various parts of the exhibition hall, posing a specific shape, they can use the objects to start the dancers to the corresponding exhibition area to echo the cultural relics of the characteristic dance display. After the show, the dancers will give a brief historical introduction of the relevant artifacts and the dance culture associated with the artifacts.
- For the Han Dynasty pan drum, the prop visitors receive is a small rattle. When he finds a dancer in Han Dynasty costume posing with a pan drum, gently shaking the rattle in his hand will start the dancer, who will then lead the visitors to the Admonitions of Women exhibition area and perform a pan drum demonstration.
- For Dunhuang dance, silk straps are used as props that echo the costume. The dancer is activated when a visitor wraps a silk strap around her body.
- For calligraphy dance, the brush is used as a prop. Visitors write on the dancers with brushes to start the dancers.
- For opera and dance, the tassel knot is used to match the costume. Visitors will hang props with the dancers' costumes to start the dancers.
- For blue and white porcelain dance, blue and white porcelain tape is used as a prop. Visitors put tape on the dancers' arms to start them.
Kinds of Chinese dance required for curation
- The classical dance of Han and Tang Dynasties is a school of Chinese classical dance founded on the most brilliant spirit and artistic temperament of Han and Tang dynasties in the history of ancient Chinese civilization, the cultural tradition of music and dance represented by Han and Tang Dynasties, and the mature opera and dance forms developed since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The dance of the Han Dynasty is characterized by lightness and beauty. The dancer's body movements are light and elegant, focusing on the dancer's body coordination and the fluency of the dance. The dancers show the beauty of dance rhythm with soft and gentle movements during the performance. In addition, the Han Dynasty scarf sleeve dance is particularly prominent.
- Dunhuang Grottoes Group contains a large number of music and dance materials from the Sixteen Kingdoms period to the Yuan Dynasty, including dance images, music scores and dance scores in cultural relics. Its dance images mainly include the Tiangong music and dance in the warp painting, the folk song and dance scene in the mural painting, and the national dance images such as Huxuan, Huteng, Zhe branches and Nishang Yuyi dance. Dunhuang dance, on the basis of inheriting this tradition, adhering to the principles of traditional Chinese aesthetics, absorbing and learning from the dance gestures of various nationalities in the Western regions, using the rhythm and rhythm of classical dance, combining the static posture with the movement process of its style, formed a relatively complete dance movement and modeling system. The typical shape is crooked neck, twisting waist, shifting hips, hooking feet of the "S" shaped three bends, as well as the arm of the multi-edge multi-angle multi-bend.
- Opera dance is an important part of Chinese traditional dance. It is also an important means of expression in Chinese opera. Among the four artistic means of opera performance, "singing, reading, doing and fighting", "doing and fighting" basically belong to dance or dance-based movements. The main characteristics of opera dance are as follows: cooperate with other artistic means of opera, closely combine with the plot, and unify in the narrative and lyric of the whole drama; Highly stylized and typical characters; Extensive use of narrative and ideographic dance movements; Use costumes and props.
- In Chinese calligraphy, the concept of promoting the circulation of qi enables Chinese characters to express the essence, qi, and spirit of the calligrapher through the proper use of force and speed. As a result, the emotions and soul of the calligrapher are recorded in a work of Chinese calligraphy. In Cursive, a performance by internationally renowned Taiwanese dance company, Cloud Gate Dance Theater, the dancers try to figure out the copybook works of famous ancient Chinese calligraphers. Through dance, they attempt to reproduce the essence, qi, and spirit of these calligraphers along with the qi and rhythm within Chinese calligraphy, and re-integrate them with the force and beauty of modern dance(luo, 2013).
- Chinese classical dance was founded in the 1950s. After the reform and opening up, Chinese classical dance combined the training system of ballet, and integrated the techniques and skills of Chinese martial arts, traditional opera, and folk acrobatics such as hand, eye and body gait. Chinese classical dance has our national characteristics, and its rhythm characteristics are also very prominent, which is inseparable from the characteristics of our national music. It is generally characterized by elastic rhythm and the combination of points and lines. The movement of classical dance runs through the elements of lifting, sinking, rushing, leaning, containing, withdrawing and moving. Through the demands of breathing; Through the requirements of rhythm characteristics; Throughout the hand, eye, body, Fa, step requirements.
The concept and meaning of the project
“Historical sites are dedicated to the cultural production of their pasts” (Azaryahu, 2008). Historical sites often exist in a fixed form, while The Times are constantly developing. When history is "alive" and walking, then when it is presented in different forms, it is both unchanged and changing. At the same time, when people understand it from different artistic perspectives, there will be meaningful and "real" feelings on the emotional and imaginative level. It is critical to recognize the importance of authenticity to the consumer experience (Bagnall, 2003). In the real feeling of the present, people's cognition of history will be more profound, and historical culture has been well disseminated at this moment, which is also the significance of inheritance.
“Dance is in essence a particular form of social interaction” (Giurchescu, 2001). As a dancer, how can I apply dance to achieve greater value in combination with other fields? It's also something to think about. Relics such as the Proverbs of Women's History and the Three Bodhisattvas are history in the present, but when we present them in a new form, they are fresh history in the present moment. "A form of reminiscence is practiced at the sites, a reminiscence that is informed by performativity" (Bagnall, 2003). Meanwhile, the presentation of the present moment becomes part of history. Therefore, while presenting the history, we also combine the history, the present and the future. In time, we too will become part of history. When we let history walk in the present, we are walking living history at the same time.
The British Museum has countless exhibits, but people know little about it. Dance culture can flow from the past to the future through the human body, so we might as well use our bodies to make history walk and let different cultures collide on the world stage.
Bibliography
Azaryahu, M. and Foote, K.E., 2008. Historical space as narrative medium: on the configuration of spatial narratives of time at historical sites. GeoJournal, 73, pp.179-194.
Bagnall, G., 2003. Performance and performativity at heritage sites. Museum and society, 1(2), pp.87-103.
Giurchescu, A., 2001. The power of dance and its social and political uses. Yearbook for traditional music, 33, pp.109-122.
Luo, H.L., Hung, Y.P. and Chen, I.C., 2013. Interactive art the qi of calligraphy: Dance and imprint. In Siggraph Asia 2013 technical briefs (pp. 1-4).