Chronicles of "Sunbird": Chasing "Kite" - Reflections on New Oriental's Golden Autumn Chinese Dance Performance

"Sunbird" Chronicle: Chasing "Kite" - Reflections on New Oriental's Golden Autumn Chinese Dance Performance Han Dance: "Kite" (Author: Fu Niu Photography: LIND...

"Sunbird" Chronicle: Chasing "Kite" - Reflections after watching the New Oriental Golden Autumn Chinese Dance Performance Han Dance: "Kite" (Author: Fu Niu Photography: LINDA WEI) On the afternoon of September 30, 2012, I spent the 2012 Mid-Autumn Festival at the Chandler Art Center by watching the New Oriental Art School's Golden Autumn Chinese Dance Gala. Because there were no children attending the performance, I originally thought it was just a performance. But after watching it, I immediately felt like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old fan. I quickly took out my mobile phone and called a friend who might be able to provide me with information. I asked who taught the dances "Kite" and "Hundred Family Surnames"? I'm so looking forward to knowing what kind of teacher that is. The story told in "Kite" is very simple, it is our experience of flying kites when we were children. When the children suddenly find a strange thing flying in the sky, they will immediately stop what they are doing and look at the sky dreamily, chasing the free-flying object. This is the first scene of the program: all the children are staring at a place in the sky, their eyes full of "curiosity" and "questions." The music starts, and we see the children pulling on the strings. It turns out that they are flying kites. They pull, they chase, happily unable to find the north. When the scene changes from a bunch of children's joy to a child chasing quietly. It's like a story taking a dramatic, philosophical turn. After a while, the children got tired and some were sleepy, so they stopped chasing, but only one child was still running hard and crazy. In the play, I learned to persevere and learn to overcome burnout. Han Dance: "Kite" Kite represents many things in our memory. It can be a game, a dream, or a relationship of love, family, and friendship. Running relentlessly symbolizes persistence, bravery, an attitude of chasing and embracing the future. Maybe when you see this, you think it's too exaggerated. The children's performances can make you think so much? Yes, I was moved by those kids, who had no intention of acting. I saw their natural smiles while "pulling" the kite, and the smiles at each other as they chased each other. I even saw a child's slight reluctance after his kite was taken over by someone else. I saw their eyes catching the kites in the sky. That was not a performance. They regarded the stage as a vast field under the sky, where they played carefree. Children use the most natural emotions in life to bring the audience into their games. This is the essence of dance, let children understand the connotation of dance, and let them express their understanding of music and dance itself in a way of life. The dance "Hundred Family Surnames" is different from "Kite". "Hundred Family Surnames" is a group of children about ten years old, each holding a big red fan with a Chinese surname written on it. The reason why this dance can conquer the audience is that the dance itself conveys very rich Chinese elements. In addition to music, rhythmic lyrics and dialogue, there are also traditional Han costumes, Chinese red fans, Chinese characters, surnames, etc. All of this conveys the connotation and charm of traditional Chinese culture to the audience through the children's body language. The words on the fan were written by the famous calligrapher Dr. Chen Pu, and were recognized by many viewers. The children learned Chinese culture while learning dance. Han Dance: Hundreds of Surnames Most people who have studied dance can remember that when they were dancing on the stage, the teachers shouted from the audience: "Pay attention to your expression, laugh, laugh, laugh!" However, when children learn to dance to a certain stage, teachers should teach something deeper than dance movements. It’s not just about how many times you do which move in a dance, it’s not just about where to place your hands and feet. Even the same movements are different in dance. It is not just about doing it several times, but how to accumulate and express different emotions with the same movements. I originally thought that only people who studied dance would notice this. After the party, many ordinary audience members were asked about their thoughts on the party. What surprised me was that they also felt that the most impressive performances were also the dances "Kite" and "Hundred Family Surnames". I don’t know why, maybe it’s more culturally meaningful, more childlike, it just feels good. What they mentioned was not those programs with relatively high technical difficulty. Of course, as a dance school's business report performance, technical skills are indispensable. I also believe that technique is very important for dancers. Technique serves dance and is the basis for expressing the connotation of dance. However, if you cannot understand the cultural connotation of the dance itself and the ideas it wants to express, then no matter how high the dance skills are, it can only make everyone a little amazed, and the technical skills themselves cannot resonate with the audience. The touching thing about "Kite" and "Hundred Family Surnames" is that the dance teacher not only teaches the children dance techniques, but also teaches the children how to express their dance consciousness deeply. Use children's most authentic body language to tell stories to everyone in music. Simple and vivid, you will be moved. Han Dance: Hundred Family Surnames