DANCEMUSIC

TRADITIONAL ARTISTIC PERCEPTION (AP) ® CLASSICAL CREATIVE EXPRESSION (CE) Artsource CONTEMPORARY HISTORICAL & CULTURAL CONTEXT (H/C) The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts EXPERIMENTAL AESTHETIC VALUING (AV) MULTI-MEDIA CONNECT, RELATE & APPLY (CRA)

ENDURING FREEDOM & THE POWER THE HUMAN TRANSFORMATION VALUES OPPRESSION OF NATURE FAMILY

Title of Work: About the Artwork: The Flying Goddess: T’ang Dynasty (619-907) Chinese civilization, which is over 5,000 years old, The Fan Dance: Ch’ing (Qing) Dynasty (1644-1912) has both classical and folk dance. There are many Creator: dialects spoken in and the cultural differences Lily Cai - born in the Chinese Year of the Sheep (Ram) of these groups are expressed in their music, art and folk dances. Chinese classical dance reflects the Background Information: philosophy and aesthetics of each dynasty of Lily Cai, a Chinese-American, preserves her traditional Emperors. The circle is the guiding principle upon Chinese culture by performing ancient classical court which these dances are based. Ms. Cai has selected dances. Born in , she began to study dance at two classical dances which show a contrast between the Children’s Palace when she was five. As she matured, dynasties. A golden age for culture, the T’ang her talent became evident and she was selected to study Dynasty, is represented by The Flying Goddess - the with special teachers.This new training was very difficult flying and floating of the ribbon representing a and required great discipline, patience and perseverance. goddess. The aesthetics of this dynasty were based on However, she states that “dance is my nature and I made the concept that beauty was full and round and the myself into a dancer as a career.” Her training required costumes were transparent to reveal the outline of the strength of character; she was challenged physically, as well body. In contrast, bodies were completely covered in as through her mind and spirit. In 1966, the Cultural the Ch’ing dynasty and the movements were more Revolution suppressed traditional ways and her classical reserved. This dance uses a fan to highlight the dance study was forbidden. She remembers that everyone dancer’s elegance, beauty and reserved feminity. on the street was fighting and students dropped out of school to promote the writings of Mao Tse-tung, Creative Process of the Artist or Culture: Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. At this Near Tun-Huang, there are more than 100 caves time, all the people learned a Revolutionary Dance. It covered with elegant paintings depicting the Buddhist required no technique, but used movements designed to vision of paradise. Ms. Cai has make everyone feel powerful and determined to make matched the styles and colors of her change. Mao’s wife, Chiang Ch’ing, took charge of the costumes to those found in the Caves cultural expression in the performing arts, allowing only five of a Thousand Buddhas. She connects ideologically pure revolutionary stories, or themes, to be us to the people and aesthetics of these presented. Ms. Cai danced in these productions as a ancient cultures through dance.

principal dancer with the Shanghai House. In Photo: Lee Hanson 1970, she was able to resume her life’s work. She immigrated “Different dances are like C H I N A to the U.S. and settled in San Francisco where she teaches different dialects. They show and performs. In fact, she produced the first performance in variations in expression.” Lily Cai SHANGHAI Chinatown to feature Chinese dance.