ATLANTA CHINESE DANCE

Transcription

1 ATLANTA CHINESE DANCE February 14, :15 AM All Ages Compiled and Edited by Joanne Maples Contents ABOUT THE ARTISTS... 2 ABOUT THE PROGRAM... 2 BACKGROUND ON CHINESE DANCE... 3 VOCABULARY... 4 PRE-PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES... 5 POST-PERFORMANCE... 5 ACTIVITIES (K-5)... 5 GEORGIA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS CONNECTED TO CHINA... 7 REFERENCES AND RESOURCES... 9

2 ABOUT THE ARTISTS Atlanta Chinese Dance Company promotes the development, advancement, and appreciation of Chinese dance and culture in metropolitan Atlanta and surrounding areas. Their vision is to educate two main sectors our dancers and the general public about Chinese history and cultural heritage through the art of Chinese dance. Founded in 1991 by Hwee-Eng Y. Lee, the company has presented fourteen original full-evening productions as well as numerous community outreach performances throughout metro Atlanta and surrounding areas in theaters such as the Performing Arts Center at Gwinnett Center, Robert Ferst Center for the Arts, and Rialto Center for the Performing Arts. They also provide numerous community outreach performances throughout the metro Atlanta area. Most notably, the company appeared in the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and the Chinese variation of Atlanta Ballet s The Nutcracker at the Fabulous Fox Theater for ten consecutive years. Since its inception, the company has seen tremendous growth, and continues to broaden its appeal. Performances include classical Chinese dance styles, ethnic folk dances, and adaptations of modern dance dramas. The quality of the choreography, dancing, and costumes delights both Chinese and American audiences. The future of the company is filled with much promise and talent. 1 ABOUT THE PROGRAM Great effort is made to maintain the artistic integrity of the Chinese style in the dances. Ms. Lee has choreographed many of the dances herself and she also carefully selected the dances to maintain as many of the original movements as possible for her students. Many movements within the dances represent styles, which are hundreds of years old. In fact, each dance in the performance represents a different dance style or time period in Chinese history. Careful research is also done regarding the costumes, which are designed to be historically accurate. Attention is given to the color, material, adornments, and props for each costume. The exquisite costumes of the Manchu Dance are fashioned after the royalty of the Qing dynasty (the last dynasty of Chinese history). The platform shoes and tall headdresses, which have been brought from the People's Republic of China, accurately reflect the period they represent. The Bamboo Forest of Yunnan was choreographed by Tang Yebi, a professor in Dai dance at the Yunnan Institute of Nationalities. The majority of the costumes and props were made in Kunming, Yunnan. 2 Atlanta Chinese Dance Company's EDUCATIONAL LECTURE-DEMONSTRATION (arts-in-education assembly program) is a visual feast of colorful Chinese ribbons, fans, long sleeves, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, and more, featuring live, costumed traditional Chinese dance performances interspersed with detailed historical and cultural background information as well as audience participation. It is a fun and memorable way to experience not only the beauty and splendor of the art of Chinese dance, but 1 From 2 From

3 also China's long history (over 5,000 years!) and diverse culture (56 ethnic groups!). This engaging and educational presentation inspires audiences to take pride in their own cultural heritage and to gain an understanding and appreciation of one of the fastest growing minority groups in the US. Program (45 Minutes): Handkerchief Dance Long Sleeves Dance Kung Fu Fan Dance Dai Umbrella Dance Silk Fan Dance Ribbon Dance Traditional Chinese Dance Props Demonstration Audience Participation (Kung Fu Fan Demo and Ribbon Demo) Question and Answer Session BACKGROUND ON CHINESE DANCE SPLENDID DANCE OF THE TANG DYNASTY According to archeological findings, Chinese dance has a history of over five thousand years. Until the Han dynasty (206 B. C. - A. D. 220), most of the Chinese dances were originated from the folks. During the Han period, a musical entertainment court was established for the imperial family, which was essentially a center for systematically documenting and enhancing folk songs and dances. Because of the political stability and the economic prosperity of the Tang dynasty (A. D ), poetry, music and dance were given opportunities to flourish. The Tang dynasty has been regarded as the golden age for dance in ancient China. Dances in the Tang dynasty inherited techniques that were developed in the past dynasties such as Zhou, Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, and Nanbei. During the early Tang period, Buddhism was introduced to China and because trade and social relationship with other countries rapidly expanded, dances was influenced by folk dances of other countries such as India, Rome, Persia (Iran), Korea, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam,

4 and other Central Asian countries. In addition, it also combined with other forms of fine arts such as painting, scenery, and colorful costumes as well as poetry, classical music and drama. The combination of these colorful traditions brought the performing arts to a new peak of entertainment. The emperors of the Tang dynasty, in general, paid significant attention to the development of the Chinese dance and music. Several of them directly contributed to this effort. Among them, Emperor Li Shimin personally composed a song Pozhenyuetu, which was successfully staged for a major dance festival. The choreography of Pozhenyuetu was further enhanced by Emperor Li Lonji (also known as Tang Minhuang) and was later introduced to India, Tulufan (currently known as Xin-Jiang) and Japan. The Tang dynasty also had another brilliant piece of music Nishangyuyi,which was composed by the Tang Minhuang who was talented in music and dance. Tang Minhuang used graceful traditional dance techniques combining with marvelous Indian dance skills and music to portray an elegant fairyland with beautiful maidens. Staged by Tang Minhuang, danced by his famous concubine and dancer Yang Guifei, and music played by Liyuan, the Nishangyuyi dance has been regarded as one of the splendid treasures in China's dance history. 3 VOCABULARY Tang Dynasty: (A. D ) The golden age for dance in ancient China because of political stability. Dance of the Lotus Fairies, childlike fairies hide in lotuses and joyously pop out to dance when the petals open. Handkerchief Dance: One of the most popular folk dances, in China. The special handkerchief the dancers use is made of velvet, embellished with gold-colored charms and sequins. Longsleeves Dance: Young women wearing dresses with long, elegant silk sleeves would dance to imitate the movement of fairies and the ripples of water and air. Kung Fu Fan Dance: A folk dance with fans and other props. There are 2 forms: civilian and military. The military form uses no props but uses coordinated movements and weaponry to demonstrate uniformity and authority and wear uniforms. The civilian form uses beautiful costumes and resembles a ballet performance. Dai Umbrella Dance: The Dai ethnic minority created the dance hundreds of years ago involving a performer moving with a traditional paper Chinese umbrella during the Lantern Festival Days. Silk Fan Dance: The Han dynasty from around 200 AD originated this dance. It passes down stories and traditions through the movement of the body and fan. 3 From

5 Ribbon Dance: The dance originated with the Han dynasty using unique movements and gestures enables the dancer to tell the story of a man who tried to kill the emperor. PRE-PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES Before the program, discuss with your students what makes a good audience. Compare appropriate behavior for different kinds of audience situations e.g., rock concert, sporting event, ballet. Students will get more out of the program if they come prepared. Use this guide to help students anticipate what to listen and look for. Set a good example. Catch up on paperwork and after the performance. Warm-up Questions for meeting the Georgia Performance Standards for Listening/Speaking/Viewing : Describe the perfect audience. What are some of our class rules for being good listeners? How do we show someone we appreciate their visit to our school or classroom? How does being part of an audience help make you a good citizen? What are some examples of bad audience behavior or attitudes? How does a negative audience member effect your enjoyment of a show or performance? How would this make the performer feel? How do we want the performer to feel when they leave our school or classroom? POST-PERFORMANCE Reflection activities may vary, but some suggestions include mapping some of the places encountered in the musical journey Journaling about the performance experience Creating a short in-class performance ACTIVITIES (K-5) o Find China on a map; discuss how far it is from where students live; what are the major borders or bodies or water

6 o Offer a puzzle map of China & have them put it together individually, in cooperative large or small groups, or in think-pair-share; then label the capital, cities, or major political or geographical landmarks o Ask students what they know about major political or geographical landmarks now about Chinese music or history and record it on a graphic organizer for a before-and-after comparison or fill in a K-W-L Chart chronicling What do you KNOW about Caribbean music / What do you WANT to learn / What did you LEARN o Look up information on the Internet or use technology to introduce China MAKE A CHINESE GONG Easy to Make Musical Instruments Level: Primary and up Grades: K and up Age: 5 and up Written by: Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou [Daria is an award-winning children's performer with five CDs that have won national honors. Summary: A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet. Find out how to make one using simple, household materials. What You Need:

7 A metal (disposable) roasting pan (the larger, the better) Pipecleaners or yarn Cardboard Tube From Wrapping Paper Paint, stickers, glitter, glue or textured paint - for decorating the gong. For the beater: 12" 18" wooden dowel Electrical tape What You Do: 1. Start by getting an adult help you poke two holes in the top area of the metal roasting pan about 2 3 inches apart. 2. Slip a pipecleaner through each hole and then twist the ends together to form a circle. 3. Now you can insert the wrapping paper tube (or a broomstick or large stick) into the pipecleaner circle and the gong will hang down. 4. To give your gong a nice sturdy stand, you can use several more pipecleaners to fasten the wrapping paper tube to two chairs that are placed a few feet apart facing outward. 5. Now that you see how your gong will hang on it s stand, you may wish to take it down and decorate it. Add stickers, paint, or glitter and glue. Perhaps you can look up the year you were born in terms of Chinese astrology and put that symbol on your gong. Maybe you were born in the year of the rat or the pig or the ram or the fish. It s great fun to find out. 6. Lastly, you'll need a beater to strike the gong. Take a 12" or 18" wooden dowel and wrap one side with electrical tape to form a head. That s the side that will strike the gong to create its unique and wonderful sound. If you don't have a wooden dowel, you can substitute a wooden spoon, a chopstick or an unsharpened pencil, just wrap the head the same way on the end that will strike the gong. 7. Have fun! Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou Award-winning children s performer, DARIA (Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou) has five cd s that have won national honors. She has the most awesome job of traveling the world to sing for kids and peace. Her website; located at dariamusic.com, was given a 2009 Parents Choice Award for its musical and cultural content. GEORGIA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS CONNECTED TO CHINA Information Processing Skills: o o 1. Compare similarities and differences: K and up 10. Analyze artifacts: Grade 2 and up

8 o o 11. Draw conclusions and make generalizations: Grade 3 and up 15. Determine adequacy and/or relevancy of information: Grade 4 and up Grade 1: SS1G3 The student will locate major topographical features of the earth s surface. a. Locate all of the continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Antarctica, and Australia. High School-World Geography Class-Grades 9-12 o Standards: WG5 Unit five focus: Physical and Human Systems of Asia o CULTURE Major groups (5d) Pacific Rim (5g) o HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION Relationship of location to population (5c) o LOCATION Importance of physical characteristics (5a,b) o MOVEMENT/MIGRATION Population growth (5e) Indian subcontinent (5f) Georgia Performance Standards for World History Grades 9-12 o Standards: 2a, b, c, d; 3 Unit Three focus: Classical Empires CULTURE: Development of Chinese culture (2d) GOVERNANCE Evolution of Chinese governments (2c) ELA: Speaking and Listening (SL) ELACC9-10SL3: Evaluate and/or reflect on a speaker s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence. A Chinese Curriculum Companion to Support the Georgia Performance Standards for World Languages (K-5): o See next page MK-5GM.6 Listening to, analyzing, and describing music a. Identify specific music events in an aural example, given appropriate terminology. b. Identify characteristics of musical elements in music which represent diverse genres and cultures. MK-5GM.7 Evaluating music and music performances. a. Evaluate musical performances of themselves and others. b. Explain personal preferences for specific musical works and styles using appropriate vocabulary. M6-12GM.9 Understanding music in relation to history and culture a. Perform, listen, move and/or distinguish between music from various historical periods and cultures (e.g., various world regions). b. Describe how music and musicians function in various cultures. c. Demonstrate appropriate audience behavior for the context and style of music performed Program Focus

9 ELACCK-5SL1.c. ELACCK-5RI8 ELACCK-5L3.c ELACCK-5RI3 ELACCK-5 RL7 ELACCK-5RL3 Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others. Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text. Differentiate between contexts that call for formal English (e.g., presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g., small-group discussion). Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they see and hear when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch. Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., a character s thoughts, words, or actions] REFERENCES AND RESOURCES History: History: ATL Chinese Dance Facebook: =0ahUKEwj3zK2z9YHSAhWIRCYKHR6MBLkQFgg_MAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.co m%2fatlantachinesedancecompany%2f&usg=afqjcney- B5VueRSxJOFeD746a2Ga5QruA&sig2=4-XnLfBrKjX-AVso0nQLyQ Making a gong: To view the Handkerchief Dance, copy and paste into browser: To view Dance of the Lotus Fairies: To view Longsleeves Dance: To view Kung Fu Fan Dance:

10 To view the Umbrella Dance: d=0ahukewj3zk2z9yhsahwircykhr6mblkqtwiizdal&url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.co m%2fwatch%3fv%3ddnjfc9qtrue&usg=afqjcng0dyvsjyshxummnoqeuzcg_w4mfq&sig2=yz zitm9qya_5j33vxel0gg