Wei Meiling (Zhang Jinghui) Wei Meiling (Emily Wilcox) is a professor of Chinese studies in the Department of Modern Languages ​​and Literatures at the University of William and Mary in the United States and the 2024 Guggenheim Award winner. "Revolutionary Body", which she publis

Wei Meiling (Zhang Jinghui)

Wei Meiling (emily wilcox) is a professor of Chinese studies in the Department of Modern Languages ​​and Literatures at the University of William and Mary in the United States and the 2024 Guggenheim Award winner. "Revolutionary Body", which she published in 2018, writes the history of the development of Chinese dance from the 1930s to the present. It is the first English book on the history of theater dance in the People's Republic of China based on first-hand historical materials. It won the 2019 The American Dance Academy's de la Torre Bueno Prize. Last year, a Chinese translation of the book was published by Fudan University Press. Recently, Wei Meiling, who was studying in Beijing, accepted an exclusive interview with Shanghai Book Review and shared her views on many issues in the history of Chinese contemporary dance.

"Revolutionary Body: Re-understanding Modern and Contemporary Chinese Dance Culture", [American] written by Wei Meiling, translated by Li Hongmei, Fudan University Press, published in June 2023, 290 pages, 98.00 yuan

You use "Revolutionary Body" ( "revolutionary bodies" to name your book discussing the history of contemporary Chinese dance. Can you talk about the relationship between "revolution" and "body" in the title? Why is "body" plural?

Wei Meiling: The historical stage that this book mainly discusses is from the cultural movement launched in Yan'an in the early 1940s to the period of socialist country construction after 1949. During this period that can be named "revolution", left-wing political ideas became the ideological form that dominated the entire society. What I'm interested in is, why did a dance phenomenon that attaches great importance to the cultural identity of this nation emerge at this time? In the process of the global spread of nation-states, the construction of national culture in socialist countries puts more emphasis on the politics of equality, whether it is equality in the sense of class, gender, or ethnicity, and more emphasis on mass and folk attributes. At the same time, it also emphasizes the Western-centered criticize the capitalist order and the Cold War pattern. How do these political agendas manifest themselves in the physical expression of dance? In other words, how does the idea of ​​revolution provide a cultural context when the body pursues national forms? This is the core question that "The Revolutionary Body" wants to examine.

The lower limit of history written in this book extends to the beginning of this century. I believe that for the history of contemporary Chinese dance, the “revolution” did not end in the 1980s, and its influence continues to this day. I would like to remind people that the Chinese dances we dance now, which everyone usually thinks of as belonging to "traditional" culture, are actually the products of the "revolution." It can be said that it exists precisely because of the revolution, and there is a very positive political concept behind it. From this, I also want to break the long-standing stereotypes Western readers have about socialist culture.

The reason why "body" is in the plural form is because I want to emphasize the diversity of contemporary Chinese dance. Diversity not only refers to the fact that it involves different regions and nationalities, but also refers to the two branches of Chinese classical dance and Chinese folk dance within Chinese dance. It also refers to debates with different views and routes, such as the debate between Chinese dance and ballet, Dai Ailian and Wu Xiaobang differences. In fact, every era has different bodies that can represent revolutionary culture and national culture, and new revolutionary bodies will continue to surface on the surface of history.

"Lotus Dance" during the National Day Parade, published in the 10th issue of "People's Pictorial" in 1955.

"Lotus Dance" toured Canada, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela, and was included in the 1960 Chinese Art Troupe performance list.

The three core concepts (commitments) you use to define Chinese dance genres - "kinesthetic nationalism", "ethnic and spatial inclusiveness", and "dynamic inheritance" )—highlighting the connection between this dance type and the nation-state. However, you also emphasized the international origin of Chinese dance. You said that "ethnic minorities, foreign refugees, people who do not speak Chinese and people with non-Chinese backgrounds" made important contributions to the formation and creation of early Chinese dance. The five people you introduced The "founders of Chinese dance" - Dai Ailian, Wu Xiaobang, Kangbal Khan, Liang Lun and Cui Chengxi "all have important overseas experience."How do you see the relationship between nationalism and cosmopolitanism here?

Wei Meiling: Although these dancers, who I regard as the founders of Chinese dance, all have transnational backgrounds, I feel that most of them cannot be simply classified as cosmopolitans. Dai Ailian lived in the then British colony of Trinidad as a child and moved to London when she was fifteen. Her later views and stances stemmed from her experience of being marginalized in Western culture as a diasporic subject. Having personally experienced the racial hierarchies embedded in ballet and Western modern dance culture, Dai was critical of these dance forms. Because of this, the future of Chinese dance she can envision is not based on Western dance forms, but seeks to use new movement vocabulary and aesthetic concepts to express itself. It can be said that one of the foundations for the emergence of Chinese folk dance represented by Dai Ailian is precisely the criticism of a certain version of cosmopolitanism. Kangbal Khan was born in Kashgar and studied dance in the Soviet Union. She has a cross-cultural background, but she is obviously not cosmopolitan.

Dai Ailian in the dance "Jiarong Reception", published in the fifth issue of "Yi Wen Pictorial" in 1947.

I think among all these people, Wu Xiaobang may be more in line with the image of a cosmopolitan in the usual sense. In his early years, he hoped to introduce Western theater dance to China. He believed that the dance heritage in old Chinese dramas was not suitable for today's society, and it was necessary to create new dance styles that fit the rhythm of contemporary life. But Wu Xiaobang's attitude later changed. He appreciated that the six-act musical "Riding the Wind and Waves to Liberate Hainan", which premiered in 1950, "adapted Chinese opera and other local performance elements according to local conditions". In general, the founders of Chinese dance eventually realized the limitations of so-called universalist culture and instead paid more attention to their own national and cultural symbols. They believe that the existing dance phenomenon in China is valuable and worthy of development. Although Chinese dance is now closely associated with national identity, its history is cross-border and cross-cultural, and these cross-cultural factors ultimately led to its embrace of nationality. Tracing these histories will help us break away from past research methods based on nation-states.

Wu Xiaobang in "Funeral Song", published in the sixth issue of "Times" in 1935.

"Riding the Wind and Waves to Liberate Hainan", published in the sixth issue of "People's Pictorial" in 1950.

In her 2023 book "when words are inadequate: modern dance and transnationalism in china" (when words are inadequate: modern dance and transnationalism in china), Ma Nan attempts to use the term "modern Chinese dance" to collectively refers to Chinese dance, ballet, and modern dance that developed in China during the twentieth century to emphasize the blurring of boundaries between these genres. According to her, you regard "modern dance as a dance type that is different from and competing with Chinese dance", while she regards "the development of modern dance in China as part of the origin of (modern) Chinese dance". She believes that your book presents "a variety of heterogeneous sources and schools that jointly contribute to an inclusive, coherent, and plastic national identity of 'Chinese dance'", and she wants to "make use of the influence of modern dance" perspective, focusing on conflicts in Chinese dance.” How would you respond to her statement? Why do you insist on the distinction between Chinese dance and modern dance?

Ma Nan's "Insufficient Words: Modern Dance and Transnationalism in China"

Wei Meiling: I don't think the difference between Ma Nan and me is that big. At least in judging many basic facts, we are quite consistent. . I also pointed out that Dai Ailian, Cui Chengxi, Liang Lun, and Wu Xiaobang had a background and foundation in modern dance, but they later established other dance systems. I tend to regard their personal backgrounds and the dance styles they later created as two independent aspect. Ma Nan and I both believe that Chinese dance is based on transnational cultural exchanges. In this regard, Chinese dance and modern dance have overlapped in history, but I think that the Chinese classical dance that was born later and the Chinese national Folk dance takes a different path from modern dance.In addition to the different body movements and vocabulary, the aesthetic pursuits, creative concepts, and even the understanding of dance itself are also very different. Modern dance presupposes a universal human body, which is the same "natural law" regardless of ethnicity, national boundaries, or culture. It was this "nature" that Wu Xiaobang was obsessed with in his early years. Chinese dance emphasizes diverse bodies, and different cultures have different ways of expressing their bodies. Ma Nan may think that the boundary between modern dance and Chinese dance is not so clear-cut, which is where our differences lie. She is interested in the ambiguous parts of Chinese dance. In fact, I will also emphasize that there are always different voices within Chinese dance, and it is not monolithic. But it is undeniable that in China today, the courses, groups, choreography - that is, the establishment - of modern dance and Chinese dance are separate, and they are regarded as two different dance directions. We can see that many modern dance actors have learned Chinese dance, but they will clearly say that the work they are participating in now is modern dance. I think this distinction is necessary.

"Revolutionary Body" has used a lot of ink to discuss the situation of Sino-foreign dance exchanges during the "Seventeen Years" period, such as Chinese dancers participating in the dance competition of the World Youth Festival, such as the Chinese Song and Dance Troupe creating works with international themes. After the publication of this book, you published two more papers that can be regarded as "inter-asia dance studies": "Performing Bandung: China's Dance Diplomacy with India, Indonesia and Myanmar (1953-1962)" "(2019), "Sino-Japanese cultural diplomacy in the 1950s: the making and reception of the Matsuyama ballet's the white-haired girl" , 2023). Why has “Inter-Asia” become your current focus? What do you think of the phenomenon of Chinese dancers playing roles of other ethnic groups at that time?

During the Indian cultural delegation's visit to China in 1955, Indian dancer Krishna Kutty, who performed Kathakali dance, taught Chinese dancers to learn Indian dance.

Wei Meiling: "Asian" is a question I have been thinking about. When we engage in cross-cultural research, especially when discussing the cross-cultural phenomenon of Chinese dance, we usually compare China with the West and ignore the exchanges between China and other Asian countries. De-Western-centrism is a thread that runs through all my dance research, so I am particularly interested in phenomena such as the Bandung Conference and the Asian, African and Latin American Movement. "Inter-Asian" is a concept opposite to "Asia", which is more like a colonial discourse and historical construction. "Inter-Asian" focuses on Asian countries, and Asian actors and people with similar histories. The "inter-referential" relationship between the actors of fate. I think the "inter-Asian" perspective embodies the Bandung spirit in research methods, that is, when doing cross-cultural research, do not always put the West at the center or think that you must dialogue with the West. Of course, imperialism and colonialism have profoundly affected Asia, and the transnational flow of many arts inevitably involves the West, but we cannot therefore ignore the cross-cultural phenomena within Asia. For example, Wu Xiaobang studied German modern dance in Tokyo, and Japan became an intermediary between China and the West in the process. I was initially interested in Cui Chengxi’s transnational experience. Later, I discovered many photos, programs, journals, school journals, and dancer biographies that recorded dance exchanges between China and India, Indonesia, and Myanmar, so I wrote "Performance Bandung" Article. Last year, I co-edited an anthology with a Korean scholar, "inter-asia in motion: dance as method," which also revolved around this theme.

Wei Meiling and other editors-in-chief "Mobile Asia: Dance as Method"

Cui Chengxi performs long drum dance, photographed by Iris Studio in Paris.

I think that the center of dance history in the twentieth century does not necessarily have to be in New York, USA. People often say that the history of dance in the twentieth century is the history of modern dance, and the protagonists are American Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham and others.Of course, this is understandable in the United States, but why do other countries respect New York? We can try to rewrite the history of dance in the twentieth century, focusing on Asia, Africa, Latin America, and socialist countries. My next planned book, "Performing Solidarities: Dancing the World in Mao's China, 1949–1976," will examine the interactions between socialist China and the international community from the perspective of dance, as well as how these interactions relate to internationalism and internationalism. The relationship between Cold War politics, Asian-Africanism, the Third World, postcolonialism and other concepts. There are many stories worth exploring here, including the ballet "The White-Haired Girl" premiered in Japan by Matsuyama Ballet in 1955. I think people today would be surprised that the earliest ballet adaptation of "The White Haired Girl" appeared in the capitalist camp. Many artists of Matsuyama Ballet who participated in this creation, including Matsuyama Shuko himself, have the experience of studying in and visiting the Soviet Union. For example, the director of "White Haired Girl" Hijikata Kazushi was a member of the Japanese Communist Party and a leader of the Japanese new drama movement. When the Japanese police banned proletarian dramas in the 1930s, he went into exile in the Soviet Union and returned to his motherland after the war. He introduced the repertoire of the Moscow Art Theater to the Japanese stage. It can be said that the Soviet Union became an important third party that had a profound impact on Sino-Japanese relations at that time. Stories like this allow us to break down the Cold War-era concept of two hemispheres and realize that they are not always distinct.

From March to April 1958, the Japanese Matsuyama Ballet visited China for a tour.

Some people will stereotype that China before reform and opening up was closed and isolated. Another original intention of my research is to challenge this view. Especially during the "Seventeen Years" period, China's transnational cultural exchanges were actually quite rich. Dance troupes from Japan, North Korea, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East have visited China many times. Chinese dancers will also tour abroad to perform dances from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Oriental Song and Dance Troupe was established in 1962 for this purpose. of. Many dance exchange programs in the 1950s and 1960s allowed Chinese dancers to learn the dances of neighboring countries in a relatively authentic environment, rather than through other methods that were more likely to lead to exaggeration and stereotyped imitation. The combination of study and performance impressed audiences from neighboring countries and changed the cultural prejudices of Chinese dancers. This is dance diplomacy based on mutual learning rather than self-expression.

In 1961, Chinese dancers Zhang Jun and Zhao Shizhong performed Burmese classical pas de deux in Myanmar.

In addition, there were also many works performed in China at that time that showed the American civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Congo crisis and other international events, imagining the world outside China through dance. For example, "The Fury is Burning" performed by the People's Liberation Army General Political Department Song and Dance Troupe in 1964 is a small dance drama about racial discrimination in the United States. It combines Chinese military dances, African immigrant dances and racial imitation, with the implication of supporting the civil rights movement of African Americans. . In the play, a white police officer of the Ku Klux Klan bullies a black boy, and then a fierce battle breaks out between a multi-racial protest group and the Ku Klux Klan. It is true that dancers paint their bodies and faces dark, which is a typical act of ethnic cosplay. This is usually regarded as an act full of prejudice in Western theories of cultural appropriation and interracial endorsement. However, the political stance of "The Fury is Burning" is very clear, which is to try to shape black people into the vanguard of the world revolution. Therefore, we cannot generalize. It can even be said that such works subvert the traditional values ​​of cultural appropriation and provide the possibility of making ethnic performance a medium to express respect and understanding.

A clip of "The Burning Fury" comes from the 1964 documentary "The Rising Sun" shot by Bayi Film Studio.

As far as the image of women in the history of contemporary Chinese dance is concerned, you seem to prefer the national dance dramas of the "Great Leap Forward" period, such as "Five Red Clouds" by the Guangzhou Army Soldiers Song and Dance Troupe and "The Society of Little Knives" by the Shanghai Experimental Opera House. , believing that they are superior to works produced in the 1960s, 1970s, or after the 1980s in this regard. why?

Wei Meiling: also has the intention of dialogue with other scholars. The issue of female expression is very prominent in different media such as dance, film, literature and so on.However, I found that most of the discussion of women in Western studies of Chinese dance focuses on the ballet genre. What everyone is most familiar with is the female portrayal in "The Red Detachment of Women" and "The White-Haired Girl." I think there are more positive and progressive images of women in the history of contemporary Chinese dance. In the folk dance drama "Seventeen Years", the female characters are created entirely according to the expression of national forms, and these characters are more interesting and complex.

For example, the plot and dance of "Five Red Clouds" far from obliterating fertility and its connection with women, family and love, instead emphasize that it is these experiences that make the female protagonist Ke Ying grow into a revolutionary hero. The plot takes Ke Ying's female subjectivity rather than her flaws as the starting point for her potential revolutionary actions, emphasizing the consistency between her gender identity and revolutionary motivations. The pounded rice dance in "Five Red Clouds" provides a multi-faceted image of Li women: they are no longer graceful girl ethnic beauties, or strong and cheerful idealized village women, but real people who sweat, get tired, and know how to The painful reality of women. Zhou Xiuying's character creation in "The Society of Little Knives" is not limited to the two common female models in ballets of the 1960s and 1970s: either a victim who needs to be saved by a man, or a hero whose revolutionary behavior is limited to traditional women. . Zhou Xiuying has been a courageous and wise leader from beginning to end. On many occasions, her ability is as good as or even better than that of male leaders. The choreography of "Little Knife Club" is a new interpretation of the "Dao Ma Dan" performance model, allowing female characters to enter new social spaces and roles, but still retaining the true nature of women.

The first large-scale national dance drama "Lotus Lantern" premiered in August 1957. The person in the center of the picture is Zhao Qing, the daughter of Zhao Dan, who plays the role of the Three Holy Mothers, published in the fifth issue of People's Pictorial in 1962.

Wang Shan and members of the dance troupe in "Five Red Clouds", "Five Red Clouds: A Dance Drama in Four Acts and Seven Scenes", Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 1963.

Shu Qiao and members of the dance troupe in "Little Knife Club", published in the 16th issue of "People's Pictorial" in 1960.

The female images in these works are different from the later "Iron Girls". In this regard, I believe that the "Iron Girl", which largely ignores social gender differences, cannot fully represent the creation of Chinese socialist female characters. In dance narratives since the 1980s, the range of possibilities for female characters that had been opened up in early folk dance dramas has narrowed, and conservative treatment of women has become prevalent again. They sometimes become objects desired, protected or exchanged by men. object.

The relationship between Chinese dance and ballet, or the battle of lines, is a key clue that runs through the first four chapters of "Revolutionary Body": from Dai Ailian's early experience, to the criticism of the ballet elements of "Peace Dove" in the 1950s, and subsequently From the establishment of the dual discipline system to the ten-year heyday of revolutionary ballet, ballet has always been present. As for the situation of ballet getting better, until it replaced the dominant position of Chinese dance in the 1960s and 1970s, you think it was due to the diplomatic aspects of the Cold War and the return of the repressed. What do you think of the defense of ballet of that era from the perspective of the proletariat’s occupation of high culture, or the “Sinicization of ballet” as Liu Liu said in “The Will on Pointe”?

"Will on Pointe: The Performance Practice and Contemporary Discourse of the Ballet "The Red Detachment of Women" (1964-2014)" by Liu Liu this problem. In the process of writing this book, I went through many revisions, and the current version is a compromise. One of the reasons is that many people keep expressing the view that ballet is an elite culture and a universal form. I strongly disagree with this view. I think ballet is a special European cultural form. Putting it in a universal and assimilating position is very Western-centric, which is similar to saying that English is a high-level language and everyone should speak English. Ballet cannot represent everything, just like orchestral music cannot replace folk music, and oil painting cannot replace landscape painting.In the 1960s and 1970s, ballet gained a dominant position, and I always felt that this was one of the symptoms of the decline of truly revolutionary ideas. Although many aspects seemed very radical at the time, culturally, we may not be unable to see a conservative aspect. Therefore, I do not think that this stage is necessarily the peak of revolutionary culture. During the "Seventeen Years" period, different ethnic and gender politics were expressed very actively, and since then, at least in the field of dance, this energy has become weaker. It is as if it is enough to express oneself using the universal language of ballet, and there is no need to put special emphasis on national aesthetics. In short, if an explanation presupposes that ballet is the most beautiful, classic, and scientific dance in the world, I cannot accept it. In the 1980s, modern dance entered China. Some people said that it represented the free and natural body. They surrendered to this hegemonic dance style and regarded it as a representative of Western universal civilization. It is a similar logic.

"Red Detachment of Women", published in the fifth issue of "People's Pictorial" in 1965.

You emphasized that the Chinese dance scene in the 1980s continued the socialist dance tradition from the early period - mainly the "Seventeen Years" period. Although there is indeed continuity in the system, personnel, teaching methods, and action forms, aren't the ruptures at the level of concepts and content more prominent? Taking academic folk dance as an example, has it become an elite dance that focuses mainly on technique (virtuosity)?

Wei Meiling: Although people often think of the 1980s as a brand new period, it still inherited many legacies of previous eras. In the early 1980s, many seemingly fresh changes in the dance world were actually a return to the dance culture of the "Seventeen Years". Of course, the "body" of later Chinese classical dance and folk dance is different from the "body" before the 1980s, especially because the radical political elements have been downplayed. However, the pursuit of national forms and past creative methods still persist, and the dance vocabulary itself also has inertia. Elements in many works that became famous in the new era, such as Dunhuang dance and peacock dance, were dance forms that had already begun to develop. In the book, I just want to analyze what is continued and what is abandoned.

"Flying Sky", in "Selected Pictures of Chinese Folk Dances", Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1957.

Academic folk dance is certainly elite in structure. It is a dance phenomenon that comes from professional dance schools. But I think we should also consider the source of its aesthetic object. Aesthetics will convey values, and folk dance presupposes that folk culture is valuable and should be learned and inherited. Therefore, although it is produced by elite structures, its values ​​and cultural imaginary are not entirely elite. Precisely because of the establishment of folk dance, folk artists will be invited to the classes of Beijing Dance Academy, and students will go to remote areas to collect styles and pay attention to local culture. Many resources will be tilted in specific directions, ultimately allowing folk culture to be respected and supported. From this perspective, it has the meaning of breaking down distinctions. What's more, the dance performed on stage is inherently different from pure folk dance. It must be divorced from the original context of festivals, temple fairs, and rituals.

You said in your book that the inspiration for Yang Liping's 1986 solo dance masterpiece "The Spirit of the Bird" can be traced back to the 1956 "Zhao Shutun and Nanwu Luola" starring Dao Meilan. You also pointed out in your recently published article "an image that resonates: yang liping and the evolution of contemporary chinese folk dance, 2024" that she was also influenced by the West and the contemporary Influenced by popular dance aesthetics. Yang Liping later became successful in business. What do you think of her? Do her creations contain some hint of internal Orientalism?

Wei Meiling: Yang Liping has her own style and aesthetic. She created a new form of national folk dance and also attracted a new generation of audiences. Through constant updates and revisions, she maintains the vitality of the traditional folk form, the Dai peacock dance, so that her dance can give people a sense of freshness while being rooted in folk materials.The visual aesthetics of Yang Liping's work are key to her success, and her costume designs not only reflect the fashion trends of each period, but also promote new trends and styles, making her a standard of taste in the dance world and beyond.

Yang Liping in "The Spirit of the Bird", 1997.

Dao Meilan and the members of the dance troupe in "Zhaoshutun and Nanwu Luola", published in the first issue of "Dance Series" in 1957.

There is no doubt that Yang Liping is no longer just a dancer or choreographer, she is a cultural icon and a social phenomenon. However, very similar to the academic folk dance we discussed before, Yang Liping also used her personal charm, stage expression and broad imagination to attract everyone's attention to marginalized Yunnan and the dances of Yunnan ethnic minorities, and She has used her resources to cultivate and support a group of original artists. Her dance highlights a primitive and mysterious atmosphere, which is certainly not found in works before the 1980s, but I think this is very different from European Orientalism. Because she emphasizes primitiveness to express her worship of life, rather than to transform it and give it civilization. On the contrary, she believes that this primitiveness is proud and beautiful, and we should return to it and learn from it. It's a bit like the root-finding literature of the 1980s. I think, in the final analysis, it is a question of values. Although similar in appearance to Orientalism, the purpose and motivation are different, the content is also different, and the final result is completely different.

You said in the article "Moonwalking in beijing: michael jackson, piliwu, and the origins of chinese hip-hop, 2022" that eighty The breakdancing craze of the 1990s was China's first localized hip-hop cultural movement, which was closely related to its booming hip-hop economy. One of the development directions of Chinese classical dance in the 1980s was to transcend the movement vocabulary of opera and appeal to more ancient history: Dunhuang dance made its debut. Do you think there was a Darwinian rivalry between break dancing and Chinese dancing at the time? Has the former taken over the structural position that the latter once held?

A still from "Rock of Ages" (1988), with Tao Jin in the center.

Wei Meiling: Dunhuang dance was already very influential in the early 1980s, while break dance was a popular dance phenomenon in the late 1980s, which is very different from stage art. Of course, dancers may face conflicts and need to make choices. At that time, a large number of dancers' daily job was to perform Chinese classical dance or folk dance on the stage within the system, but they were keen on break dancing in their spare time. "Prince of Breakdancing" "China's Michael Jackson" Tao Jin and his friend Zhang Ping both graduated from the Chinese classical dance department. From an individual perspective, they do experience conflicts over time allocation, social roles, and even physical training. These dancers, who were born in Chinese dance, were attracted by a new popular culture. This culture provided them with a window to express their rebellious, deviant, and enterprising ideas. It also gave them a good opportunity to make a living and expanded their horizons. social influence. This is an interesting phenomenon that occurred in China at a special historical stage, and it is very different from the situation in the United States. In the United States, most hip-hop dancers do not graduate from professional dance schools. But break dancing did not replace Chinese dance. I think it may have injected some new spirit into the Chinese dance creation at that time. For example, I believe that one of the inspirations for Yang Liping's peacock dance arm movements was break dancing, although she made a personal interpretation of the arm wave movement technique derived from the latter and transformed its aesthetic qualities.

"Revolutionary Body" concludes by examining a series of experimental works premiered between 2002 and 2014 by Beijing choreographer Zhang Yunfeng, born in 1972.In what sense do you think Zhang Yunfeng's works are still Chinese dance? Can't they be classified as modern dance? In this regard, how should we understand the "dynamic inheritance" of Chinese dance? Where is the boundary of Chinese dance?

Wei Meiling: Zhang Yunfeng's works have greatly challenged people's traditional understanding of Chinese classical dance, but they have been accepted by the classical dance circle. From this simple level, although we can also analyze and explain his works from other angles, since the classical dance circle recognizes them and classifies them as classical dance, and the participating dancers are also from classical dance, then We can say that he is objectively a classical dance choreographer. Zhang Yunfeng himself and the Chinese dance circle think so too.

Zhang Yunfeng has indeed made a lot of innovations in the traditional vocabulary of Chinese classical dance, but I wouldn't say it is modern dance. I think these are his own new ways of expression, which come from his experiments in the dance classroom and from the new sparks that burst out after he communicates and collides with the dancers. Zhang Yunfeng's creative concept is different from that of modern dance. Most of his works have characters and cultural symbols. Although there may not be a unified plot and the stage settings are simple and freehand, so they are not realistic, but I think he is still pursuing a an expression of Chinese culture. Many of his works have a profound literary foundation. For example, the early "The King of Chess" and "Rouge Button" interpret modern and contemporary literary works in the form of classical dance and reflect on the relationship between the past and the present. The later "Fat Tang and Thin Song" uses poetry as a starting point to further reflect on the past. role today. This kind of cultural thinking is a very big difference between Chinese dance and modern dance: Chinese dance does not express individual people, but the questioning of Chinese cultural issues. On the contrary, what is displayed on the stage of modern dance is the so-called lack of culture. Symbol people.

Liu Yan in "Rouge Button", 2002.

Zhang Yunfeng and other actors in "Fat Tang Slim Song"

In the body rhythms of the actors performing Zhang Yunfeng's works, we can see that many classical dance elements are selectively used, but on the basis of classical dance, they can always bring Come to a new presentation, this is what is attractive. These works are classical dances, but not all classical dances, inspiring us to rethink what classical dance is. I believe that classical dance is not only a vocabulary of body movements, but also a creative concept that pursues a unique charm. What defines Chinese dance is not how much traditional performance techniques are preserved in some imagined original or protected form, but the processing and application of a series of dynamic resources. Zhang Yunfeng's innovations in movement vocabulary always serve to create aesthetic images and enhance artistic conception, and then convey his thoughts on the role of the past in modern experience. In this regard, he has approached the fundamental issue of Chinese dance: to allow local performance culture to bridge the distance between the past and the present and give a meaningful account of the future.

Regarding the dance drama "The Eternal Wave", which has attracted much attention in recent years, you said that you didn't particularly sympathize with it when you watched it for the first time, but you were deeply moved when you watched it the second time. Can you talk about the reasons for your change of attitude?

Dance Drama "The Eternal Wave"

Wei Meiling: When I watched it for the first time, what impressed me most was the female group dance "Yu Guang Song". My first reaction was that they were wearing cheongsam, which seemed to conflict with the identity of the underground party of that era. It seemed to be a relic of the nostalgic aesthetics of Shanghai in the 1990s. But looking at it this time, this feeling has faded a lot. I noticed that this sequence actually only accounts for ten percent of the entire show. I consciously searched for other images in the dance drama, and found that this drama actually emphasizes the different images of people in the underground party from beginning to end. Its focus is still on the sacrifices of the underground party and the commemoration of the dead, allowing us to realize the value of the lives of those who dedicated their lives to their beliefs. "Fishing Light Song" is just a beautiful fragment that has its role in the play. Otherwise, if the whole play revolved around death, it might be too heavy. Perhaps because it has been on the Spring Festival Gala, we have expectations and will pay more attention to it preemptively. In short, when I watched it for the second time, this dance drama really moved me.

Many of the dances analyzed in your book were made into movies. How do you see the relationship between dance and movies? This year you co-edited a collection of essays called "Teaching film from the people's republic of china". Can you introduce this book? Do you think the shift in dance media from movies to TV talent shows and mobile short videos will have an impact on Chinese dance?

Wei Meiling: The relationship between movies and dance is very close, and it is an important medium for recording dance. I often analyze dance recorded in movies, and sometimes I also use the plot of the movie to understand the connotation of dance in a specific historical and social context. For example, in my article discussing break dancing, I carefully examined the movie "Young Rock". Dance is so rich in Chinese films that I have considered writing a book specifically on this topic in the future. Many times, when dance on stage is filmed, the form of movement will be changed.

Wei Meiling and others edited "Teaching Movies from the People's Republic of China"

The three editors of "Teaching Movies" are all researchers of the culture of the Republic. The reason for editing this book stems from a very real reality that we have all encountered. Specific question: How to teach mainland Chinese films after 1949 in undergraduate classes in North America or other English-speaking worlds. We have invited scholars from many disciplines, from anthropology, communication, ethnomusicology, film, history, literature, linguistics, sociology, theater to urban geography, to participate in a dialogue about which films reveal or obscure China What aspects of history and society, and how can students turn to thinking about larger issues such as historical consciousness and media representation through the study of films from the Republic period. One of our basic points of view is to make students fully aware that movies are art and imagination, not a mirror that reflects the real Chinese society. In addition, when discussing China in the 1950s and 1960s in class, we will remind students that they cannot accept the messages conveyed by movies of the 1990s such as "Alive" and "Farewell My Concubine" without reservation. Films produced during the era discussed. We hope that students will gradually gain a critical perspective and re-examine the knowledge they take for granted.

TV auditions and short videos, as new platforms, have changed the aesthetics of Chinese dance in our era and cultivated a young audience. In my book, I cited the example of Xinjiang Uighur dancer Gulimina winning the annual championship in Zhejiang Satellite TV's dance program "China's Good Dance". Although Gulimina retains the performance tradition and movement vocabulary established by senior Xinjiang dancers such as Kangbal Khan, her movements are larger and faster than Kangbal Khan's, and her movements are cleaner and more explosive. She is very suitable for The rhythm of contemporary TV performances also meets the aesthetic needs of live audiences. Judging from the current situation, I don’t think these platforms will replace theater viewing. In many cases, they are just an extension of the latter. On the contrary, they allow more people to enter the theater.

Gulimina Maimaiti performing Tajik dance in "Chinese Good Dance" in 2014.

Kangbal Khan led the Northwest National Art Troupe to tour in Beijing, published in the fifth issue of "People's Pictorial" in 1950.

The main writing method of "Revolutionary Body" is to carry out case analysis around classic works. You will also introduce the reactions of some commentators at the time. Do you think dance research may involve second-rate, grassroots dancers, or the acceptance of ordinary audiences? ? In the introduction to the anthology "corporeal politics: dancing east asia" (2020), you put forward the term "critical East Asian dance studies". For you, what is "critical" "?

Wei Meiling and others edited "The Politics of the Body: Dancing East Asia"

Wei Meiling: In addition to theater performances, Chinese dance in this era is also associated with a series of social places and activities: commercial performances in theme parks and tourist attractions, squares Dance, interest classes in primary and secondary schools, corporate banquets, Dharma gatherings, weddings and funerals, festival performances, etc."Revolutionary Body" basically does not touch on these places, but limits its focus to theaters and focuses on the activities of artists in dance schools and dance companies. This is because I thought that my first book discussing Chinese dance should highlight professional dance works and explore Chinese dance as an art in order to place Chinese dance in an equal dialogue with other theater dance schools in the world. . When people study ballet, modern dance, and Indian dance, they will first talk about professionalism and artistry, and the same should be true for Chinese dance. What I want to tell in this book is the story of the formation of the Chinese dance profession. The book cites a lot of contemporary dance criticism, but it is really difficult to study the reception of ordinary audiences in history. If relevant materials can be found in the future, it would certainly be good to allow us to do such research. In fact, I also touched on the spread and popularization of dance to a limited extent and introduced some dance manuals at that time.

The dance team of the Central Experimental Opera House is training, published in the eighth issue of "People's Pictorial" in 1953.

Chinese cultural studies belong to area studies in the academic division of labor in the United States. As an area researcher in this sense, I believe that area studies can stimulate a kind of critical thinking. In the view of some, area studies is a product of the Cold War and is destined to be subject to the imperial hegemony of the United States. It is true that every discipline has its history and background: Anthropology once served colonialism, dance studies served the construction of modern dance in the United States when it was first founded, and area studies served the Cold War in the past, serving Western policymakers. The function of giving advice and suggestions. But these disciplines did not stay at that stage. Their appearance took on a completely new look in the 1980s. As far as area studies is concerned, in the 1970s, a group of young scholars who opposed the Vietnam War directly raised their voices to criticize US policies. This shows that area studies is capable of self-reflection, and I call this discipline that has developed a reflective consciousness "critical." On the other hand, regarding dance studies, there has always been a latent stereotype in the West: Western dance is suitable to be studied using historical and textual analysis methods, while non-Western dance is suitable to be studied using anthropological ethnographic methods. This leads to an imbalance between Western dance studies and non-Western dance studies. In fact, all three methods can be used for dance studies in any region. My work is dedicated to breaking this unreasonable division of labor and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration between dance studies and area studies. I very much agree with David Szanton’s point of view: Area studies can be de-Western-centric and can de-naturalize the explanations of Western humanities and social sciences. I look forward to "critical East Asian dance studies" correcting the long-standing Western-centrism in dance studies.