Dance Program

Classical Chinese dance is a unique dance heritage. In its early stages, it was mainly passed down among the folk artisan and through members of the imperial court, and as part of ancient theater. Over the years, dancers reorganized, refined, experimented with and reworked it to arrive at the extraordinary system known as Classical Chinese dance today. It is part of the inspired heritage that is China’s five-millennia-old culture, and one means by which that culture lives on, having been built upon China’s deep-running, traditional aesthetic tradition.

Classical Chinese dance includes training in bearing and form, along with training in technical elements such as jumps, turns, tumbling, and challenging techniques called “blanket fundamentals” (as they are initially practiced on blankets to avoid injury). These elements thus comprise an extremely large system of dance. Performers aspire to achieve a melding of form, spirit, strength, and movement and attain a realm of having both form and spirit, using body and mind, unifying internal and external.

Classical Chinese dance’s rich language of movement and superb technique allow the art to express a myriad of themes, to depict a range of characters, and to articulate a wide spectrum of emotions. And China’s five thousand years of divinely-inspired culture offers a wellspring of material for Classical Chinese dance and the form, in turn, provides an avenue by which to express the depth of that culture.

Fei Tian Academy of the Arts California        101 15^th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103        Tel: (415) 431-3161        Fax: (650) 963-3585
© Fei Tian California. All Rights Reserved.