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Source: Crawford, M. B. (n.d.). Traditional Chinese dance. LoveToKnow. https://dance.lovetoknow.com/Traditional_Chinese_Dance
Historical context
- The charm of the Chinese Fan Dance
The fan dance features a smooth choreography of multiple dancers utilising skilful body movements to paint a picture, enhanced by the use of an array of different fans as props.
Traditional Chinese Fan Dance
Fan dance generally refers to the dance with the fan as the main prop. It is one of the traditional styles of Chinese folk dance. The Han, Hani, Korean and other ethnic groups have formed their own fan dance styles. Hani fan dance is divided into brown fan dance and paper fan dance, and popular in Honghe, Yuanjiang, Xinping, Yuanyang counties of Yunnan Province.
The brown fan dancers are mostly women. They use Japanese banana leaf or palm leaf fans to simulate the life, posture and moves of the silver pheasant. The dance is gentle and solemn, showing worship for the grandmother of the village god, expressing the good wishes and ideals of the Hani people. The paper fan dance is an evolution of the brown fan dance. It is mainly performed by men during funerals. The dance can be performed by two, four or many people in pairs. The dance music rhythm is slow and most of the dance mimics the movements of birds.
Source: Chinese traditional dance. (n.d.). Easy Tour China. https://www.easytourchina.com/fact-v981-chinese-traditional-dance
Movements
Costumes and Props
Fan Dance
Fans, used throughout Chinese history at every level of society for thousands of years, are colorful and fluid stage props, often stand-ins for blooming flowers, clouds, or lofty sentiments. In the Fan Dance, the dancer's body follows the lead of the fan, arcing and exploding into dynamic moves as the fans float in the air or snap open and closed.
Source: Crawford, M. B. (n.d.). Traditional Chinese dance. LoveToKnow. https://dance.lovetoknow.com/Traditional_Chinese_Dance