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Understand Chinese Dance with Xiao Jing | An Introduction

by Sandra Faustina 09 Mar 2021 0 Comments

Hi everyone! Welcome to Free Movement YouTube channel.

Sandra: Thank you so much for spending time today and we just want to introduce to you who we have here. So today we have Xiao Jing! And we also have Bryan.
Xiao Jing teaches Chinese Dance and Bryan teaches Locking at the Free Movement Studio. But today, our main focus is going to be on Xiao Jing.
We do already have an interview with Bryan so if you haven't catch that, we'll link it down below.

Today, we want to know more about Chinese Dance. That's something that I personally really love, how about you, Bryan?

Bryan: Hmm, honestly, I've heard about it, but I've not been exposed too much (to it) and I'll find out more.

Sandra:Alright, yeah. Xiao Jing, I think a lot of people, really genuinely have a lot of reservations, or they are not so sure about Chinese Dance. But honestly, I think Chinese Dance has evolved over the years. So, maybe you can start by sharing with us a little bit more about your background.

Xiao Jing: Since I was young, I started learning dance in China. I started learning Chinese Dance at the age of 10 all the way until I was 22 years old. A total of 12 years. I trained professionally at the dance school from morning until night time.

Sandra: Hey Bryan, you had a question just now right? One of the reasons why we had Xiao Jing, Bryan and myself is because I think all of us come from different backgrounds. I'm more interested to know, Bryan...

Bryan: Yes!

Sandra: What questions do you think you have for Chinese Dance, given that your training is completely different?

Bryan: Okay, something that really came to my mind is- you know there is this TV show that's going on- "这!就是街舞" "Street Dance of China"

Sandra: We'll link it down here too.

Bryan: It's on YouKu. But it's such an amazing show and yes, there are some elements of Chinese Dance here and there, but as a street dancer, I feel that maybe it's not something that my age group will want to learn. So why would someone of my age, like 20 something, -only- want to come and learn Chinese Dance? Why would I find it cool or fun?

Xiao Jing: I personally find that Chinese Dance is very cool type of dance. Because, I feel everyone likes different genres. Some people might be more inclined towards modern dance, or modern art forms, whereas some might relate more with traditional dance forms. This is a kind of feeling. It is like when you see something, you get the feeling that you have seen it before, like a - DEJAVU - When you see something, you might feel very relatable to that certain era, or naturally attracted to that era's traditions, culture, costumes, music, etc.

Sandra: When it comes to Chinese Dance, I realise that a lot of Chinese Dancers
have a lot of facial expressions. But when it comes to other forms of dance, it is usually not as expressive. Although street style nowadays is more like the
-HA-HOO-HA-HEE-HA- But Chinese Dance is more gentle in their expressions.

Xiao Jing: Yes, I would like to explain why. Because in Chinese Dance, we are re-enacting history. In history, it's all about a certain character or a particular story. So we are actually playing out the historic character. For example, if I'm acting as Hua Mulan, my expression won't be gentle, it will be more heroic or masculine. I have facial expressions because I'm acting as a character, otherwise, I'm unable to play out the character or tell the story convincingly. This is what makes Chinese Dance wonderful because when you learn a dance move or technique, there is a story behind it. When you are playing a character, you are able to travel back into that era, become the character,