the Relentless Beat of Drums | Han Tang style Chinese Classical dance | UCL Dance Society | Breathe

Choreographed by Xinyuan Qi
Lighting design by Tom Hughes
The Han Tang style Chinese dance is one of the Chinese classical dance styles but the most special category. It was created by taking the posture and movement from cultural heritage and using sociology, philosophy, and archaeology literature as references. Maintaining the spirit of ancient Chinese civilizations, especially the Han, Tang, and Weijin Dynasties.
The dancing on the drums was a special dance modality in the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD, 25-220 AD) as originally used for praying for good weather. This piece is using this typical drum dance style and Chinese traditional clothes “Chui Hu Sleeves” to show the scenes in that dynasty.
The concept of the choreography is coming from a sentence by Chinese philosopher Confucius “The trees may prefer calm but the wind will not subside, son to raise and close not to stay”. Apparently, it talks about the comparison of “tree” and “wind”. But the most important thing is how you treat your desire and reality. Same as the state of mind by Su Shi, a Chinese poet in Song Dynasty(960-1279). He wrote “Impervious to wind, rain or shine, I'll have my will.”
Everything in this piece could be regarded as “comparison”. Either the movement, “all motion must be relative to a frame of reference-Albert Einstein” or the mind,“how you look upon your thoughts and reality”. And the speed of the sounds,”the drum beat vs the traditional instrument”. The “stillness” is from the movement, the heart, the beat, with relativity.
Dancers:
Mia Barrow
Maggie Chen
Yvette Homerlein
Gabrielle Ng
Xinyuan Qi
Lucia Cassia Terrazo
Yixian Wang
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