The Return of Chinese Dance: Socialist Continuity Post-Mao

This chapter examines the revival of Chinese dance in the post-Mao period and the early Reform Era, focusing on the transitions that occurred in 1976-1986 following the end of the Cultural Revolution. It argues that many of the new projects carried out during this period were in fact continuations of research and creation begun during the early socialist period of the 1950s and early 1960s. The first example discussed is Yang Liping’s peacock dances, which developed out of several Dai dance drama renditions of an important story in Buddhist minority literature, the Zhao Shutun epic, that were created between 1957 and 1978. This case focuses on the choreography of the Xishuangbanna song and dance ensemble in Yunnan province. The second example discussed is Dunhuang dance, which developed out of choreography created from research on dance images in Buddhist art at Dunhuang, on the Silk Road. This case focuses on the choreography of the Lanzhou song and dance ensemble in Gansu province.