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"The Red Detachment of Women" developed into a classic that has moved several generations of audiences. It was also one of eight "model plays" during the cultural revolution, along with "White Haired Girl."
Director Luo Bin said, ""Red" and "White," as two of the eight "model plays," dominated an era. They influenced several generations regarding their understanding and ideas of dance and ballet."
"Along The Silk Road" debuted in 1979. The dance drama was inspired by the murals of the Dunhuang grotto, and was the first major dance work after the country initiated its Reform & Opening-Up policy.
Since then, Chinese dance dramas went into a prolific era. "A Shi Ma," a love story focusing on Southwest China's Yi people, was another representative work in the dance drama category.
"Yellow Earth" and "Gallop," pieces which displayed spirited young riders and their horses, are fine examples of both vivid body language and compact arrangement.
Chinese dancers then experienced a burst of creativity. Works choreographed during the 1980s and early 1990s displayed a spark of youthful vigor as the country underwent a rejuvenation following the cultural revolution.
Luo Bin said, "The past three decades, after the carrying out of the Reform & Opening-Up Policy, has brought in dancers with diversified expressions."
In 1980, at the first National Dance Competition, a piece called "Hope" stunned both the critics and the audience. The dancer used twisted, violent body movements to express his inner struggle in searching for meaning to his life.
Since then, modern dance, a form used to express the feelings of today's people, has been favored by Chinese dancers.
China now has modern dance festivals in Beijing and Guangzhou.
For the past three decades, various dance competitions in the country have been a catalyst for the production of excellent dancers and well choreographed pieces.
Major contests include the "Peach & Plum Award," which recognizes excellence in dance schools, and the "Lotus Award," which chooses winners from professional dance troupes.
Performers deliberate on elucidating the classic Chinese mythology the Great Archer Hou Yi Shoots Down the Suns, during the grand dance show of Oriental Charm, which features serial classic Chinese mythologies and legends including Pangu Separates the Sky from Earth, Goddes Nu Wa Patches Up the Sky, Great Archer Hou Yi Shoots Down the Suns, the determined Bird Filling in Sea, etc, in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 23, 2009.
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