Contemporary Peacock Dance by Yang Liping National Artist of YunnanMontalon

Abstract

This research study of Yang Liping, a national level dancer from Yunnan Province, China, had two objectives. 1) to study the origin of the peacock dance. 2) to study the composition of the peacock dance and critically analyze Yang Liping’s dance performance. Research methods used for data collection include fieldwork and researcher experience. In this study, data were collected by participant observation, non-participant observation, interviewing three local people, five practitioners and twenty general informants. The results are presented as a descriptive analysis and show that the peacock dance is considered a famous dance art. The Peacock Dance involves using the body to imitate the daily life of a peacock. The Peacock Dance shows the Yunnan culture clearly and beautifully, and there are many peacocks in Yunnan Province, both wild and homebred. The peacock is considered the “king of birds” and the most “sacred bird” in the hearts of the Yunnan people and is “one of the symbols” of Yunnan province. The peacock is also called “the bird of the holy spirit.” The Peacock Dance has existed for a long time and has been passed down from generation to generation. Notably, the involvement of Yang Liping, a famous artist from Yunnan Province, helped redesign the Peacock Dance. After spending a considerable amount of time on choreography and research, he redesigned the music, costumes, and dance moves. He also modified the traditional peacock dance into a new type of dance. The Peacock Dance (traditional peacock dance) designed by Yang Liping blends perfectly with modern Chinese dance and is widely recognized by people around the world. Yang Liping has created this new version of peacock dance performance with his unique performance form, dance aesthetics, and fusion of modern dance,and has earned the reputation of being a well-known performing artist in Yunnan province and China.

Keywords

• contemporary
• peacock dance