Dance reviews should convey the truth through literature, dance, and emotions
2025-04-09
Literary criticism is an important force that leads the social aesthetic trend and promotes the innovative development of literature and art. Dance criticism, as an important branch of literary criticism, shoulders the same responsibility and mission. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that the dance art itself, as the object of commentary, does not have dialogue or rely on words. To conduct professional commentary on it, commentators need to have a deep understanding of the dance itself, master the characteristics and rules of dance, accumulate aesthetic experience of body visual image, in order to improve the persuasiveness of the commentary. Commentators can only achieve in-depth analysis of literary works from the surface to the inside by combining theoretical knowledge with practical dance, constructing their own theoretical perspectives and methodological systems. This is not only a requirement for commentators, but also reflected in the construction and development of the dance discipline. In September 2022, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and the Ministry of Education issued a new version of the discipline and major directory. The dance discipline, as a professional degree training system, has been separated from "music and dance". This marks that the dance discipline and degree education have received more attention and development space, and also reflects the equal importance that the country attaches to academic research and artistic practice in dance. Under the macro framework of the new discipline catalog, the two systems of academic research and artistic practice should complement each other, forming a joint effort to construct a dance discipline that conforms to its own laws. This also reflects the necessity of deep integration between dance criticism and dance practice. Dance reviews should be written in the form of 'dance'. Regarding the study of literary theory, Mr. Zhu Guangqian, an aesthetician, once said, "Don't talk about art without understanding it. Practical experience is the true basis." This sentence reveals the importance of literary theory arising from the essence and practice of art, and also illustrates the importance of understanding dance from the perspective of the dance symbol system itself. The term 'Tong Yi Yi' here does not mean that all dance critics must engage in the dance profession, but rather hopes that more critics can discover the beauty of dance and explore the path of dance through unique and profound aesthetic perspectives. Dance criticism is not a castle in the air, but should be deeply rooted in the deep feelings of dance art practice. Dance criticism is a unique form of 'body writing', which expresses an understanding of the dancing body through words, implying a great challenge of 'transcendence' - surpassing the limitations of describing body movements and expressions through words. Therefore, the vitality and effectiveness of dance criticism are based on a profound understanding and experience of dance art practice. If dance criticism only stays at the level of words, detached from reality, and trapped in theoretical frameworks, it will be difficult to delve into the essence of dance. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage dance critics to step out of the study, delve into dance practice, communicate and dialogue with choreographers, dancers and other creators, establish a close connection with the essence of dance art, and make their comments meaningful, close to the essence of art, persuasive and influential. On this basis, we should put forward higher requirements for the writing style of dance comments. As a visual art, the beauty and expressiveness of dance are primarily achieved through visual perception, and the task of dance criticism is to transform this visual experience into words that can be more widely understood and discussed. When translating visual experiences into text, commentators should first pursue precision and clarity in expression, which means accurately capturing and describing key elements such as movements, rhythms, spatial relationships, etc. in dance works. Dance reviews should also have imagery and spirituality in order to evoke the audience's visual imagination and help readers reconstruct the dance scene in their minds. Efforts should be made to convey the emotions and spiritual atmosphere of the work, so that readers can feel the emotional fluctuations in the work through the comments, and thus resonate internally with the work. Dance reviews should also convey emotions with sincerity. Dance is an art that highlights the expression of emotions and imagery. Like all literary criticism, dance criticism must also adhere to the spirit of criticism, but more importantly, it should start from emotions and find the integration of emotions and reason. The article "Concerns in Prosperity" by dance theorist Mr. Zihuayun provides us with valuable insights. The article, with profound insight and sharp yet humorous language, deeply analyzes the cultural character and regularity that dance criticism should have, and proposes: "The soul of criticism lies in 'truth' - truth, sincerity; the wisdom of criticism comes from accumulated learning and practice; critics should be friends to creators - behind seemingly 'iron' and 'cool' faces, there should be a passionate heart, and deep friendship." Therefore, dance criticism is not criticism for the sake of criticism, but a dialogue, a communication, and a collision of ideas. It should be based on a profound emotional experience and rational understanding of dance works, and find resonance with criticism in empathy and common reason. The fusion of "emotion" and "reason" means that dance criticism is not a cold analysis, but should strive to understand and feel the connotation conveyed by dance works; It means that comments are not absolutely objective, but a combination of calm rationality and passionate emotion. Especially, the body symbol system of dance is not an accurate ideographic system. Commentators need to maintain a certain distance and avoid excessive involvement of personal preferences, as well as deeply immerse and engage individuals to express personalized insights. The sincerity of the commentator helps to eliminate barriers to criticism, the profundity of the commentator helps to promote people's understanding of dance, and the uniqueness of the commentator helps to stimulate creative reflection. This is the true commentary that builds the foundation for the relationship between commenters and creators that embodies true value - a response and inspiration that is both close and distant. For dance critics, comments should not only be 'external' - commenting on others, but also 'internal' - reflecting on oneself. Commentators should constantly reflect on their own views and methods, constantly examine and adjust their positions, in order to achieve deeper understanding and expression in their comments. Maintaining sensitivity, attention, and a learning attitude towards the social and cultural phenomena contained in dance art and the historical context in which it operates is essential to gain insight into the complex relationship between dance works and the current social environment. In the current era where image and visual expression have become the mainstream forms of cultural dissemination, dance critics should strive to make their commentary texts a bridge of understanding and communication between dance art and the audience, not only contributing to the prosperity of dance art, but also adding bricks and tiles to the construction of Chinese characteristic commentary language. (New Society)
Edit:momo Responsible editor:Chen zhaozhao
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