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Dancing is a visual
form of communication. Dancers use movements to convey meaning and messages
to the audience. Chinese dances have its own unique vocabulary, semantics,
and syntactic structure that allows a dancer to express his or her thoughts
and feelings with ease and grace.
  Neolithic
Yangshao culture developed group dances way back in the fourth millennium
BC, which shows how of yore Chinese dances are. During the Shang and Chou
periods in the first millennium BC, Chinese dances were divided into civilian
and military types. In civilian dancers, feather banners were used, symbolizing
the distribution of fruits of the day's hunting or fishing. Military dances,
on the other hand, showed dancers carrying weapons and moving forward
and backward in motion. Chinese used hand and body movements to express
their reverence for the spirits of heaven and earth, to act out manners
of daily life, and to unfurl the motions of joy and delight. Dance not
only regaled the performers, but also the audience.
Aboriginal dances
also prevail in Taiwan. Each tribe has its own folk dance that reflects
its lifestyle and custom and as part of China's cultural heritage.
The art of dancing
is well-developed in Taiwan. Young people are getting involved in dance
classes, starting off with ballet and modern dance, and later experimenting
with traditional Chinese dances. From there, they exploit other options,
playing around with style and body expression, thus reconstructing the
traditional Chinese movements and form.
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