Dunhuang Dance is a form of Chinese dance which combines traditional culture and modern art. Dunhuang dance draws inspiration from the body movements in the Dunhuang grotto frescoes (such as in the

Mogao caves The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...

), and the musical instruments and music scores found in

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

province,

West China Western China ( zh, s=中国西部, l=, labels=no or zh, s=华西, l=, labels=no) is the west of China. It consists of Southwestern China and Northwestern China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers six provinces ...

. The dance shows the combination of ethnic dance styles from Central and Western China. The dance, itself, is also influenced by

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

images and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Sources of inspiration

The

Mogao grottoes The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...

in Dunhuang houses several form of fine arts such as dance and music. It is filled with many dance images which inspired modern dance artists in China. Images of flying apsaras (Feitian) from the grottoes are also a source of inspiration.

List of Dunhuang dances

Thousand Hand Guan Yin

It is a contemporary creation produced by the Chinese choreographer Zhang Jigang. It was performed by the China Disabled Performing Art Troupe in which the group dancers are hearing-impaired. File:Flickr - archer10 (Dennis) - China-7315.jpg, Modern choreography ''Thousand hand

Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

Other depictions in media

* ''

Rain of Flowers Along the Silk Road ''Rain of Flowers Along the Silk Road'' () is a 1979 Chinese dance drama by the Gansu Song and Dance Ensemble. Drawing extensively from the frescoes in the Mogao Caves in its movements and set design, it follows a painter and his daughter over t ...

'', a dance drama presented in Beijing on May 23, 1979 by the Gansu Dunhuang Art Academy of China.

Gallery

File:DunhuangHistorisierendeTanzaufführung.jpg, Dunhuang dance File:Mogao Caves Pipa-Player.jpg, A

pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets rangi ...

player playing with the pipa behind his back.

Mogao Caves The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...

. File:Bird of Life (共命鸟), playing a pipa, with dancer playing drum.jpg, China, mid-Tang Dynasty. Artwork from the Dunhuang Grottos, Yulin Cave number 25 showing a Bird of Life, playing a pipa, with a dancer playing drum File:Sogdian whirl with large pipa.jpg, Buddhist cave art, a dancer spins while the orchestra plays. Grotto 46 Left interior wall, second panel. Also called cave 112. File:Dunhuang Mogao Caves Dancer.jpg, Cave 220 “Hu xuan” dancer in mural from Mogao.

References