From Folk Practice to Classroom: The Transformation of Gannan Tea-Picking Dance Transmission in Higher Dance Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53840/e-jpi.v13i3.343Keywords:
Gannan Tea-Picking Dance, higher education, dance transmission, cultural context, contemporary expressionAbstract
The Gannan Tea-Picking Dance is an important item of intangible cultural heritage in the Gannan region of Jiangxi Province, China. Its traditional folk master–apprentice transmission model faces the risk of disruption in contemporary society. Drawing on their academic and educational resources, local universities have actively intervened and have gradually become an emerging force in the transmission of this dance form. Taking Gannan Normal University as a case study, this research adopts a case study approach and integrates interviews, observation, and document analysis to examine the educator role assumed by higher education institutions within the transmission system. The findings indicate that university involvement has, to a certain extent, enhanced the standardization of teaching in the Gannan Tea-Picking Dance, enabling representative movement techniques and related cultural knowledge to be transmitted in a more systematic and trainable manner. It has also fostered a new generation of learners who possess both cultural identification and stage-based creative abilities, thereby effectively complementing traditional folk transmission. However, challenges such as stylistic homogenization and the detachment from original cultural contexts also persist. Overall, local universities play a key supportive role in the contemporary transmission of the Gannan Tea-Picking Dance, yet future efforts need to seek a more balanced strategy between standardized instruction and the re-embedding of cultural contexts in order to promote the sustainable development and contemporary expression of traditional folk dance.
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