Contemporary Peacock Dance by Yang Liping National Artist of YunnanMontalon

Abstract

This research study by Yang Liping, a national level dancer of 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, twenty general informants. The results are presented below as a descriptive analysis. The results from the study showed that the peacock dance is considered a famous dance art. 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, wild and homebred peacocks. Peacock is considered the "king of birds" and the most "sacred bird” in the hearts of Yunnan people and is "one of the symbols" of Yunnan province. The peacock is also called “the bird of the holy spirit”. Peacock dance has been around 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, as well as 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, a fusion of modern dance, and has earned the reputation of a well-known performing artist in Yunnan province and China.