In the first half of the 20th century, due to the long-term war, China dance with a long history was on the verge of decline and division. In addition to the professional performances reserved and included in traditional operas since the Song Dynasty, folk dance is hidden in a wide range of folk life with its tenacious vitality. 19 19 the may 4th new culture movement is a new wave to promote social change. As a new cultural form, dance has also updated its concept and started to surge: Li Jinhui and other new musicals were popular in cities in the 1920s and 1930s; Li Bozhao organized revolutionary songs and dances in China Soviet area; In 1930s and 1940s, a new dance movement was launched in Wu Xiaobang. Dai actively collected and performed frontier folk dances; Kangbahan, Jia Zuoguang and others inherited and developed minority dances; In particular, the vigorous mass yangko movement in revolutionary bases such as Yan 'an has played an important role in the wave of the struggle against Japan and national liberation.

With the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC), dance art has embarked on the road of hard struggle. 1949 to 1966 is an important period in the history of contemporary dance development in China. A new generation of dancers are in high spirits, which has opened the initial curtain of China dance. With the pulse of the times, they struggled to reflect the fiery life at that time, and created works such as Long Live the People's Victory, Riding the Wind and Breaking the Waves to Liberate Hainan, Tibetan Cavalry, Dove of Peace, Reba on the Grassland and Harvest Night. In the following ten years, the creation of works reflecting revolutionary history and real life entered a very active period, especially the enthusiasm of military dancers became more prominent. During this period, such as Hard Years, Flying over the Luding Bridge, March of the Sword, Five Heroes of Langya Mountain, Luo Shengjiao, Three Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, Immortal Warrior, On the Camping Road, Night Training, Laundry Song and Harvest Song are all outstanding. With their original opinions, noble and sincere feelings and moving dance images, they enthusiastically reproduced the history of the anti-rape struggle of China people and praised the happy life of the new motherland.

Due to the attention and support of the Party and the government, endangered ethnic folk dances have been rescued vigorously, and a large number of new dancers have gone deep into rural areas, grasslands and border villages to learn from folk artists and draw nutrition from the vast amount of ethnic folk dance materials. Following the "Red May Dance Exhibition" in l95l, the first and second national folk music and dance exhibitions in l957 and the 1955 national amateur music and dance exhibition, a large number of traditional dances of the Han nationality, which are widely circulated among the people, have been edited and created, moving from the square to the stage and from amateur to professional. Such as red silk dance, waist drum dance, lion dance, dragon dance, tea picking and butterfly catching, flower drum lantern, lotus dance, donkey running, flower drum dance, yangko, spring tea mountain picking in Hong Ling, flower umbrella dance, etc. These dances have strong folk colors, distinctive regional characteristics and strong local flavor, and are deeply loved by the broad masses of the people.

At the same time, ethnic minority dances also present a colorful situation. Erdos, Milkman and Bowl Dance by Mongolians, Drum Dance, Pan Dance and Grape Picking by Uighurs, Fan Dance by Koreans, peacock dance by Dai, Straw Hat Dance by Li, Miaoqing Dance by Miao and Happy Long-winded by Yi.

New China not only opens the way for the development of dance, but also creates a good opportunity for the rise of new dancers. During this period, among a large number of outstanding figures, Shu Qiao, Qin Si Tariha, Cui Meishan, Zhang Jun, Zhao Qing, Bai Shuxiang, Chen, Aytula, Mojema, and Dao Meilan stood out and exerted outstanding influence at home and abroad. Their performance talents and artistic achievements have played an important role in the process of new China dance, showing irreplaceable artistic charm. Their artistic achievement lies in their sincere love for dance and unremitting efforts. They are outstanding representatives of the first generation of dancers in New China.

The appearance of "Top Ten Dancers" in China is a unique dance phenomenon since the founding of New China in 17 years. Their brilliant artistic achievements and attainments are unparalleled so far.

China's dance drama, both dance and drama, appeared in the 1930s, but it really flourished after the founding of New China. China's dance art has experienced thousands of years from ancient witchcraft etiquette to the appearance of dance drama. Music and dance slaves in Shang and Zhou Dynasties can be said to be the earliest dancers recorded in historical materials. By the time the court music and dance prevailed in Qin and Han dynasties, there had been a "hundred plays" integrating poetry, song, music, dance and martial arts acrobatics. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the great gatherings of various ethnic groups and eastern and western dances, especially the access of the Silk Road, laid the foundation for the prosperity of music and dance in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. At that time, as a court music and dance, the organization of Yanle was very huge. The music and dance workshop-Liyuan, founded by Tang Xuanzong himself, had as many as 500 people, which shows its grand occasion at that time. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, due to the rise of traditional Chinese opera, dance gradually merged into it, which weakened its independent artistic status, but also made dance and traditional Chinese opera have an indissoluble bond. In 1950s, Chinese dance educators separated dance from traditional Chinese opera in practice, which not only kept the unique body rhythm of traditional Chinese opera dance, but also developed the movements, skills, expressions and body rhyme of traditional Chinese opera dance, forming a complete system with unique dance characteristics, namely, China Classical Dance Course, which laid an important foundation for the creation of neoclassicism or national dance drama in China.

The initial exploration of national dance drama began with the dance drama "Stealing Fairy Grass". With the help of famous Peking Opera artists, the dancers successfully shaped the dance image of the white snake. The significance of Stealing Fairy Grass is that it is the first neoclassical dance drama with the theme of China traditional opera and dance. Together with the later works of the same name, Lian Bi Pond, Mr. Dong Guo, Mussel Girl and Lotus Flower Fairy, it fully demonstrated the charm of China's classical dance drama, and carried out beneficial and successful practice for establishing a new art form of China dance drama.

From 65438 to 0957, the appearance of the dance drama "Lotus Lantern" initiated a new era of China's dance drama creation, which had a great influence on the dance drama creation at that time. A number of national dance dramas such as "Love between Soldiers and Land", "Liu Hai Chopping firewood" and "Stone Art Chopping firewood" competed on stage; Dance dramas with revolutionary historical and realistic themes such as Huang Jiguang, butterfly lovers, Qinling Guerrilla, Yanling Team, Ode to Eight Women, and Roar of the Congo River have been staged one after another, showing a vivid situation of a hundred flowers blooming. At the same time, the dance drama with the theme of ethnic minorities has also made gratifying achievements. For example, Five Red Clouds by the Li nationality, Wulanbao by the Mongolian nationality and Great Changes in Liangshan by the Yi nationality are all the earliest works that successfully reflect the life of ethnic minorities in the form of dance dramas. These dance dramas organically combine colorful minority dances with drama content, and make many minority dances transform into dramatic dance images with unique features.

Around the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, three national dance dramas with different styles and types attracted wide attention from Chinese and foreign audiences. Mermaid, with its gorgeous colors, beautiful music and strong cast, makes the stage of China dance drama dazzling. It pays attention to drawing lessons from the artistic forms and structural methods of European ballet, especially the plot setting is obviously different from the traditional opera mode in China, in which snake dance and coral dance are widely spread and won prizes in international competitions. Leifeng Pagoda is another large-scale national dance drama after Lotus Lantern. Its rich atmosphere rendering, elaborate artistic conception creation and vivid characterization not only highlight the important characteristics of the dance drama, but also make the dance drama full of poetry and painting, giving the audience sincere aesthetic pleasure. "Knife Meeting" obviously broadens the road of dance drama creation. It is based on traditional opera and dance, but it is not bound by it. It has widely absorbed Chinese folk dance and martial arts, but it has made some innovations, especially the design of martial arts transcends the stylized performance. Knife Club is unique because of its masculine beauty and Chinese style, and has become one of the representative works of China's dance drama.

In a word, China Dance Drama in the seventeen years after the founding of the People's Republic of China has broken through the barriers of traditional opera and dance, combined with folk dance, and integrated with traditional and foreign artistic means, and gradually formed its own unique artistic style. However, during this period, the limitations deeply influenced by the traditional opera structure and similar choreography techniques were gradually challenged by aesthetic thoughts. Nevertheless, this period is still an era of talented people, active creation and fruitful results in national dance dramas.

European classical ballet originated in Italy and formed in France. With its rigorous and standardized scientific training, superb physical skills and elegant and luxurious temperament, it is known as a bright pearl in the crown of human art. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), ballet entered China completely and systematically with the arrival of ballet experts from the former Soviet Union and the establishment of 1954 Beijing Dance School. 1957, teachers and students rehearsed Debeval's ballet "Useless Warning", which is the first complete European classical ballet on the stage of China. During the period of 1958, the world-famous ballet Swan Lake was grandly staged in Beijing, which produced great repercussions at home and abroad. It marks a new era in the development of China's ballet art and becomes a major event in the cultural life of China people at that time. After that, China ballet artists with many years of experience rehearsed world-famous ballet works Hai Xia and Giselle, Spanish Daughter, Notre Dame and Tears, which reflected the talent of China's young ballet choreographer and director for independent creation. The Red women soldiers performed by the Ballet of the Central Opera and Dance Theatre 1964 is the first ballet in China. For the first time, it created vivid contemporary ballet figures, such as Qionghua Wu and Hong Changqing, with realistic creative techniques. The opera White-haired Girl, adapted from Shanghai Dance School, is also a new achievement of China Ballet. This well-known story in China successfully reappears on the stage in the form of ballet, with strong local flavor and passionate struggle scenes, which makes the ballet quite elegant in the times.

At the same time, the study, research and performance of oriental dance in China dance circle have also made remarkable achievements. The concept of "Oriental Dance" is not limited to the geographical division, but actually covers the dances of many developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. On the one hand, the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe initiated by Premier Zhou Enlai introduced the excellent American culture to people all over the world. On the other hand, the troupe tried to learn and perform folk dances in Asia, Africa and Latin. Dancing with the Ball (India), Yagi Minor (Japan), Ode to the King (Nepal), Fairy in a Hundred Flowers Garden (Cambodia), classical duet (Myanmar) and rattan dance (Sri Lanka) were warmly welcomed by the audience in China. At that time, the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe was famous at home and abroad for its rigorous and solemn artistic style and unique performance style, and was known as the "flower of the East".

The large-scale music and dance epic Dongfanghong is a magnificent chapter in China's dance process. This epic, created to celebrate the15th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), vividly depicts the heroic achievements made by the people of China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, giving people endless imagination and strength. The dances in Dongfanghong, such as the splendor of sunflowers facing the sun, the exquisite performance of flying risks, the delicate expression of love, the lightness of guerrilla warfare and the colorful atmosphere of unity and joy in big festivals, all add gorgeous light to this epic. Its successful performance was warmly welcomed and became a milestone in the history of music and dance in China.

From 1949 to 1966, with the concern and attention of the party and the state, the dance art in China has developed rapidly. Adhering to the ancient historical origin and profound cultural background, it has taken root, blossomed and borne fruit in the fertile soil of folk Toyota. At the same time, with its broad and enterprising national spirit, it embraces and absorbs all the fruitful achievements of excellent human culture. During this period, dancers persevered and watered thousands of dancing flowers with hard sweat, which laid the foundation for the development of China dance art and made indelible outstanding achievements.