Culture

Acrobatic drama creation should have a "dance like beauty"

2026-04-29   

The beauty of dance is not a transplant of dance language, nor is it a transformation of acrobatics into dance. It is an active update of acrobatics' technical potential, physical expression, and stage relationship while adhering to its own essence. In current discussions on acrobatic creation, it is common to hear the critical judgment of 'dancing acrobatics'. This is because some acrobatic plays attempt to present a smoother and more beautiful appearance on stage through the insertion of dance segments and the stacking of dance vocabulary. However, some processing methods remain at the formal level and do not bring about an improvement in aesthetic level, but instead result in a mixture of artistic language: acrobatic techniques are weakened into decorative elements, and dance movements appear hollow due to detachment from their own grammar. It is in this context that the concept of "aesthetic beauty of dance" demonstrates necessary analytical value. The so-called 'aesthetic beauty of dance' is not a transplantation of dance language, nor is it a transformation of acrobatics into dance, but should be reflected as an aesthetic reconstruction within acrobatic techniques. It does not change the technical attributes of acrobatics, nor does it use dance movements as the core language. Instead, through the reorganization of rhythm, structure, and emotional direction, acrobatics technology shifts from a single difficulty display to a meaningful body language. In this sense, the "beauty of dance" is not the convergence of acrobatics with dance, but a deep activation of acrobatics' artistic potential. At the practical level, this aesthetic is first reflected in the structural transformation of acrobatic techniques. Acrobatic techniques are no longer presented in isolated programs or paragraphs, but are incorporated into the overall structure of drama, becoming a component of plot progression and emotional evolution. In this way, the emergence of technology has clear antecedents and consequences, and its position and timing are no longer just for displaying difficulty, but more for serving narrative logic and emotional expression. In acrobatic dramas such as "Swan Lake," "Battle of Shanghai," and "First Sound," which have won national awards, it can be seen that key techniques are often not focused on a single "highest point," but rather on the combination, repetition, and transformation of continuous movements to form a physical trajectory of emotional advancement, shifting the technique from "result display" to "process expression. At the same time, the beauty of dance is also reflected in the intervention of rhythm and breathing. The dance style here is not the dance like movement, but mainly refers to the clear rhythmic changes and inner breathing sensation in the presentation of technology. Technology no longer blindly pursues speed and height, but forms perceivable body rhythms through changes in movement speed, pauses, and extensions. In this rhythm control, the difficulty of the technique is not weakened, but rather higher requirements are placed on the actors' physical control, stability, and stage judgment. Taking Jiu Jitsu as an example, traditional aesthetics emphasize more on the visual impact brought by the limits of the body. However, under the treatment of "dance" in acrobatic dramas, the technique is often broken down and reorganized into an emotional progression process: ground Jiu Jitsu presents the suppression and entanglement of inner emotions, tabletop Jiu Jitsu symbolizes the escalation of conflicts, and high-altitude Jiu Jitsu becomes a concentrated presentation of emotional outbursts. In this process, technology utilizes changes in spatial hierarchy and rhythmic structure to be re "seen" and "perceived" by the audience. This also directly responds to a recurring question in creative discussions: Will dance processing weaken the technical essence of acrobatics? In fact, the key to this issue is not whether to introduce dance, but how to understand the artistic attributes of technology. Traditional acrobatics takes "completion" as its core value standard, emphasizing the extreme, risky, and one-time success of movements; Under the framework of dance aesthetics, technology is no longer just "completed", but more "used" - it is incorporated into the plot structure, emotional development, and character shaping, becoming a stage language with expressive functions. Therefore, the aesthetic beauty of dance does not reduce the difficulty attribute of acrobatic techniques, but reconstructs the logic of technical use and aesthetic evaluation methods. The value of technology is no longer determined solely by its difficulty level, but depends on its position in the overall structure, its role in emotional progression, and its function in character psychological expression. Technology has shifted from displaying results to presenting processes, from momentary astonishment to continuous perception. The introduction of dance aesthetics not only changes the presentation of acrobatic techniques, but also profoundly reshapes the viewing relationship of acrobatics. Traditional high-risk acrobatics mainly relies on physiological stimuli, and the audience experiences momentary emotional release such as tension and astonishment due to their instinctive perception of danger. This viewing mode centered on "safety anxiety" has strong immediacy, but it is difficult to form lasting emotional connections. When acrobatic techniques are endowed with clear emotional direction and narrative functions, the audience's "viewing position" changes accordingly, shifting from "holding their breath for whether the actor successfully completes the action" to understanding the character's situation, psychological state, and emotional choices. The viewing mechanism of acrobatics has shifted from "danger perception" to "meaning understanding", and from physiological reactions to aesthetic experience. In the specific creative practice, although the director did not explicitly propose the concept of "dance", he presented a highly consistent approach at the methodological level: Zhao Ming always used acrobatic techniques to serve character shaping and narrative advancement in the trilogy of "Swan Lake", "Transformation Butterfly", and "Swan"; Dong Zhengzhen, in "Nie Er" and "Chasing Dreams in Space", made acrobatics a physical expression of spiritual themes and contemporary emotions through the precise arrangement of technical rhythms and structural levels; In "Battle of Shanghai," "Snow on Tianshan Mountain," and "First Sound," Li Chunyan sets difficult actions as the emotional outburst point, rather than the endpoint of showing off skills; In "Our Beautiful Life", He Yanmin constructs a stage form with clear rhythm and complete structure through fluid technical connections and clear physical relationships. These practices collectively demonstrate that when acrobatic techniques are endowed with rhythm awareness, structural awareness, and emotional direction, acrobatics can acquire more mature stage expression abilities while adhering to its essence. It is worth noting that in the relevant creative discussions, some directors explicitly stated that "only the beauty of dance is borrowed, without using the specific movements of dance; the beauty of dance does not mean the negation or exclusion of the language of dance movements". These statements clearly define the fundamental difference between "dance" and "dance" from a practical perspective: dance is an aesthetic method rather than a system of movements; It is a structural awareness, not a style replacement. This distinction is of great significance in clarifying the related misunderstandings of "acrobatic dance". In this sense, the maturity of acrobatics does not depend on "how difficult it can be", but on "why it is difficult". The beauty of dance "is not a concession from acrobatics to dance, but an active update of acrobatics' technical potential, physical expression, and stage relationship while adhering to its own essence. It marks the transition of acrobatics from a traditional performance form centered on technique to a comprehensive stage art form that is more in line with contemporary aesthetic experience, and also provides an important aesthetic pivot for the sustained development of acrobatics in the contemporary cultural context. (Outlook on the New Era) Author: He Hua (Associate Professor at Guangzhou Southern University and Researcher at China Acrobatic Art Research Center)

Edit:Luoyu Responsible editor:Zhoushu

Source:GMW.cn

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