Cultural Inheritance of Tap Dance from Case Study of the Irish Dancing Phenomenon “Riverdance”【毕业论文】.doc

1、毕业论文 文客久久 本科 毕业论文 (设计 ) 题 目： Cultural Inheritance of Tap Dance from Case Study of the Irish Dancing Phenomenon “Riverdance” 学 院： 学生姓名： 专 业： 英语 班 级： 指导教师： 起 止 日期： 毕业论文 文客久久 Contents Abstract . 1 Introduction. 3 1. Basic Overview of Irish Tap Dance. 3 1.1 The National Culture Inheritance in Irish Tap

2、Dance. 3 1.2 The Other National Culture Inheritance in Irish Tap Dance. 5 2. A Case Study of the Irish Dancing Phenomenon “Riverdance”. 6 2.1 The Introduction of Riverdance. 6 2.2. The Culture Inheritance of Riverdance . . 7 2.3 The Achievement of Riverdance . 8 3. The Enlightenment of the Success W

3、ay to Irish Tap Dance. 9 3.1 Successful Experience of Irish Tap Dance. . 9 3.2 The Enlightenment to Chinese National Folk Dance. 11 Conclusion . 12 References. 13 1 摘要 大河之舞是爱尔兰民族民间舞蹈走向世界的开始。 1997 年更荣获“ 格莱美”最佳歌舞剧的大奖。从此，爱尔兰踢踏舞风靡全球。爱式经典舞蹈舞剧更是成为票房的常胜将军。这一爱尔兰民间传统舞蹈被全世界接受并喜欢有着深刻的意义。它不仅跨越了古老的历史被现代文化所接受，而且也

4、是一项伟大的教育活动的胜利。正是爱尔兰人民的传承与教育，才使得爱尔兰踢踏舞风靡全球成为可能。因此对爱尔兰踢踏舞的传承与教育研究可以充实我国对国外优秀的非物质文化遗产教育问题的文献研究，并启示我国民间舞蹈的文化传承与教育。 文章结构分为三部分：第一部分 对爱尔兰踢踏舞的基本情况进行概述，主要 阐述在爱尔兰踢踏舞发展 过程中，对本国爱尔兰文化的传承和其他外来文化的融合。第二部分大河之舞为例，对爱尔兰踢踏舞的文化传承进行研究。第三部分对爱尔兰踢踏舞的传承方式及发展模式的总结，及对我国民族、民间舞蹈发展的启示。 本文对爱尔兰踢踏舞的成功经验进行了总结。可以让我们深刻认识到踢踏舞这一经久不衰的艺术的传承

5、方式。 关键词 爱尔兰踢踏舞；教育；文化传承 2 Abstract The Irish tap dance sweeping the whole world has transformed folk dance into commercial performance successfully. The classical Riverdance becomes the steady winner at the box office, and has broken the record many times in Europe, USA and Canada. In1997, it was awa

6、rded the Best Musical in Grammy, and was performed in the same years Academy Award. The popularity of Irish folk traditional dance is of great significance. It not only spans throughout the ancient history into the modern culture, but also is a great educational activity. It is the Irish peoples inh

7、eritance and education that just make the Irish tap dance popular in the world-wide. This paper is aiming to enrich the literature research to the foreign outstanding non-material cultural heritage through the case study of the Irish tap dance in perspective of cultural inheritance and thus inspire

8、the cultural inheritance and education of our folk dance. This Paper is divided into three parts as follows: The first part summarizes the basic concepts about the Irish tap dance, mainly describing the natural culture inheritance and other national culture inheritance in the development of Irish ta

9、p dance. The second part, taking Riverdance as an example, carries on the research to the cultural inheritance of the Irish tap dance and the creative development pattern of Riverdance. The last part sums up the inheritance mode and development pattern of Irish tap dance and inspires our folk arts c

10、ultural inheritance and education. Based on the successful experience of Irish tap are summarized, we can realize the tap of enduring art heritage way. Key Words the Irish tap dance; culture inheritance; education 3 Cultural Inheritance of Tap Dance from Case Study of the Irish Dancing Phenomenon “R

11、iverdance” Introduction Irish tap dance has deep Irish national identities because it develops with the Irish nation. Whats more, it inherits the Irish culture and tradition. Riverdance is an art feast which combined with Irish dancing, music, and opera. It successfully carries forward the essence o

12、f the Irish dancing, combined with other cultures together. At the same time, it contains Ireland nations history, legend, life custom, war, religious belief and other aspects. Riverdance is like a long epic narrating how Irish ancestors struggled with nature, war, famine and rebuilt their home afte

13、r suffering. History is like a long river, inheriting the cultural wisdom, courage, life and love, making the young generation love their ancestors, love their homes, aspire for a better future deeply and appreciate the national spirit of struggle. Irish tap dance plays an important role in displayi

14、ng national personality, condensing the national centripetal force and enhancing national identity. Analyzing the case study of the Irish dancing phenomenon Riverdance can make us study the culture inheritance of Irish tap dance and understand the soul of the Irish tap dance. Tap dance evolved over

15、time, merging from various components of dance that were found in West African tribal dances, Irish step dancing, and English clog dancing. Although there is an ongoing debate on the development of Tap, some sources give credit to Irish dancing as the originator of its progression as an art form. It

16、 is not only beneficial for us to understand western art, western culture, but also beneficial for us to realize the way of perennial art on how to inherit through education a generation after generation, how to pass down successfully with educational means. Whats more, we can know the reason why Ri

17、verdance more and more influenced the whole worlds dance in recent time. 1. Basic Overview of Irish Tap Dance In recent years, the Irish tap dance has been sweeping the whole world. More and more people begin to understand and accept the exotic amorous feelings. If we want to appreciate and know mor

18、e about this art, we should study the origin and development of tap dance first. It is necessary for us to know the characteristics and performing style of Irish tap dance. Irish tap dance absorbs the Irish dance skills and performance forms, as well as other culture art elements, so that it formed

19、its own artistic characteristics and performing style. Therefore the development of Irish tap dance has two mainly reasons: the influence of Irish dancing and the fusion of other national folk dance. 1.1 The National Culture Inheritance in Irish Tap Dance 4 Irish tap dance is originated from Irish t

20、ap dance. It is one branch of Irish dance. It is inherit the culture of Ireland and Irish dance. Therefore, Irish tap dance is the production of national culture inheritance. In the process of inheritance, it gradually develops and forms its own characteristics. Therefore, analyzing the national cul

21、ture inheritance in Irish tap dance is benefit for us to know more about Irish tap dance. The system and the standard of Irish tap dance inherited from the Irish dance. Though the history, the Irish dance developed a variety of different forms and styles which tied down a solid foundation for tap da

22、nce. Until 1750, some professional dance teachers appeared in folk which promoted the development of Irish dance. Dance teachers often traveled and made a traveling show in many places. They often lived in the local enthusiastic family for six weeks. They were teaching dance in the kitchen, village

23、and crossroads. In teaching the dance teacher integrated the traditional dance and created new steps (Gray, 1998:43). In 1893, Gail national union was set up, making the beginning of other period in the development of the Irish dancing. The group encouraged the revival of the Irish culture. In 1929,

24、 Irish dancing committee was established, formulated the teaching, the referee, the rules of competition. The committee contributed to make the rules to standardize the Irish dance. Local Irish dance teacher or the referees must pass the post exam and registered to the committee. Therefore they coul

25、d teach others. These information proved that the inheritance and education of Irish dance had begun systematic and standard. That provided the foundation of Irish tap dance. The performance form of Irish dance also influenced the Irish tap dance. According to documents, Irish dance originated in th

26、e middle ages. In seventeenth century, the Irish word dance (rinceanddamhsa) appeared, but this word could not show the nature of the Irish dance. The interpretation of the world rince was earliest appeared in 1588. It was interpreted as a dance round the fire and the light. The interpretation of th

27、e word dalnhsa was earliest appeared in 1510. It was interpreted as why not dancing by you feet? Therefore the meaning of the whole world rince and damhsa was that people danced around the fire with the feet airily and forcefully (Jiang, 2007:59). In that way, the Irish tap dancers primarily danced

28、in some celebrations around the fire, for example, wedding and ceremony. It was believed to be an important part of the party. In addition, some parts of Irish tap style dance also inherited from the traditional Irish dance. Irish tap dance retained the traditional Irish folk dancings characteristic

29、s and became a new type of dance. The important features were: keeping the upper body upright and straight, using mostly dancers shank footwork, and not showing much arm or body movement. These dancers danced primarily “closer to the floor“. There are concise arm actions and a lot of the straight li

30、ne movements, with players which is jumping, lively and cheerful. Even Queen Elizabeth had spoken highly of Irish tune and country dance. Besides, a lot of Irish tap dancers made a contribution to the development of Irish 5 tap dance. A former dancer, Leticia Jay, presented a powerhouse tap performa

31、nce called Tap Happening to bring audiences attention to tap dance. The cast included some of the greatest tap dancers, including Chuck Green, Sandman Sims, and Dr. Jimmy Slyde (Frank, 1955:7). It became the dance event of the season, with packed houses and great reviews. 1.2 The Other Nations Cultu

32、re Inheritance in Irish Tap Dance In 1170, the British invaded Ireland and decomposed their culture in next two hundred years. As a colony, many different immigrants live together. Irish immigrants，African slaves and other national folk dancers brought their own folk dance to the United States. Cons

33、equently, different culture influenced each other. It provides the chance for Irish tap dance to fuse other national dances. Through several years development, the Irish tap dance absorbed jazz rhythm, improvisational performance and other elements, evolved a new type of rhythm dance which was amusi

34、ng, challenging, lively and free. Those folk dances combined together gradually, then formed a new dance form-Irish tap dance. In 1921 the creation of Broadway performances which blending elements of song and dance made the Irish tap dance go to a further development. Broadway Irish tap dance enhanc

35、ed the entertainment and appreciation (Hill, 2010:9). The overall style was making the song and dance together. In addition, there was a lot of humor arrangement which aimed to make a cheerful and upward atmosphere. It was widely applied to the club entertainment. In addition, it made a traveling sh

36、ow in Broadway and Hollywood. It was known as the representative of Ireland of traditional folk dance and gradually influenced the world. Moreover, it in turn affected its original places folk dance. Absorbing the elements of other national dance made the fall of Irish tap dance. The fall of Tap dan

37、ce occurred possibly as a result of the advent of television shows in the early 1950s (Knowles, 2002: 22). American television entertainment replaced dance from being live on stage to being on screen and in films. Tap dance on film became more about personality and music rather than true tap. This m

38、arked the beginning of the demise of tap dance. However, tap dance made a comeback in the 1960s. Although television never died, the popularity of live performance was brought back to life through the newer tap artist of the sixties. Jazz music had taken over a larger part of the entertainment world

39、 and could be credited for helping to bring tap back to the stage. Jazz scholar and referenced author Stearns put together a show entitled The Newport Jazz Festival with the goal of bringing back a lost art form, tap dance. The combination of both jazz and tap awed the audience and started the rise

40、of live entertainment again. The history of colony also played an important role in the style of Irish tap dance. The traditional European folk dance was mostly foot dance, the reason was that men and women often danced around the bonfire hand in hand. Peoples arms became the link between other peop

41、le, so that they had no time to develop its own arm action. When they danced Irish dance, it was apparently that Irish people followed the foot 6 dance unconsciously. Traditional dancer would keep their arms perfectly still and at their sides, ignoring the more flashier arms movements of other dance

42、s. Irish tap dances real name should be called the Irish dancing-Hard shoes dancing. American Irish tap dance called tap dance. When Irish dancer dance, they had no action of the upper part, both hands naturally dropping and stuck on the hip, and the lower half feet always keeping cross posture (45

43、degrees) (Chen, 2008:21). Therefore when they were dancing, the actions and steps were very tidy. It is said that there are four following reasons which caused the body posture: First, pay more attention to the leg action, so that dancers could finish the legs lifts, leg flexion, tap and other actio

44、ns in a short time; Second, the early Irish tap dancers always have performances in the bar. Waving their arms optionally and twisting their waist may break glasses or cause unnecessary confusion; Third, the Catholic Church makes rules that strictly prohibited dancers from swinging arm and torso fre

45、ely, avoiding the physical contact between men and women; Fourth, Irish dancers dare not dance before the England rulers, avoiding being complacency and in trouble. 2. Case Study of the Irish Dancing Phenomenon “Riverdance” 2.1 The Introduction of “Riverdance” Riverdance is an art feast which combin

46、ed Irish dancing, music, and opera. It successfully carries forward the essence of the Irish tap dance. It contains Ireland nations history, legend, life custom, war, religious belief and inherits the Irish culture and tradition. The word river in Riverdance refers to the Irish Liffey River. It is the mother river of the Ireland. It represents the whole nation liking the river move forward. The first act of Riverdance descr