On the Application of Regional Features in Contemporary Dance Drama

: Regional characteristics are widely used in Chinese contemporary dance dramas. Different regional cultures create different regional characteristics. Integrating regional characteristics into Chinese contemporary dance dramas can make Chinese regional characteristics shine. This article analyzes the regional characteristics of the dance drama "Shawan Past" and explores the spiritual connotations expressed by the application of regional characteristics in contemporary dance dramas. The dance drama "The Past of Shawan" is a rare masterpiece in contemporary dance drama creation. Through stories, characters, music and props full of regional characteristics, the drama deeply reflects the unremitting efforts of Guangdong musicians in inheriting and developing national music and the spirit of persistent pursuit, as well as the national spirit of the Chinese nation, which is fearless, indomitable, unswerving and self-improvement. At the same time, it vividly portrays the personality traits of Lingnan people, such as their unwillingness to succumb and yearning for freedom to drift with the tide, their brave, tenacious, united national spirit, and strong patriotism


The Similarities and Differences of the Application of Different Regional Features in China's Contemporary Dance Drama
Dance drama art is a product of the development of dance to a considerable height in history. Its artistic characteristics are basically the same: it is a relatively dramatic gene, widely known subject matter content, the integrity of character shaping, and a combination of multiple forms of composite presentation. In terms of artistic image, it is a performance art that combines music, dance, and drama, which is a comprehensive presentation of visual and auditory art. And through various means, this performing art has been shaped together, revealing various social contradictions to the Chinese people and showcasing a rich and colorful social life. China's unique ethnic dance drama not only showcases the profound and unique cultural heritage of the Chinese nation, but also distinguishes Eastern dance from Western dance, and now shines brightly and catches people's eyes on the Eastern stage in China.

The Similarities of Different Regional Features in Chinese Contemporary Dance Dramas
In China's contemporary dance dramas, although the regional characteristics used by each dance drama are different, they all use modern techniques of expression, so that the regional characteristics of various regions have a new inheritance and development, and the audience has a vivid three-dimensional aesthetic experience. It can be said that regional characteristics are widely used in Chinese contemporary dance dramas. These dance dramas have deeply integrated regional characteristics into their creation, such as national dance dramas such as The Magic Lotus Lantern, Silk Road Flower Rain, and A handful of Sour Jujubes, which have won unanimous praise at home and abroad. It is precisely because the design of story plots, the shaping of character images, and the expression of character emotions have a specific era background, At the same time, it also possesses the typicality of Chinese art and the high degree of unity of artistic forms, thus forming a distinct national identity. Its ethnic identity is not only reflected in the beauty of the plot, dance, and dance, but also in music, reflecting a specific era and showcasing the unique musical vocabulary of the Chinese nation to the world. From the numerous ethnic dance dramas presented in China, we can see that the music and dance are permeated with rich traditional artistic characteristics and a natural and simple ethnic atmosphere.

The Difference of Different Regional Features in Chinese Contemporary Dance Drama
In modern dance music, the integration of national style and regional color also has good innovation. The music in many dance dramas will be interspersed with representative local songs, and even these works will be used as the theme music throughout the drama, so that dance dramas can introduce rich local customs, give a fresh feeling, and quickly attract the audience to various cultural contexts. At the same time, because of these cultural differences, I also have a personal experience of the local cultural characteristics, these cultural features will also become particularly charming. And different creators, due to their different professional backgrounds and experiences of life, have different perspectives and creative techniques when integrating regional characteristics into dance. Therefore, even if they use the same regional characteristics, they can create rich and colorful dance dramas. For example, "Yunnan Reflection" successfully applies the rich Yunnan characteristic culture to it, combining the unique ethnic song and dance, clothing, musical instruments, and folk activities of Yunnan, and integrating multi-ethnic cultural elements Meet the needs of the audience [1]. For example, in the music of "Crescent Moon and Five Watches", the melody is mainly composed of Northeast folk songs multiple times. In dance performances, the Er Ren Zhuan melody with Northeast color is integrated into it, not only adding a style with Northeast regional characteristics, but also enhancing national cultural significance. Huangtu Huang "originates from the daily life of the people on the Loess Plateau, and is full of the regional characteristics and cultural style of the Loess Plateau. The dance drama "Invite Tea" focuses on expressing the traditional kung fu tea style of the Chaoshan ethnic group. Starting from the perspective of the Chaoshan ethnic group's expression of their own life, it finds a dance perspective and reopens the entire dance with a Chaoshan ethnic dialect of "Invite Tea". The strong Chaoshan ethnic customs and distinct cultural characteristics of the Chaoshan ethnic group immediately emerge. [2] 2. Presentation of Regional Characteristics in the Dance Drama "Shawan Past"

Sensibility: Visual Presentation of Regional Characteristics
The Story of Shawan provides an intuitive presentation of regional characteristics through scenes, characters, music, props, and other aspects, allowing the audience to have a perceptual understanding of the regional characteristics in this drama.
In terms of scene, the dance drama "The Past of Shawan" mainly consists of three parts: the preface, the main storyline, and the ending, with a total of four acts as the main storyline in the fierce competition scene showcasing [3] "Dragon Racing for Gold", the dancers used dance props such as Yingge Stick, Lion Drum, and Dragon Boat Boat Paddle to fully showcase the customs of Lingnan. They used their Yingge Stick and Lion Drum as Dragon Boat Boat Boat Paddle in their hands, using alternating straight mallet hands to strike, and sang the symphony of Yingge Stick sounds; The dancer's body movements are combined with the fast rhythm of the powerful beat of the Yingge Stick. The dancer quickly changes the direction and position of the beat to be struck, and combines various methods such as body rotation, jumping in the air, and leg bouncing to showcase the intense competitive scene, creating a tense and exciting atmosphere. With superb body movement art, the dancer showcases the charm of the Chaoshan Yingge Dance and martial arts dance, which blend water and milk, to the audienc.
In terms of characters, the three male and female protagonists, He Liunian, Xu Chunling, and other different main characters in the play are portrayed as a famous ethnic musician in Guangdong. The character setting and expression of this main character give this main character their unique social status, figure, and character style.
In terms of music, this drama chooses traditional ethnic music with strong Lingnan style characteristics, such as "Rain Beats Banana", "Step by Step High", "Autumn Moon on Pinghu Lake", and "Dragon Racing for Brocade", as the soul of the entire drama. It effortlessly handles many traditional folk-dance segments with Lingnan style, such as Lingnan Hero Song and Dance, Money Encouragement, Lion Dance, and Dragon Boat Rowing. The music of 'Dragon Boat Race' expresses and expresses the cultural phenomenon of 'Dragon Boat Race', which is rich in the traditional culture of Shawan Water Town and unique characteristics of various regions in Guangdong. The dance movements are sonorous and powerful, and the voice is strong and passionate. In the play, its musical image is externalized and transformed into various dance languages, and its body movements and team imagery are also used to reinterpret its artistic conception and connotation [4] In terms of props, although there are many artistic props needed for dance in this play, the main props are the Gaohu of "Soul Instrument" of Folk music in Guangdong and the manuscript of "Dragon Racing for Brocade" recorded on "Gongchi Score". Gaohu, as a major dance performance prop in the drama, has been widely used throughout the entire drama. The male and female protagonists He Liunian and Xu Chunling, from the initial love affair with Gaohu to the final heartbreaking ending, the perfect combination of Gaohu and body movements creates an intertwined relationship between each character's emotions, viewing Gaohu as a symbol of love expression, it has become a love token in the hands of the male and female protagonists from beginning to end, and runs through the entire drama. It can be said that Gao Hu witnessed the love process between the two. In the drama, the male protagonist He Liunian and his brother He Shaoyan respectively inherited, organized, and created the background and process of a piece of music called "Dragon Race for Brocade", which is a main storyline of the entire dance drama. "Dragon Race for Brocade" is a work they recorded and placed on the "Gongchi Score". When they are held as props for a dance by the protagonist themselves, this work also gives new mission and significance, and it runs through the entire drama, carrying the main character lines and the ups and downs and destinies of Guangdong musicians. Gao Hu and "Sai Long Duo Jin" are unique musical elements in Lingnan, Guangdong. These two lines are like the two lines in this drama, symbolizing the protagonist's love and career, pulling and driving the entire plot.

Rationality: The Core Expression of Regional Characteristics
The dance drama "The Past of Shawan" innovates in its performance form and creative techniques, expressing the core cultural value of regional characteristics, and giving the audience a rational and profound understanding of the spiritual connotation of Lingnan regional characteristics. The dance drama has made great efforts in the artistic performance of its traditional dance and the use of artistic techniques of creation, boldly integrated the traditional Lingnan Folk dance culture with the elements of artistic techniques of contemporary Chinese dance performance, realized an artistic collision between the traditional Lingnan Folk dance culture and contemporary Chinese dance performance, and greatly enhanced the artistic performance value and cultural charm of the dance drama. At the same time, in order to allow the audience of dance dramas to experience a stronger visual and auditory impact, the internal space of dance beauty and its use as an element of musical beauty were also fully utilized in the creative process of script creation, making dance dramas more expressive and formal in dance art, stylistic in dance creation, and artistic conception in dance choreography.
In terms of scene, "The Past of Shawan" integrates specific regions and scenes, allowing the audience to fully experience and appreciate the customs of Lingnan, promoting the actions of each character in the play and the development of the story scene, reflecting the courage and pride of the Chinese people in the face of foreign enemies and invasions, And the various visual forms of emotional interweaving between Cantonese music and kinesthetics that arise and manifest from this lingering Chinese national ideology and emotions. In terms of characters, the creators have emphasized the body language and structural arrangement of various musical and dance movements, as well as the body shape and body movements of each individual in their dance works, to accurately depict the true image and unique personality of each creative character, and to uncover the true inner feelings of each creative character. For example, the female protagonist Xu Chunling was tightly held in her arms by the male protagonist He Liunian and the female protagonist Xu Chunling. Together, the two of them pulled up Gao Hu to form a unique dance movement and beautiful shape to compose this "love movement". In the third act of the Anti-Japanese War, the strong and powerful movements of the anti-Japanese masses were expressed, and their hands were tied behind their backs, presenting the form of being slaughtered by the Japanese army, And the story of attacking the soul portrayed by the characters and the bumpy fate of the characters reflect the inheritance and development of Guangdong music.
In terms of music, the music of "Sai Long Duo Jin" appears three times on the main line of the film. The first time is in the first act, when He Liunian and his brother He Shaoyan organized the research on the score of the song "Sai Long Duo Jin". The second time was in the third act, when Guangzhou was occupied by Japanese invaders and the Sanren Hall in Shawan was surrounded by them. He Liunian and his brother He Shaoyan used their own songs to express their sadness and anger by playing the imperfect "Dragon Race to the Brocade" they were currently creating; In the fourth act, He Liunian turned national hatred into a source of strength for his own creation, and ultimately succeeded in the creation of "Dragon Race and Gold Medal". The entire music can be said to run through the entire drama, expressing the heroic spirit of the Chinese people who are not afraid of hardships and move forward courageously, as well as the perseverance and tenacity in resisting foreign enemies, as well as the patriotic sentiments of the Chinese people who are not afraid of sacrifice in the war to save the country.

The Spiritual Connotation of the Regional Characteristics of Contemporary Dance Drama
The emotions and actions of the characters, are the foundation of the creation of dance drama, and also affect whether the expression of the intention of dance drama is profound, and whether the emotional modeling/creation can arouse strong resonance among the audience. The characters and story emotions of dance drama "Shawan Past" have a relatively distinctive artistic meaning. The creator meticulously created multiple interactive scenes with characters in the play, and these scenes changed and blended with each other. Through graceful and flexible body dances and other movements, the dancers fully express their sincere emotions, from the initial joy and happiness, to the later sadness and helplessness, and finally to the deep pain and anger. They also fully demonstrate the Chinese people's patriotism when facing foreign enemies, giving up "small love" and taking "great righteousness", as well as the national spirit of daring to resist and not afraid of any strong enemy. The reason why the play is moving is not only because it shows the national justice in the context of foreign aggression and the hard work of Guangdong music creators along the way, but also shows the Lingnan people's character characteristics of yearning for freedom, unwilling to bow to the tide, brave, tenacious, united spirit and strong patriotism.