Kaitlin Fayles and Dr. Jiamin Huang, Dance

The purpose of my ORCA project was to learn the history and basic techniques of Chinese martial arts and incorporate these movements into a modern dance piece that I, as a dance major (and martial arts student), would choreograph for my senior project.

To help prepare for this project, I took intermediate and advanced dance composition classes, in which I learned how to create dances that can effectively and aesthetically demonstrate a common theme or purpose. In China, I participated in five group and eight private Chinese martial arts lessons. In these, I learned the basic stances, punches, and blocks of this style. We practiced connecting these movements into applicable sequences for real-life. I also studied tai chi during my private lessons. Our group instructor, who was a professor at Xi’an Sports University, spoke English fluently and was able to communicate to us verbally how to produce the right movements. He also was able to give a lecture about the history of Chinese martial arts. However, my private instructor spoke very little English; this allowed me to develop my visual learning skills instead of relying so much on auditory feedback. Throughout these lessons, I learned that in Chinese martial arts and tai chi, there is a huge emphasis placed on focus and breath: the focus should be on one’s hand—whichever one is leading the movement; and breath should be used to initiate movement, which helps create the circular flow that is so prominent in these styles.

I also had the opportunity to attend Kungfu Dance—Door. A professor had taken a group of martial artists and taught them the basic principles of modern dance in order to create this show in Beijing. This show was essentially the reverse of what I intended to do: teach dancers elements of martial arts to create a dance. I interviewed the professor and choreographer Liu Lu about her experience in combining these two styles. Her answers supported my personal research: Chinese martial arts focus on the arc of movement; both styles generate power from using breath, but martial arts is generally more explosive and muscle-oriented, whereas dance has a greater sense of malleability in the body.

My original plan was to choreograph and set the piece on other study abroad dancers while we were in China, and perform it at our final cultural exchange in Beijing. However, we did not start our martial arts lessons until the third week of our six week trip, which did not give me enough time. I began choreographing general movement based on the movement from my lessons, and had between one and one and a half minutes of material to show during our composition final. After returning from China, I began choreographing my piece and recruiting dancers. I had a specific structure in mind for my piece. I knew I wanted to incorporate tai chi into the Chinese martial arts to provide a contrast in quality. I struggled with deciding how much to abstract the martial arts—I learned there is an emphasis on focus, especially at the hand, as well as a great amount of circularity in these styles. I tried to incorporate these general elements into my choreography, while staying fairly true to the original movements I learned in China. I divided my piece into four sections, the last one being a repeat of the first, but with a slight variation. The first section was inspired by tai chi. I had all my dancers walking through the space like determined pedestrians. On their designated timing, each dancer would each begin the sequence. I wanted this to be very internal—each person in their own world, not paying attention to others, and then suddenly break into movement. The dancers performed this movement individually, yet had to become aware of each other in order to keep the timing together in the silence. Part of my idea with this (other than it being aesthetically pleasing) was to show that even in our own busy lives, movement can overcome and unite us.

The purpose of my second section was to show the fluidity and sheer beauty of Chinese martial arts. In the choreography for this section, I tried to incorporate moments with direct focus, and others with continuous, circular movement phrases.

The third section was my climax. The goal of the movement in this section was to demonstrate the power and intensity of martial arts; and the way my dancers ended in a line, one fist to the other palm, was how we would end our lessons in China. At the conclusion, I had the dancers repeat a variation of the first tai chi section both for symmetry and because I liked the idea of the dancers going back to their “regular life” after this dramatic ordeal of a dance.

My piece was performed at the Dance Department Senior Showcase entitled Create the Night on November 8th and 9th, 2013 for a total audience of approximately 600 people.

In conclusion, I learned that it is indeed possible to combine different styles of movement. Some people may relate or be more familiar with one style than another, and combining them allows for performers and viewers to experience both. Although I had experience in martial arts, I went into this project not knowing anything about Chinese martial arts. I still am far from mastering it, but I have gained enough knowledge to be able to teach elements of it to others, and have developed my desire to learn more. I have come to understand not only modern dance better, but realized that there are fundamental aspects relevant and applicable to all styles of movement.