Embodied Participation and Affective Engagement in the Revitalization of Yingge Dance in Chaoshan, China
Embodied Participation and Affective Engagement in the Revitalization of Yingge Dance in Chaoshan, China

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the contemporary development and transmission of Chinese Yingge dance through an ethnographic study of the Puning Nanshan Yingge dance troupe. Adopting a performance approach, the analysis foregrounds the perspectives and practices of performers, through which this folk dance is continuously reproduced and reworked. The findings show that the troupe’s activities are embedded in the socio-spatial context of an urban village, where everyday training both relies on and reinforces a shared sense of place. Institutionalization, spectacularization and international exchange generate cultural and symbolic capital that motivates younger members’ affective engagement. Meanwhile, sustained collective performance fosters community and communitas, enhancing both performers’ embodied labor investment and audience interaction. The study highlights how traditional folk art is maintained and revitalized through ongoing negotiation with social change, grounded in cultural self-consciousness.

• Details
• Contents