(1) Dance makes happiness.
Primitive social period
In ancient times, our ancestors always used dance to express their feelings. At this time, dance helps people forget their troubles and relieve their body and mind.
Slave society period
Class division appeared in slave society, and slaves engaged in singing and dancing to meet the spiritual needs of rulers and slave owners for their enjoyment, resulting in full-time music and dance slaves. At this time, dance has the function of entertaining itself.
Feudal social period
The dances in feudal society generally include folk dances, court dances, banquet dances and sacrificial dances, with the theme of expressing joy. His main works are: seven-disc dance, Hu Xuan dance, and dancing in clothes and feathers.
(2) Sacrifice and prayer
Ancient ancestors sacrificed and prayed for ancestors, gods and totems by dancing, praying for peace and driving away disasters. China Six Dances in Zhou Dynasty is a famous sacrificial dance.
(3) communication, friendship and mate selection
Exchange; connect
In the period of imperfect language, human beings rely on dance to make up for the lack of language expression ability; After the language is perfected, it is an abstract language to express human emotions.
Choose a spouse
Dance often plays a magical role in cultivating love and choosing a spouse. In our country, excellent dancers of ethnic minorities are often the objects pursued by young people of the opposite sex in order to get the favor of the right person.
(4) Fitness, Wushu and image building.
Dance is a kind of human sports art, which can not only stretch muscles and bones, but also vent emotions, and has the dual functions of bodybuilding and pleasure. Wushu is an ancient dance in our country, and it is a dance with rich style. Its functions are: exercising and strengthening the body.
(5) Education
Primitive social period
In primitive society, "all animals dance at the same rate", that is, on the one hand, it relives the pleasure of hunting animals during the day, on the other hand, it also shows the process and experience of killing and acquiring wild animals. Therefore, the animal dance at this time, in addition to entertaining itself, also has an educational function.
Zhou dynasty
The social status of dance was improved in the Zhou Dynasty, and Duke Zhou concentrated on sorting out all kinds of music and dances left over from the previous generation for offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, praising ancestors and educating and publicizing. There are two kinds of court dances in ancient China: hairpin dance and martial dance. Literary dance shows that kings can conquer the world with virtue, that is, "literature with virtue"; Martial arts show the strength of the king's force, that is, "martial arts are like merits." The purpose is publicity and education.
the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period
With the development, dance combined with music and poetry to form a comprehensive art form, which was called "music" by the ancients. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Confucianism emphasized "music education" and advocated giving play to the propaganda and education function of music and dance.
the Tang Dynasty
"Broken array music" in Tang Dynasty is a large-scale dance with strong propaganda and enlightenment functions. After this dance, it was renamed "Seven Virtues Dance".
Visible, dance, people need it for entertainment; Rulers also need it to sing praises, feast for the eyes, entertain distinguished guests and worship the earth.