The Flexible Reinvention of Kun Classical Dance in 21st-century China

Abstract

This study examines the flexible reinvention of Chinese Kun classical dance in 21st-century China. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, nationalist cultural policies have promoted the institutionalization of Chinese classical dance as a disciplinary system. Within this framework of reinvented traditions, dance practitioners developed new forms such as Shenyun, Dunhuang and Han-Tang dance. Continuing this trajectory of reinvention, Ma Jiaqin—Chinese famous dancer and acknowledged founder of Kun Classical Dance—launched its reinvention in 2004. Employing qualitative methods, this study investigates the mechanisms of Kun classical dance’s reinvention and the historical conditions that shaped its emergence. The findings indicate that Kun classical dance was a reinvented tradition characterized by cultural flexibility, shaped by state-led cultural revivalism in post-1949 China, particularly the dual agendas of reviving tradition and promoting cultural innovation in the post-reform era. Its formation demonstrates a strategic negotiation between artistic practice and cultural institutions, reflecting both compliance with state cultural policies and engagement in discourses of national identity.