BEIJING, Sept. 27,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As the confident smile and
refined dance movements of 19-year-old Chinese breakdancer Liu
Qingyi were recorded in history at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the
cultural inclusiveness and innovative capability of Chinese youths
stunned the world once again.
From street dance, music festivals to stand-up comedy and
animation, "Don't follow, create" has become an attitude maintained
by Chinese youths as they face diverse forms of modern trendy
culture, particularly some introduced from overseas.
After talking with a group of young artists, audience
representatives, and industry insiders about the trendiest mediums
in Chinese pop culture, the Global Times culture desk gained
insight into how Chinese youth are infusing unique characteristics
into the global cultural landscape with their increased cultural
confidence.
"Amazing!" The US judge's exciting comment on the dance inspired
by a Chinese heroic figure from the Three Kingdoms era (220-280)
still lingers in the ears of dancer Tu Baihua, a Chinese breaking
solo champion, even though the National Street Dance Competition in
Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei
Province, came to an end in August.
Having dedicated himself to street dance for over a decade, the
30-something champion from the Bai ethnic group told the
Global Times that he has frequently drawn inspiration from ethnic
and traditional culture in creating new street dance
performances.
Like Tu and other Chinese participants at the 2024 Paris
Olympics, many contemporary Chinese street dancers are increasingly
gaining recognition. Their impressive performances on diverse
stages have spurred more Chinese youth to bravely express
themselves through the artistic form, feeding the growth of street
dance in China.
At music festivals, it is common to see large numbers of young
Chinese people relishing the melody and immersing themselves in the
atmosphere of appreciating music as well as making
friends.
In 2023, a total of 560 music festivals were conducted in
China, setting a new record for
the domestic market. This data is evidence of the rapid growth of
China's musical festival and band
culture. The main audience age group is between 15 and 33 years
old.
Wang Ze, director of the Strawberry Music Festival, which
attracted over 600,000 attendees to events across the country in
the first half of 2024, said that the enthusiasm of Chinese youth
for music and music festivals has left a strong impression on the
overseas musicians invited to perform in the festival.
For insiders like Wang, booming demand for higher-quality events
are motivating companies to come up with more innovative plans to
explore the unique features of their brands.
Blending festivals with the essence of the regional culture
around China is one effective
path, according to Wang.
Not just street dance and music festivals, Chinese youth have
localized imported entertainment forms such as stand-up comedy
with their own creativity, evolving them into a part of Chinese
culture, said Xie Maosong, a senior research fellow at the China
Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy.
Local is global
Notably, Chinese stand-up comedian Xiao Lu prefers not to
see the comedic genre as "imported," having transitioned from her
previous career as a lawyer to focus on improving her performance
skills full time.
"Actually, I don't think it's necessary to stress that stand-up
comedy originated from some other countries. Throughout
China's thousands of years of
history there have been quite a few people who have taken the stage
and brought laughter to others," the comedian told the Global
Times. "It just wasn't called 'stand-up comedy' and the process of
commercialization was slower."
Wearing a white wedding dress, Xiao Lu, who has recently
embarked on a cross-border marriage, lights up the audience's eyes
on the stage of the newly released variety show King of
Stand-up Comedy. Produced by Chinese streaming platform iQIYI, it
features dozens of Chinese stand-up comedians competing for the
championship.
She uses intriguing conversations and daily interactions
with her Australian husband as the main materials of her
performance. These warm-hearted stories of the couple presented
through stand-up comedy has resonated with audiences, winning lots
of applause and laughter.
Xiao Lu said that she is trying
to find a balance between expressing herself and amusing the
audience in her performances. Working on stand-up comedy for almost
10 years, the comedian has found a way to delve into her inner
world to accumulate materials that touch the audience, while the
performing art has also turned out to be a good way to help her
vent her emotions.
Another Shanghai-based
comedian, Men Qiang, has also appeared on the show, bringing
laughter to the audience through his mature performing skills. His
subjects come from his personal experience working in a human
resources department, while he adds a touch of magic by drawing on
the Shanghai dialect, to give his
performances an interesting feel.
Men Qiang found his own performing style with the help of
dialect culture, which also adds luster to other comedic forms such
as Stephen Chow's Cantonese comedy
films. "Chinese dialects in different regions are actually quite
charming and can be really great additions to comedy. That's what I
have determined and will continue to do," the comedian told the
Global Times.
Street dancer Tu is also active on the stage as he is eager
to see street dancers tell Chinese stories through Chinese
elements. Tu highlights that ancient Bai music has over 2,000
years of history, with its musical language encompassing more than
a dozen varieties.
"By combining Bai clothing, musical rhythms, and dance
movements with street dance, not only is the expressive form of
street dance enriched, but it also promotes the transmission and
development of the intangible cultural heritage of minority
cultures, giving the youth a new definition and understanding of
Chinese dance culture," Tu said.
This is also one of the significant goals of Xia Rui,
secretary-general of the street dance committee of the China
Dancers Association. Xia said that over the past 10 years in
China, street dance has become a
remarkable bond connecting the art form with Chinese culture,
making it a good platform to tell stories regarding Chinese
youth.
Broader engagement
According to relevant data published by financial media 36Kr,
from 2020 to 2022, the offline box office of the entire stand-up
comedy industry in China increased
20-fold, rising from 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) to 480
million yuan. In 2023, the stand-up comedy market was
beginning to exhibit a trend of expanding into smaller Chinese
cities, where it has also gained significant popularity, which
caused the number of people practicing the art form to double.
Young followers of the comedic medium said that they find the
Chinese-style jokes in performances amusing and they appreciate the
comedians' efforts to blend humor with local cultural elements, as
this resonates with their longing for a comedic style that reflects
their own cultural identity.
Chinese fans' passion is also stimulating the development and
further improvement of the music festival industry.
A regular participant of the Strawberry Music Festival and
the Taihu Bay Music Festival, the 26-year-old fan Yao Anting
said that attending a music festival is an experience "where you
either don't participate at all, or you cannot stop once you have
been part of it."
As a loyal fan of numerous Chinese festivals over the
years, Yao has also discovered that the Chinese music
festivals have "developed more niche themes that cater to fans of
different tastes." Other than the popular "rock" festivals,
emerging festivals like the OCT-Loft Jazz Festival and the FEEL
festival, are focused on jazz and rap music.
Yao's observations were echoed by industry insider Wang, who
noted that in response to increasing demand, the Strawberry Music
Festival is exploring ways to offer more niche yet refined festival
experiences. This approach aligns with the developmental strategies
of other Chinese music festivals as well.
Cultural sociologist Xu Shuming told the Global Times that
these sub-divided themes not only reflect young Chinese fans'
acceptance of global music genres, but also reveal how the
burgeoning Chinese music market is giving opportunities to artists
from different backgrounds.
China's traditional culture and
its proposed modern projects like the Belt and Road Initiative have
inspired international artists to take part in the Chinese music
scene.
Musicians from countries like Uzbekistan, Russia and Kazakhstan have been invited to debut at the
Shenzhen Belt and Road International Music Festival that is set to
run from September to October.
Xiao Bei, owner of a street dance
studio in Beijing, has inputted
the names of around 1,000 young people from 18 to 25 years old into
the registration system at her studio, which opened amid the street
dance craze. She has noticed how the popular choreography of street
dance has been changed by her students, who are reinventing on the
beauty of traditional Chinese culture.
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SOURCE Global Times