STAGING THE MINNAN PAIXIONG DANCE IN ZHANGZHOU, CHINA

Abstract

This study examines how the Minnan Paixiong Dance in Zhangzhou can sustain cultural authenticity while achieving staged appeal. To identify mechanisms by which core symbolic elements are preserved and recontextualized in theatrical settings. Zhangzhou cases from the past five years across festival stages, school programs, and theatre productions. Mixed-methods design research combining literature review, field observation, semi-structured interviews with inheritors, choreographers, and young dancers, and audience questionnaires for cross-validation. The result that core movement motifs are retained, while group formations and layered rhythms enhance spatial dynamics; music and lighting shift from body percussion to electronic/programmable designs, raising both aesthetic ratings and concerns over “over-packaging”; iconic costumes are updated in materials yet keep narrative meanings; the dance’s functions extend from ritual and folklore to education, cultural tourism, and regional branding. Benefit/Contribution: the case yields a replicable “dual-track” model—preserve the core, renew the form—that practitioners can apply to choreography, school curricula, and cultural-tourism curation. It also offers a concise movement–symbol–function framework for evaluating stage adaptation outcomes and for balancing authenticity, innovation, and communicability in intangible cultural heritage dance practice.