Art has long been considered a form of undirect self-expression where people could reveal their feelings and emotions on a disturbing matter without directly speaking about them. Naturally, the government realized this and either started to use various forms of art as propaganda to influence society or wholly banned it. Overall, under communist rule in many countries, many forms of art and dance specifically were mistreated, prohibited, or even eradicated.
To begin with, in the Southeastern Asian country Cambodia the government aimed at eradicating the community’s culture along with people who cherished it. Naturally, the residents of Cambodia inherited many traditional dances that were performed at different events like weddings or public gatherings. As a result, the communist rule treated such dances as unnecessary and able to negatively influence the citizens of the country (Bauer, 2020). Thus, the dancers were treated as criminals, and the radical communist party Khmer Rouge even managed to eradicate Apsara dance which represented their culture (Bauer, 2020). Unfortunately, more than two million people were exterminated, along with these Cambodian traditions and customs. Thankfully, now these practices and different traditional forms of art are returning to the culture and everyday lives of people in Cambodia.
Furthermore, China’s treatment of dancers was no different from Cambodia’s and, at times, even harsher and crueler. The government despised the ability of people to use dance as a form of self-expression and feared what it could do to society (van der Made, 2019). Not only did the dances evoke the Chinese traditions that the government wanted to exterminate, but they also united people for the same cause. For instance, the traditional Shen Yun dances that were so important to Chinese people were initially created to oppress the communist rule and support its victims (van der Made, 2019). To be more exact, the persecution and further extermination of the religious party Falun Gong by the communist followers was devastating news to Chinese society (van der Made, 2019). That is why this dance was a symbol of strength and persistence of the community and was performed to remind the viewers about their united cause (van der Made, 2019). Obviously, the government feared such gatherings and eradicated the dance and its masters from China altogether. The dancers were tortured slowly and exceptionally painfully, and the government did not grant them a fast killing. Thus many people, in fear of having the same fate, stopped dancing until the communist rule was overthrown.
Fortunately, nowadays, dancers are not treated as criminals, and dance as a form of self-expression is appreciated and admired. It appears vital for artists to use art to show how they feel about unfair actions in the world without being afraid of being killed for it. Likewise, it is unjust and unhumanly to oppress people for how they show their emotions and tell their stories. The government cannot oppress dancers because they fear what thoughts they might plant in the minds of viewers when all the government itself does is spread propaganda to control society. In my opinion, dance is able to encourage social change as it boosts sensitivity and understanding of people. Specifically, the freestyle dances are performed to express what disturbs artists, and thus, the viewers might become concerned about the issue. As a result, the seeds for social change can be planted solely by expressing yourself when moving to music.
References
Bauer, V. (2021). A Deep Dive On Khmer Classical Dance. Jetset Times. Web.
van der Made, J. (2019). Shen Yun: Fighting Communism – and making a stack on the side. RFI. Web.