By Ms. Hanna Zhang, Dance Choreographer
September 8, 2022
During the Tang Dynasty, tea tasting was prevalent in the country. Every Spring, when new tea was picked, the palace would hold celebrations with tea art performances. The tea-picking dance was a special dance in the Tang Dynasty. Cheerful and gorgeous in costumes, this dance expresses the joy of singing and dancing when picking new tea in the royal tea garden. In the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925), the tea-picking dance was introduced to Jiangxi Province. Locals formed a folk tea-picking dance team, performing three common tea-picking movements: swinging a fan, picking tea, and presenting a basket.
Flowery Hats is one of the dances for our high school dance students and they are already almost finished learning this dance. With lively pace and light movements, girls hold tea-picking hats and wear embroidered shoes, reflecting the graceful and lively beauty of young girls. This dance is full of creativity and storyline. The sun hats in the hands run through the entire dance. The girls sometimes laugh and play in the fields, and sometimes dance with hats. Please look for this dance at our Winter Wonders showcase in December!