The Emotional Expression in the Dance Performance of ‘Confucius’ in the Dance Drama ‘Confucius’

The dance drama Confucius, created by the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre in 2013, portrays the life experiences of the renowned historical figure Confucius. Through the expressive integration of dance body movements, the performance deeply explores Confucius’s emotional world while conveying Confucius philosophical ideas. This research explores how the character of ‘Confucius’ in the dance drama expresses both positive and negative emotions through dance body movements, and how these emotional expressions impact the reflection of Confucius’s philosophical ideas. The objective of this study is to analyze the dance movements of the character ‘Confucius,’ explore their expression of emotions, and the potential influence of these emotions on the expression of Confucius's thoughts. This research adopts a qualitative research approach, focusing on the text analysis method and the semi-structured interview method. It examines the physical dance movements of the character ‘Confucius’ in the dance drama Confucius, and conducts semi-structured interviews with Kong Dexin, the director of the dance drama Confucius. The research findings reveal that the body movements of the character ‘Confucius’ convey diverse emotions, and emphasize the positive impact of these expressions in reflecting Confucius's thoughts and attitudes. This provides a new perspective for the fields of dance studies, theatrical art, and Confucius's thoughts.