Contemporary Chinese Yingge dance through the camera lens

Abstract

This Master’s project explores Puning Yingge dance as an intangible cultural heritage by using camera in contemporary China. Combining ethnographic fieldwork and documentary filmmaking, it examines how Yingge maintains local identity and supports intergenerational transmission through training, school teaching, public performance, and everyday community participation. The written component contextualizes Yingge within Chinese intangible cultural heritage safeguarding, dance as embodied knowledge, and visual anthropology. It also reflects on the filmmaking process, ethical negotiations, and the researcher’s position in the field. My fieldwork suggests that official recognition alone does not keep Yingge alive. It continues because people train, teach, perform, and take responsibility for it in everyday life.