Sichuan Conservatory of Music Pop Music Academy

Department of Contemporary Pop Dance

      As one of the first specialties since the foundation of Pop Music School in 2001, Dept. of Contemporary of Pop Dance has always been sticking to its teaching philosophy: centering on discipline development and catering to the market. With the leadership of our school and human -oriented educational attitude, we are striving for the construction of a complete discipline development and an excellent faculty team with outstanding achievements.
   
With the combined teaching of traditional ballet dance and contemporary pop dance, our department aims at cultivating talents with a good mastery of pop dance techniques and choreographic abilities. With the solid training of ballet basic skills and stylistic training of pop, Latin, street and modern dances, our students are of complete knowledge structure and experienced stage performances and are inter-disciplinary talents in performing, teaching and choreography. With teachers and students’ co-efforts, our department has achieved greatly, esp. in transmitting excellent performers, choreographers, and teachers to arts organizations, TV stations and schools.     

Prof. Gao Xiaojun is the present Dean of Dept. of Contemporary Pop Dance. Experienced teachers are Yang Kejia, Zhi Rong, and Zou Chuang, who are of solid basic skills. Young talented teachers are Heng Gang, Luo Changhe, Yang Chao, Fan Lin, Xu Yingsha, Zheng Jiani, Hu Yunxia, Tang Shuang and Sun Bin, who are devoted to the exploration and research of pop dance.
     
Curriculum
     

    
Required Fundamental Courses
1、Music Theory  2、History of Western Modern Dance   3、Introduction to Dance  4、Pedagogy for Dance Basic Skills   5、Dynamic Sketch for Dance  6、Performance and Cosmetics
   
Required Major Courses
   1、Classical Ballet   2、Fundamental Elements of Pop Dance  3、Training for Physique and Techniques   4、Repertory Rehearsal   5、Latin Dance   6、Tap Dance  7、Hip-hop  8、Modern Dance

    
Teaching Characteristics

    
1. Ballet basics is a four-year course to unify students’ body, motion, expression and movements, train their kinesthetic and spatial awareness with the purpose of establishing a solid foundation for other dances.
    
2. Fundamental elements of pop dance is a two-year course characterized by flexible movements, adaptability, and passionate performance with the purpose of setting up a solid foundation for other stylistic dances.
    
3. Contemporary pop dance repertoire rehearsal is a three-year course based on the rehearsals of the contemporary popular, mature and professional repertoires as well as the repertoires of our department, so to make students master the performance and unique expressive rules of contemporary pop dance and establish their correct understanding. In this way, students’ appreciation and expressive creativity will be largely improved.
     
4. To enrich the diversity of pop dances and meet the demand of the students, our department has the following popular stylistic dances:

      
A. Latin provides students with practical experience in Latin techniques and styles, focused on the teaching of basic postures, center of movement and basic rhythm with the combination with the teaching of ballet body shaping and jazz rhythm.
     
B. Tap dance is taught to be executed primarily on the balls on one's feet and the inner feeling of the body combined with the teaching of ballet basic techniques, jazz and flamenco.
     
C. Hip-hop provides students with current popular dance elements and performing characteristics.
 
    
D. Modern dance provides students with practical experience in modern dance techniques and styles so to improve students’ abilities in performance, choreography and teaching.
    
In recent years, teachers are also prize-winners in various dance competitions.

   
Associate Prof. Gao Xiaojun once performed in dance dramas like Death of Mingfeng of Trilogy of Sorrow, Flowers in Remote Mountains, Chuan River & Women, and Infinite Grassland. Flowers in Remote Mountains won New Drama Performance Award and First Prize For Drama in 1996 National Children’s Drama Competition and Cultural Award issued by Ministry of Culture and the Best Works Award issued by Ministry of Publicity. Chuan River & Women, dance for two, won the Performance Encouragement Award and Second Prize for Work in 1995 National Dance Competition (Chinese Classical Dance). Infinite Grassland, dance for two won the Excellent Dancer Award and First Prize for Work in 1996 Sichuan Jinglong Cup Dance Competition. From 1999 till now, Prof. Gao Xiaojun has been devoted to teaching career and cultivated lots of prize-winners in national and provincial dance competitions and graduates have become teachers in various arts academies.

Yang kejia and Zhi Rong have been teaching Latin dance for over 20 years and won awards in kinds of competitions: the third place in Dance Sport Competition of the Second National Sports Conference, the fourth place(Group B) in the Seventh National Ballroom Dance/Dance Sport Tournament, the First Place (Group A)in Seventh Sichuan Dance Sport Tournament, the First Place (Open Group in Group A)in First Sichuan Ballroom Dance Tournament  and the First Place (Professional Group)in Tenth Sichuan Dance Sport Tournament and Western Dance Sport Tournament. They obtained the qualifications of national judge and national teacher of China Dance Sport Association in 1997 and won the qualification of international teacher of IDTA in 2004. With recent years’ efforts, two teachers have cultivated outstanding students in Latin dance: the first national tournament champion from Sichuan in 2004, four golden, 9 silver and 1 bronze awards in 2007 the Third National Students’ Dance Sport Tournament, 14 champions in 2007 Third National Students Dance Sport Tournament and the first place for group dance in six consecutive Sichuan Dance Sport Tournaments.
     
Fan Lin, young teacher, learned in Ballroom Dance Department of Beijing Contemporary Conservatory of Music in 2005 and majored in tap dance, whose coach was Yan Ling, member of Royal Academy of Dance in UK. She once hosted TV program Dance in the Morning of CCTV. She once won the Second Prize for Individual in Sichuan Dance Competition. The Mood for Love, a Latin dance choreographed by her won the Golden Prize of Sichuan District in National Juvenile Talents Competition. Jazz Tap Tap Tap, choreographed by her, was selected to perform in the closing ceremony of First CCTV Campus Culture Week. She is the choreographer of Sing as You Like and Baby, Come on, TV programs of Chengdu TV Station.
    
Yang Chao, young teacher, won the seventh place for woman single in 2005 CCTV Double Star Cup National TV Hip-hop Competition, champion for southwest district in 2006 CY National University Hip-hop Challenging Competition, the third place in 2006 Keep on Dancing Asia Hip-hop Elite Challenging Competition, newstyle champion for Chengdu station in 2006 I Love Southwest Hip-hop competition, The Second Place for Single Woman in 2007 M-Zone National TV Hip-hop Competition, newstyle and locking champions for Kunming station in 2007 I Love Southwest Hip-hop competition. She was invited to be a judge of hip-hop in Huamei Dancing hosted by Sichuan TV Station.
    
Heng Gang, young teacher, gained the champion for Southwest District in 2005 CY National University Hip-hop Challenging Competition, the third place (Zhunyi District) in Colorful Guizhou in 2007. Being a teacher for five years, Heng Gang has cultivated lots of excellent talents for dance and prize-winners in various national hip-hop competitions. Xie Wenke won the second place for single man in 2005 National Hip-hop Invitation FUNKY-BATTLE Competition and the fifth place for single man in 2005 Double-Star Cup National TV Hip-hop Competition. Group Honey obtained the third place for unison dance in Sichuan District of 2005 Double-Star Cup National TV Hip-hop Competition. Li Yue, Zhang Qi, He Kun, Sun Xiao got the National Champion in 2006 National University Students Hip-hop Challenging Competition.

He Ting won the champion for unison women dance in Sichuan District of 2007 M-zone National TV Hip-hop Competition. Jing Yanan got the third place for single woman in Sichuan District of 2007 M-zone National TV Hip-hop Competition. Group QUEEN-Kany won the third place in Chengdu District in 2008 Dance to Miracle.
    
With the co-efforts of the teachers and students of our department, a complete teaching theory system has been established firstly in China, which also builds up a more solid foundation for the innovation and expansion of our discipline.