China classical dance, as a category of China dance art, is a dance with certain demonstration significance and classical style, which is based on traditional folk dance, refined, sorted, processed and created by professional workers in past dynasties, and tested by long-term artistic practice. Classical dance was founded in 1950s and was once called "traditional opera dance" by some people. It is a mixture of drama and dance, that is to say, it has not completely evolved from drama, so it is called drama, which removes the most important singing and reading in drama; Say it is a dance, it still maintains the original state of the opera in quantity. The songs and dances in China's traditional operas serve this story. Even a martial arts drama that does not sing well is still a drama, and the subordinate relationship of its dance to the role industry is also very clear.

From its origin, classical dance is a revival of the traditions of classical dance, traditional opera dance and China dance for thousands of years. Obviously, its aesthetic principle is not a new invention, but the spread and continuation of China culture for thousands of years, strung together with a long line from ancient times to the present. These principles can be found not only in traditional Chinese opera, but also in music and dance in Tang and Song Dynasties, "dance drama" in Han and Wei Dynasties, and even rites and music in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. As far as its flow direction is concerned, it is a brand-new art category produced locally, a new dance category comparable to ballet and modern dance, and this exotic dance category is authentic from China.

China classical dance has not yet passed its childhood, but is still growing. However, with the emergence of body rhyme, its aesthetic core has been stable, its theoretical foundation has been relatively solid, and its action system has been formed. We have every reason to say that it has got rid of the prototype of China traditional opera and moved towards the category of real dance.

China classical dance "Body Rhyme" course came into being in the early 1980s. After more than ten years' practice, it has been gradually recognized by Chinese and foreign dance circles and academic circles. 1993 was rated as an excellent teaching achievement by the State Education Commission. Li Zhengyi and Tang Mancheng, the old professors of classical dance in Beijing Dance Academy, resolutely created the class of "Body Rhyme" of classical dance, which revived China classical dance and the cause of classical dance. When interpreting "classical dance", Professor Li Zhengyi said: "It is called classical dance, not a copy of ancient dance, but a new classical dance based on profound traditional dance aesthetics and adapted to modern people's appreciation habits. It takes the nation as the main body, based on the national aesthetic principles such as drama and martial arts, and absorbs the beneficial parts of foreign art such as ballet, making it an independent, national and contemporary dance species and system. "