Performing Piano Works Inspired by Folk Dances: “Wu Kui” and “My Spirit Is Dancing”

Abstract

The piano work "Wu Kui" (1983) was composed by Chinese composer Zhou Long, inspired by the Manchu folk dance "Da Wu Kui," and "My Spirit is Dancing for Solo Piano" (2010) was composed by Malaysian composer Yii Kah Hoe, inspired by the Balinese baris dance. Both piano works are based on folk dances and use Western compositional techniques to innovate the language of folk music. The author takes these two piano works inspired by folk dances and analyses the performance difficulties of these two to enable the performer to better interpret the piano works and make the performance more convincing.