Internationalization of the faculty and student body of ballet departments at Chinese art universities and its influence on the transfer of methodologies and the formation of mixed pedagogical practices at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries

Abstract

The process of internationalization of the faculty and student body of ballet departments at Chinese art universities at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries resulted in the formation of a stable multicultural educational environment in which the interaction of representatives of various choreographic traditions led to the emergence of mixed pedagogical practices characterized by complex adaptation and recombination of methodological elements within the practice-oriented and corporeally conditioned nature of ballet training. The historical evolution from the institutionalization of the Soviet model in the mid-twentieth century through a period of isolation to the active establishment of connections with Russian, Western European, and American schools created the foundation for intensive exchange. This exchange manifested itself in the growth in the proportion of foreign teachers in classical dance departments from 3,7 to 24,3%, an 8.5-fold increase in the number of full-time foreign specialists, the accumulation of overseas internship experience by 148 Chinese pedagogues, and the expansion of the foreign student contingent. The distribution of influence demonstrates the predominance of the Russian Vaganova tradition with a significant contribution from the English, American, French, and Danish schools. This led to uneven integration of the components of the pedagogical process, preserving the dominance of the Russian school in barre work and individual correction, while American approaches strengthened the emphasis on allegro and athleticism, and the English school contributed a standardized system of assessment. The dynamics of educational programs reflect a decline in the share of Russian methodology from 78,3 to 38,6% accompanied by the doubling of the share of integrated Chinese developments to 20.8 percent, indicating a transition to independent methodological synthesis that takes into account the physiological characteristics of students, national cultural attitudes, and the requirements of the modern ballet repertoire. The emerging model is distinguished by the deliberate distribution of methodological elements across stages of training and components of preparation, thereby ensuring the training of stylistically versatile performers. This is confirmed by the growth of competitive achievements, an almost eightfold increase in the number of prize-winning places at international competitions, the expansion of the stylistic range of graduation programs from 1,3 to 3,6 areas, and the rise in the proportion of employment in leading foreign companies to 41,2%. As a result, internationalization facilitated the formation of a multilayered pedagogical paradigm in which the transfer of techniques is mediated by the individual bodily experience of teachers and institutional mechanisms, demonstrating the productive potential of methodological pluralism for the development of the national choreographic school without loss of professional identity and opening prospects for understanding similar processes in artistic education.