PERSUASIVE SPEECH ANALYSIS

PERSUASIVE SPEECH ANALYSIS
Video: Why dance is NOT a universal language - By Fangfei Miao | TEDxUofM
Link: Why dance is NOT a universal language | Fangfei Miao | TEDxUofM
COMMENTARY

SPEECH

The speaker introduces herself and her
background. By showing her accomplishment
in dancing, the speaker establishes her
credibility and also gains the audience’s
attention.

My name is Fangfei Miao and I am an assistant
professor in the department of dance at the
University of Michigan. Usually, I am not a mind
reader, but quite often after I introduce myself to
other people under this title, I am pinned down
somehow as just a dancer just being Chinese. I am
a dancer, but I am also the first dancer from the
people's republic of China who received a Ph.D. in
the US. Yes, there are some and many Ph.D.
programs in the US that focus on critical dance
studies and I graduated from one of them.

The speaker reveals the topic and her
perspective which is in between the US and
China. She also explains why people assume
that dance is a universal language.

I am Chinese, but I am also an outside insider in

between the US and China, and an eyewitness
crossing over conversations artistically and
societally in every single day of my life. Today with
this position as an artist scholar and outside insider,
I would like to talk about how dance is not a
universal language. Dance seems like a universal
language because artists around the world all use
the same instrument the human bodies. But this
concept really overweights the significant
complexities underneath it.

The speaker introduces how she organizes her
speech and what she uses to represent the US
and China.
And from now on, she uses her body language
which is different dances to illustrate her
speech effectively.

And today I would like to talk a little bit more about
those complexities through a performative talk. I will
divide the stage into two parts: one representing the
US and one representing China just gave me one
second to bring out my props. Yeah, I know why
papers, why not they are very convenient to carry.

The speaker moves into the first part of the
body of her talk, in which she explains the
question “why dance is not a universal
language” as an artist.

As I step onto the position as an artist I work very
hard to make meaningful communications to my
audiences. While at the same time, not pondering to
their expectations. This is not a universal body, it's a
body marked by race and gender, and size and so
many other things. It invites different expectations
from different audiences.

The speaker gives examples from her own
experiences as an artist who performs in the
US and China. Therefore, she points out the
differences between the mindset of audiences
in the US and China.

For example, in the US, my body is pretty much
marked by race and gender. My audience rates me
as a body of a Chinese woman instead of the body
of a white man. Whatever I do on stage, they tend
to relate that to some Tai Chi performance and to
my race even though that is not my intention at all.
As I go across the border to China, my Chinese
audience rates me more as a trained body because


there are so many dancing Chinese women on
stage. This body becomes the norm. My audience
would expect to see more virtuosic performances to
show our proficiency like jumps or spins or this leg
raised really really really high, which I cannot do
anymore.

The speaker links the example with her speech
at the present, which makes her example more
vivid.

As an artist, I try to unpack those different
expectations, but at the same time confront my
audience directly through a performative talk, like
the one that I am doing right now.

Moving to the next position, as a scholar, the
speaker shows that the connection between
the audience and the performer is highly
influenced by many other factors, and that’s
why dance is not universal.

As I step away from this position as an artist and I
step onto this position as a scholar, I bring a crosscultural dimension to the scholarly conversations in
the English English-speaking academia about how
dance is not universal, but rather socially,
historically, culturally, politically constructed. There
is no universal way to appreciate dance. There's no
direct connection between the audience and the
performer, but rather there exists that indirect
connection that is highly influenced by society,
history, culture, politics, and many other things.

The speaker gives examples from her own
experiences when she performs in the US and
China. She concluded that both the audiences
from the two countries didn’t get what she tried

to transmit to them. They also have different
understandings and misunderstandings.

For example, in the US, many years ago I
performed a solo to show my sincere pursuit of my
dream. At the beginning of the dance, I was
performing on the floor to show my longing for my
dream and then my resolution to achieve it. In the
second half of the dance, I performed by standing
up to show the obstacles that I faced with. However,
my American audiences read that piece as an
abstract development of certain movement motifs.
They didn't get my specific expression. As I want
across the border to China, my Chinese audiences
read the piece as evolution for them. At first, I was
performing a fish swimming in the pool and then I
became a reptile trying to search for food, and I
became a gorilla trying to stand up, and eventually,
the human being standing upright. My Chinese
audiences didn't get my specific expression either.

She shows that different socio-historical
circumstances bring different influences to the
audience even with the same dance
performance.

As a scholar, I study the socio-historical
circumstances that these audiences are in and how
that influenced their contrasting readings of the
same dance performance. I also study what

understandings and misunderstandings emerge
from that indirect connection.

The speaker signals the end of the talk. She
explains the reason why she chooses the topic
and then emphasizes the topic that “dance is
not a universal language”. Throughout the talk,
she uses the method of reasoning from specific

As I step away from this position of a scholar and
onto the last piece of paper, you know that I start to
conclude this talk. You are right, here it comes.
Artistically and scholarly speaking death is not a
universal language I choose this topic today


instances.

because I am in deep love with dance. I don't want it
to be seen as something very superficial and just a
physical performance. That is profound, there is
intellectual, there's this cultural, history, society,
politics, memories, rituals, combinations of them,
and so much more.

The speaker reaffirms her role to build terminal
credibility so that her speech could be more
effective and convincing.

This is why I didn't choose to talk about the Chinese

stuff tonight because similar to dance, I am much
more profound and complicated than how I look.
As an artist and a scholar an outside insider, I am
standing in between the US and China and icds
connect people together. It makes very interesting
confusions but it is those confusions that bring us
together so that I can talk about dance today.
Thank you very much.