Yingjie Chen
While the "Element Teaching Method" in Chinese ethnic and folk dance enhances training standardization, it also leads to practical dilemmas such as the loss of cultural context and the symbolization of performance. The neglect of the "aesthetics of the ugly" in folk art within the existing teaching system further narrows students' performance dimensions. Focusing on the teaching of Dan roles in Gannan Tea-Picking Opera, this study reveals through field interviews, teaching material practice, and theoretical synthesis that the aesthetic trait of "seeing beauty within the ugly" embodied by the caidan (clownish female role) is essentially the artistic externalization of the Hakka cultural survival philosophy of "optimism, accepting fate, and transforming with circumstances." The study proposes a teaching transformation path of "Element Deconstruction — Role Reconstruction": extracting core genetic elements of the caidan such as "staccatotremor rhythmics," "swaying-twisting postures," and "everyday life movement phrases" during the deconstruction stage, and using character personality and situational logic to guide element integration during the reconstruction stage. This culminates in a three-tier teaching system comprising "Basic Movement Layer — Composite Technique Layer — Role Performance Layer." This transformation avoids the vulgar tendency of "ugliness for the sake of ugliness," provides a referenceable practical paradigm for the living inheritance of local opera genres, and holds universal reference value for expanding the aesthetic boundaries of ethnic and folk dance and achieving holistic cultural inheritance.