Lighting as a Pen: Exploring the Role of 3D Virtual Stage Lighting in the Emotional Pull of Dance Creation through ‘The Great Qin’

Abstract

This study focuses on the emotional guidance and constructive potential of 3D virtual stage lighting in dance creation, taking the stage work "The Great Qin" as the core case. It explores how virtual lighting transforms from visual decoration into an active element of dance composition. Based on theories of emotional cognition, symbolic interactionism, perceptual aesthetics, and choreographic construction, the paper integrates visual analysis and semi-structured interviews to comprehensively examine the multiple functions of virtual lighting in the process of dance creation. The research shows that virtual lighting not only creates narrative atmosphere and spatial perception but also stimulates movement generation, inspires creative thinking, and alters stage scheduling through its characteristics such as color, rhythm, intensity, and trajectory. The three interviewees responded from different perspectives to the emotional impact and structural power of the lighting, indicating its potential to reshape choreographic approaches in the context of a virtual stage. This paper proposes the concept of "participatory creation through virtual lighting," emphasizing the nonlinear, interwoven relationship between light and movement, and suggesting it as a driving force for innovation in dance creation under new media environments. The study concludes that virtual lighting, with its preset capability, spatial-temporal control, and narrative structure, can guide dance creation into a polyphonic system centered on light, expanding the logic of movement generation and the narrative possibilities of the stage.