What is the history of Vietnamese folk dance?

Vietnam's folk dance is extremely rich and diverse, and it is directly passed down by the masses, so it is relatively complete and belongs to the category of "lower culture". Vietnam has different folk dances in different historical periods, which are closely related to the folk activities of the masses, and can show the folk psychology of the masses through specific images.

(A) Wang Xiong period of folk dance.

The Wang Xiong dynasty in 1000 BC was founded in Wanlang Kingdom, which is now Rongshi Province. Under the rule of 18 Wang Xiong, it was the most prosperous period in ancient Vietnamese history. Vietnamese dance scholars have studied ancient bronze drums, cliff paintings and daily utensils, and come to the conclusion that the dance in Wang Xiong period was a direct embodiment of people's material life.

1. Self-entertaining dance

From the dance images on ancient bronze drums discovered by archaeology, it can be seen that the dance images in Wang Xiong period accounted for a considerable part. These dances have vivid images, rich scenes, rough and powerful movements, and are full of barbaric legacy. In Wang Xiong's time, dancing was a national activity, and people started dancing when they got together. Dance is completely out of the inner expression, and it is the most direct, strongest and purest expression that inspires life perception under the goal of human survival and development. From the form of expression, there are group dance, duet, solo dance and threesome dance; Judging from the appearance of dancers, they wear animal feathers and hold dance equipment, or they are hairy or naked. Gu Zhuo's dance style is simple and simple. The unearthed bronze drum has the unique style of dancer's right arm bending, five fingers opening upwards, left arm bending and five fingers opening downwards. From the dance content, there are hunting life, witchcraft sacrifice activities, inner joy and reproductive worship, as well as various totem dances. Not only that, daily necessities, hunting spears and axes can all be dance props. Therefore, Wang Xiong's dance activities were quite frequent. When everyone is immersed in the dance and madly venting the emotional appeal of life, this collective vibration makes the dance look warm, spectacular and thrilling.

2. The Dance of Life and War

Because people need food and clothing, resist foreign aggression and plunder the weak, hunting and fighting are also the main contents of dance performances in this period. Most dance movements come from production and life. On the basis of the working life of threshing with wooden pestle in Wang Xiong period, people created dancing rice, with powerful dancing movements and simple style. There is also "rowing dance", in which young women make beautiful gestures of waving waves with their arms during the performance; The men lined up with paddles, marched, paused, twisted and swayed with the conductor, and roared and sang. The pace is wild and complicated, with primitive elegance. In addition, during the period of Wang Xiong, some powerful actions in the battle were arranged to scare off wild animals and inspire people, such as spear dancing, people dancing with spears in their hands, wearing thatch and screaming with their hair. Shield dance, people dance with shields and spears. Wang Xiong's dance had original charm, and its characteristics were as follows:

(1) Life is dancing. Dance is an indispensable part of primitive human life, so it can also be called "life dance", because human life is the root cause and external environment for the emergence and development of primitive dance and even the whole dance system. Dance action is the beautification of life action, and the dance is warm and spectacular, which strongly releases the mood of life.

(2) The purpose is clear. Restricted by the low level of productivity, most dances have a clear purpose, but there was no pure art of "art for art's sake" at that time; The action modeling is strong, angular and wild, and the style is mainly free and unrestrained, which is original.

(3) Group dancing is the main method. Restricted by the low level of productivity, people's production, life, entertainment and recreation in Wang Xiong period were mostly inseparable from groups, so dances were mostly presented in the form of group dances. The performance form is relatively simple and free, free from the constraints of scale and procedures, simple in structure, high in repetitive movements and strong in sociality, so that every dancer can find a sense of belonging, thus effectively strengthening the group consciousness of tribal members.

(4) Diversification of forms. Dances in Wang Xiong's period included a large number of dances imitating animals and even plants, including playful dances that satisfied self-amusement, war dances that showed human's courage and fearlessness, lyric dances that entrusted human's spiritual pursuit, and reproductive worship dances that hoped future generations would prosper.

(5) There are many props and strict boundaries between men and women. The utensils in people's life and work and the weapons in war can all be used for dancing. As a product of a clear division of labor between men and women, most dances in Wang Xiong period were performed by both sexes.

In a word, Wang Xiong's dance is the most direct, instinctive, vivid and comprehensive expression of Vietnamese primitive human emotions, thinking, behavior and lifestyle.

Dance images on ancient bronze drums

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