Yi People's "Art and Culture at Fingertips" Cigarette Box Dance

Yi people's cigarette box dance, also known as "jumping strings", is a mass folk dance in Yunnan Yi people and other places. With the changes of the times, the humanistic environment of cigarette box dance has also slowly developed and changed, and the traditional custom of "eating fire grass smoke" has also disappeared. So, do you know anything about the Yi people's cigarette box dance?

Next, let's look at it from the perspective of national culture!

Historical origin of cigarette box dance

"Cigarette Box Dance" is a traditional national dance. Legend has it that its origins are different. Generally speaking, in order to hunt wild animals, Yi people often mix with the herd in skins. Later, this imitation of wild animals gradually developed into dance, thus forming a "three-step string". Another way of saying it is that a three-step string is the way to pick seedlings up and down the mountain. In a word, this shows that "cigarette box dance" originated from the labor struggle life of Yi people. In addition, it is said that cigarette box dance has no props at first, but it is irregular because of uneven rhythm, so it is unified with clapping. Later, someone played with a cigarette case full of yellow smoke and made a pleasant sound, so they used it instead of clapping their hands. After being passed down from generation to generation, it has been enriched and developed into today's "cigarette box dance".

The distinctive characteristics of cigarette box dance

1. Yi people's cigarette box dance is composed of sine and miscellaneous strings, forming two styles and various schools in mountainous areas and dam areas, with more than 220 sets of dance routines. At present, only 1 17 sets have been collected, including 62 sets of sine and 55 sets of miscellaneous strings. Its dance forms include duet, threesome and group dance. Dancers hold round wooden cigarette cases filled with fire and grass smoke in the old days. Accompanied by four strings, they beat the box at the bottom and danced with lively rhythm and warm atmosphere.

Second, the graphic changes of cigarette box dance are also very distinctive. In addition to the general circle dance, there are also colorful graphic changes and combinations of flowers. There are 6 people wearing flowers, 4 people wearing flowers, 3 people wearing flowers, 2 people wearing flowers, etc. Dance and graphic changes are skillfully coordinated and unified, which has become an important part of the style and characteristics of cigarette box dance.

Thirdly, cigarette box dance is closely related to the life of Yi people. The "fighting hoof shell" in dance is obviously imitated by animals fighting hooves; "Step on the seeds of grain" and "Step on mushrooms" are dances reflecting farming; "Sine" comes from the action of picking seedlings and going up and down the mountain. It is said that at the beginning, there was no cigarette case, only jumping or clapping with your bare hands. Later, when people smoked, they found that flicking the cigarette case with their fingers could make a "quack, quack" sound, which not only unified the dance rhythm, but also added a warm atmosphere to the dance. So I played with cigarette cases and jumped to the present.

Fourth, Shiping Yi people's cigarette box dance has distinct personality and diverse skills. Famous skills include "fairy bridge", "ant moving" and "hanging gold hook upside down". This distinctive folk dance can not only strengthen the body, but also make people feel happy. Its movements are smooth and natural, full of artistic appeal. It is deeply loved by the masses and spread all over urban and rural areas. Now it has developed into a comprehensive dance art integrating singing, dancing, music and competition.

As the most distinctive dance of the Yi people in southern Yunnan, the cigarette box dance shows the historical view, moral view, values and way of thinking in Yi culture with its unique dance vocabulary, which has high research value in ethnology, folklore and sociology. At the same time, cigarette box dance, like Yi folk songs, is widely loved by local people of all ethnic groups with its unique artistic charm, and has become a platform for strengthening unity and enhancing friendship among ethnic groups. On May 20, 2006, Yi people's cigarette box dance was approved to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.