What are some famous dances from Burma?

The Count of Bahan

The dance is based on an ancient Burmese story. In the 9th century AD, there was a town named Bahan, located on the banks of the Shindun River, one of the four major rivers in Burma. There was a count in Bahan who was known for his loving kindness, so after his death, various performances appeared in honor of the count. The dance shows the audience that the Count of Bahan was rich and famous, but acted fairly, never oppressed the people, and also helped people to become rich and get rid of poverty, and used his own money to build temples to help the people, which was embraced by the people of Burma, and his achievements were recorded in the history books and widely sung.

The dance has a certain degree of performative and narrative character, and the movements are expressive and lyrical, belonging to the theater dance of Myanmar. It is performed with dancers dressed in traditional costumes, and there are detailed role-playing dances as well as dances focusing on the Count's feats. The dance movements have a fixed hand language, focusing on eye and hand routes. Although the whole dance is mainly narrative, it does not stick to the narrative of the dance plot, and while briefly describing the plot, it emphasizes the expression of the characters' emotions through movements that conform to the characters' personalities and identities and have the character of dance. Throughout the dance, the movements are skillfully articulated and full of changes, reflecting Count Bahan's love and the people's support for him. The performances of the actors are very effective, so the dance is very vivid and has the characteristics of Burmese theater dance.