Traditional Dance of the Dai People

The traditional dance of the Dai people is called "Jaluochong", "Boring Luochong" or "Jannanluo" in Dai language. This is the most popular dance of the Dai people, which has been passed down in the Dai settlement. The rich and beautiful Dai Township, known as the "Peacock Township", used to be a place where peacocks danced in a charming manner whenever the morning sun was shining or the setting sun was shining, so the peacock in the hearts of the Dai people is a symbol of good luck, happiness, beauty and goodness. During festivals, the Dai people gather together to watch peacock dances and dances that express the peacock's habits based on folk stories, myths and legends, and Buddhist scriptures performed by folk artists. For example, the Peacock Dance based on the mythological story "The Devil and the Peacock" is still popular among the people. The dance shows that the devil wants to take over the peacock as his wife, and the peacock with a human face and a bird's body struggles to shake his beautiful feathers, and the splendid, brilliant light makes the devil's brother go blind, and the peacock achieves victory.

Originality

There are many moving legends about the origin of the Peacock Dance among the Dai people. One of them is like this: Legend has it that a long time ago, the leader of the Dai people led 4,000 people to search for happiness, and when they arrived at "Lai Shao Meng", they heard the sound of fruits dropping into the water and the sound of fish eating the water, and they saw peacocks dancing gracefully along with the melodious sound, so they came back and imitated the sound and the movement of the peacocks. Accompanied by drums and cymbals, they danced the peacock dance. In some ancient murals and carvings of the Maung Maung temple, you can see a lot of lifelike images of peacocks with human faces and bird bodies, which are very similar to the peacock dance with spire helmets and masks on the head and peacock suits. The Ming Dynasty "Nanzhao wild history" also has a record of the peacock dance: "marriage to take the eldest and youngest jumping, blowing the reed-sheng for the peacock dance ...... ", visible peacock dance history has a long history.

Movement

The Peacock Dance is usually performed by one, two or three people. Whenever the dancers are happy, the crowd applauds "My - My", "Water - Water", the atmosphere is very The atmosphere is very warm. Peacock dance has a more fixed performance program, mostly imitating the peacock flying out of the nest, sensitive vision exploration, walking peacefully, looking for water, drinking water, water, bathing, shaking wings, sun wings, wings and all things beautiful, free and happy to fly and so on.

The peacock dance movement is exceptionally rich, the most common hand style palm, peacock hand style "(thumb slightly inward buckle, index finger flexion back, the remaining three fingers such as a fan-shaped cocked)," eye style "(index finger and thumb a little closer to the rest of the three fingers such as a fan-shaped cocked) and so on. There are tiptoe steps, "undulating steps" (the power leg is driven by the heel and kicked up to the buttocks and then landed on the palm of the foot, with the main leg then flexed and extended) and so on.

The Dai Peacock Dance has a strict program and requirements: before each action, there is a starting style, after the end of the closing style; there is a fixed footwork, positional diagrams and fixed combinations of actions; each combination of actions and a fixed drum accompaniment. The dance vocabulary of Shelf Peacock Dance is especially rich, with "running down the mountain", "peeping in the forest", "walking in the forest", "shaking wings", "pointing", and "shaking the wings". "flying down the mountain", "peeping in the forest", "walking in the forest", "shaking wings", "pointing at the water" and other movements that are exquisite simulations of the peacock's demeanor.

The Dai Peacock Dance, with its light and graceful style, delicate expression of emotions and graceful dance posture, is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Dai people and has a high aesthetic value. It is not only performed alone in important and lively national festivals, but also often integrated in the collective dance "Gaguang". The Peacock Dance has the significance of maintaining the unity of the Dai ethnic group, and its representativeness makes it the dance with which the Dai ethnic group has the greatest sense of national cultural identity.

Style

The style of the dance can be summarized into three categories: the first is the male peacock dance. Folks dance this dance. The knees undulate rigidly. Dance posture has obvious "three curves" characteristics. The second is the female peacock dance. It is mostly performed by men in folklore. The knees undulate softly and slowly, the dance posture is beautiful and delicate, and there are often arches of the chest and shoulder rotation, reflecting its subtle and charming form, and the drum beats are light and slow. The third is the Little Peacock Dance. It often adopts rapid small trembling and short steps to keep half squatting status, with flexible and light calves, often with continuous small shrugs, and fast and light drum beats. The Dai language is called "Jar Guang" or "Bored Light" (the Dai language says the drum is "light" and the dance is "Jar"). "Jaguang" is the most popular men's dance in the Dai area. Whenever rice-planting and harvest time come, the elephant foot drum dance is performed to celebrate. The elephant-foot drum is not only a prop for folk dance, but also the main instrument to accompany other dances. When the Dai people are entertained, there must be drums and dances, and only with the accompaniment of the elephant foot drums can the dances be danced with sound and color and sound and enjoyment.

History

There are many folk legends about the Elephant's Foot Drum and its dance. According to the legend, there was a couple in the ancient times, who took a rest by the water pool after laboring, and suddenly the wind blew the ripe mango from the tree into the water, making a loud sound, which gave them a chance to bring a new life to the Dai people. The sound brought them joy. When they returned home, they hollowed out the tree according to the foot of an elephant and made a drum out of cowhide. In the swing, they carried the drum to dance, and soon the elephant foot drum dance spread. It is also said that: a long time ago, there are two young men who tamed elephants according to the elephant's feet made the elephant foot drum. In the "Ming history - Baiyi biography" also has: "size of the long skin drum to hand pat" records.

Movement

When performing, the dancer carries the elephant foot drum on his left shoulder, with the drum face in front and the drum tail down, striking the drum with his right hand and cooperating with his left hand. Generally, the dancers use their fists, palms and fingers to beat the drum, and sometimes they also use their elbows, knees, heels and toes to beat the drum. The Elephant Foot Drum Dance is robust and rough. The rise and fall of the knees and the drumming action are closely coordinated, and the knees are bent when the hands are used to beat the drum. When you raise your hands, your knees are straight. The dance steps are very rich, there are "front point step half squat", "back point step half squat", "step full squat", "eight steps half squat

Categorization

The elephant foot drum has three kinds of drum shapes: long, medium and small, and there are three different jumping methods according to the drum shapes.

The first one is the Long Elephant Foot Drum Dance. It is mainly popular in Ruili County of Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Mengding of Gengma, some areas of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Menglian area. The drum is about two meters long, and because it is heavy, it is mostly used for dance accompaniment. When dancing, the pace is slow and steady, and the knees undulate powerfully. The drums are the richest, and have formed a certain drum language, which can express the mood of the Dai people's joy, anger, sadness and happiness.

The second kind is the elephant foot drum dance. Mainly popular in Luxi County, Yingjiang County, Gengma County, Jinggu County, Meng understand and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in some areas. The drum is about 1.5 meters long and lightweight. Its main feature is that the drum tail is swung up and flung up during the dance. As there is a tuft of peacock feathers on the tail of the drum, it looks very good when it is swung. Swinging the drum is to let the drum tail sway left and right, and flinging the drum is to press the drum head downward so that the drum tail is flung upward. The Chinese Elephant's Foot Drum Dance is not only performed at festivals, but there is also a special day every year for the Drum Race, in which the length of the drum sound, the sound quality and the size of the drum tail swing are taken as the winning criteria.

The third, small elephant foot drum dance. Only popular in Xishuangbanna area. The drum body is less than a meter long, rich in movement, often used as a peacock dance accompaniment. The movement is large, there are suction leg jumping, leg jumping, leg lifting and other steps. "Jar with the light" is the meaning of everyone dancing in a circle around the drum, it is the Dai people's most popular and most prevalent collective dance, it is not limited to the place and time, dozens of hundreds of people can be formed into a circle to dance in a clockwise direction, festivals throughout the night and dance without end.

The dance is simple and enthusiastic, with outstanding features, the women's knee trembling more evenly, and more smooth hand and foot dance. Generally, the "erratic step", "undulating step", "point step", "bow and arrow step" and other steps are the main ones. The hand movements are simpler, usually alternating with the natural hand style in front of the chest downward around the wrist or from the armpit upward to pull out the hand.

Sisters-in-law and the elderly dance in the inner circle, the old man's movement is slow, the knee undulation obvious, often with a large amount of forward and backward to express their excitement, their movements arbitrary free play, while outside the circle of young people, is required to move uniformly neat. The drums of Jar Companion Light are very rich. It is called "Jarba" in Dai language. It is mainly spread in Ruili County of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, and gradually spread to other areas after liberation.

It is said that when the Dai discovered fish and learned to fish, they danced to imitate fish. There are only one or two performers in the Fish Dance, and the dancers dance with fish-shaped props on their bodies. Fish Dance is softer and more delicate than other Dai folk dances, and it is dexterous and lively. It is mainly performed in the undulating, soft knee-bending half-palm step movement, small jumping agile and lively, showing the fish roaming in the calm water, often using the whole foot or half-palm knee-bending step walking, no undulation, hands and upper body only to the left and right swing. In the performance of the fish playing in the water or fighting with the rapids, often using small jumps, small jumps, small flip and other jumping movements, the image is vivid and realistic.

The Fish Dance mostly adopts the fish-shaped hand style (one hand with the palm of the hand over the back of the hand of the other hand, with the thumb stretched out), or with both hands to the outside of the circle and the arms swinging back as a typical action. The drum beat of the Fish Dance is slow and light, and the rich drum language is no less than that of the Peacock Dance. It is called "Jarun" in Dai language. It is an ancient folk dance performed by the Dai people during grand festivals. It is mainly popular in Ruili City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture.

Legend has it that a long time ago, the rain god ran away, the Dai area does not rain, the earth is a scorched, the roc bird set aside to hold the eggs of his wife in the face, and the rain god launched a fight to the death. A few days later, the roc defeated the rain god and made it rain, but the roc's wife and children had already starved to death. The Dai people, in order to express their respect for the roc, created the Roc Bird Dance, which has been handed down to this day.

The Dance of the Roc Bird is robust and rough, with big and powerful movements. The dance mainly expresses the action of the roc bird fighting with the rain god and the temperament of defying violence. Action changes quickly and powerfully, modeling time is longer "three curves" dance posture angle is prominent. For example, the appearance of the action is generally a big jump after a big dance modeling, showing the roc bird from the air swiftly and quickly down the spirit. More claw hand (fingers open into a fan) and palm hand type, these hand styles to strengthen the strength of the action. There are only one or two performers in the Roc Bird Dance. In the past, the dance was performed with props and masks of the roc bird type, which have been abandoned, so that the dance movements have been fully developed. The drums are unusually rich and the sound of the drums is deep and powerful. In Dai language, it is called "Jar Yang" and "Jar Luo Yang". It is a collective dance performed by young people during festivals. It is mainly popular in Ruili, Mangshi and Yingjiang areas of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture.

In the past, the dancers had to wear snow-white clothes and dance with two bright red ribbons on their shoulders, which is not common anymore. Snow-white heron birds are commonly seen in the bamboo forests or paddy fields near Dai villages. About the origin of the heron dance folklore varies, there is a kind of story: in ancient times there was a very poor young man, more than daily labor. The heron loved him very much and danced elegantly for him, and later the young man danced affectionately with the heron. Later, people choreographed this dance into a pair dance for young people. It is also said that a kind of ethnic group called "yang" once came to the area of Dehong, and this kind of dance is to show the process of their labor in the field.

The heron dance is generally based on the dance, the action is relative, the formation is more than two horizontal rows of left and right out of the meeting into two vertical rows, four rows, two circles, and so on. It is often directed by one person to change various movements and figures. The movements of the Heron Dance are simple and elegant. The rhythmic treatment of the dance steps is different from other Dai folk dances. When the weak beat is taken, the knees are bent quickly and the power leg is raised nimbly; when the heavy beat is taken, the knees are straightened with tenacity and the power leg is lightly landed on the palm of the foot, which imitates the walking action of the heron. There are special movements such as clapping the hands in front of the chest and arching the chest. The drum beat is light and simple. It is called "Jardong" in Dai language and is a collective dance of young people. It is mainly popular in some areas of Dehong Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Nowadays, it is only danced during grand festivals and has become an organized dance performance.

From a very early age, whenever the Water Splashing Festival and other religious festivals came, young men and girls went in groups to the deep forests and riversides to collect the most colorful and beautiful flowers, and then beat the elephant-footed drums and sang and danced to bring the flowers to the Maung Maung Monastery to make a pavilion of flowers, an ancient custom which has been passed down in the Dai villages till now.

There is a legend about the origin of the garland dance: once upon a time there was a poor young man who went to the dam to catch the pendulum, felt that his clothes were torn and tattered, so he picked a lot of flowers and tied them into a garland and put it on his body, and then after he came down the mountain and danced with the sound of the joyful drums of elephants and feet, a girl fell in love with him and sang along with his dance, and the garland dance arose from this.

The garland is made of brightly colored flowers tied to a bamboo grate about two meters long, and the dance is performed with both hands holding the ends of the garland, focusing on the changes in the garland while moving the pace. The dance is performed with both hands holding the ends of the garlands while moving the steps, focusing on the changes of the garlands and forming patterns with national characteristics. When the Garland Dance reaches the extreme music, it is directed by one person, and the dancers move from the slow plate to the fast plate, with tiptoeing, "Dun staggering step and small jump" and other movements. The Dai language calls the knife dance and the stick, fist and rod dances as "Bothering the whole", "Jar the whole" and "Order the whole". It is a male dance. Circulating in the vast Dai area, similar to the Han Chinese martial arts.

The beautiful scenery of the Dai countryside, Dai men are wearing a refined knife, marking their bravery and might, while the knife is also a favorable tool for production and labor. Knife dance Dai language called "Jarla" or "annoying pull". The movement is powerful and robust, and it mostly adopts the steps of "Big Eight Stomp", "Bouncing Legs", "Kicking Legs and Dabbing Jump" and "Squatting and Sliding", etc. These movements are very powerful and powerful. "

The Knife Dance is a folk dance of the Dai ethnic group.

The Knife Dance has single knife, double knives, short knives and long knives (similar to swords) and other types and different schools in the local area, the mainland and Burma, etc. Each school has its own strict performance programs and movements. They can be performed by one person to a dozen people, and the dance is unaccompanied or accompanied by elephant foot drums. The sticks, rods, and fists are basically similar to the Knife Dance. It is also called "Boredom Duo" and is a kind of prop dance. This dance used to be danced only in the grand religious festivals, and so far it is only popular in the area of Mengding and Menglian counties in Gengma County.

"Duo" is a kind of deified animal, which is said to have a lion's head, a dog's mouth, antlers, a long neck and fine hair. In Chinese, this dance is called "Ma Deer Dance". Jarto still with props to jump, props body length of one zhang, neck length of eight feet, with a bamboo grate woven into a forty-five-centimeter circle, the outside with a cloth wrapped up, cut up white paper glued to the top as a feather. Generally, two people cooperate to pretend to be a deer, the front dancers decorate the deer head and the front half of the body, with a stick to support the neck to do scratching movements, the back dancers grasp the tail, to the sides to do agile small jumps and falls and pounces, prancing around and other actions. The dance steps and drum beats are similar to those of the Peacock Dance. It is also known as "Bored Yiga". It is popular in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.

The Dai people dance this dance on festive days such as "Buddha Bathing Festival" and "Summer Festival", and it is named after "Yilaga" as a liner note after each section of the lyrics. The characteristics of Yilaga Dance are similar to those of the Jarring Light Dance. In Dai language, it is called "Jar Yan". It is popular in the area of Mengding in Gengma County and Ruili County in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture.

It is said that the Butterfly Dance was created for the purpose of making the dance unique. During the performance, the dancers tie the butterfly-shaped props on their bodies to imitate the form of butterflies, and their movements and drum beats are similar to those of the small peacock dance. It is popular in the area of Jinping County. As it is hot and rainy there, the hats are indispensable in daily life and labor. Thus there is the bucket hat dance.

The movements of the hat dance include "carrying the hat", "rolling the hat in front of the body", "rolling the shoulder hat", "swinging the hat" and so on. "When dancing, the knees undulate softly, and it is slightly modeled as a three-way bend, but it is not obvious. In Dai language, it is called "Jardine". It is a kind of performative ceremonial dance, mainly popular in Xishuangbanna area.

The dance is soft and subtle, and it is often performed in sitting, standing, kneeling, undulating steps, lifting the front side and bending the legs, etc. The dance is performed with hands holding the lit waxy strips, and it is performed by pulling out the hands and drawing a circle outward. In Dai language, it is called "Jargai". It is a children's dance popular in Mang City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture.

The dance mainly imitates the movements of chickens foraging for food and fighting with each other, and the winner is the one who jumps for a long time and at a fast speed. It is not accompanied by musical instruments and is usually danced by children counting. In Dai language, it is called "Ma Xi Shuang", which is a song and dance performed by twelve people and is popular in Yingjiang County and Mangshi City of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture.

The performers wear horse-shaped props around their waists, pull the reins with one hand and hold the fan with the other, and run mainly with half-pedal trembling, changing various formations. Generally, they sing about twelve months of labor, and sometimes they also perform a certain storyline. It means "the dance of the little princess or lady." In the past, it was only performed at religious festivals or when the Toji got married or succeeded to the throne, and it was mainly popular in Cangyuan County of Lincang City. The dance is mainly sung, and the content includes singing about marriage, love and twelve months of production and labor, etc. The men punch in front of the dance. Dance in front of the male fist, the female holding a fan or handkerchief, the action is similar to the Cannes partner light dance.

Additionally, in Jinping County, Honghe Prefecture, there are also "Boat Dance", "Flower Picking Dance", "Fish Fishing Dance", etc., which expresses the labor life, "Walking Dance" and so on. The Fan Dance, which has been passed down in Jinping County, is said to be a ritual dance performed when fighting ghosts. The "Elephant Dance" in Mengding area of Gengma County is called "Jar Zhang" in Dai language. It consists of two people laced with props in the shape of elephants, imitating the movements of elephants such as walking and saluting, with one person holding a red handkerchief to lead the elephants to dance. The "Women's Dance", popular in Xishuangbanna, is light and soft. Popular in Ruili County, "Jarrow ring", is an imitation of the bird dance, the same as the small peacock dance.