Why do Yi people dance Torch Festival?

Torch Festival is a traditional grand festival of Yi people, just like we celebrate the Spring Festival. On the morning of June 24th of the lunar calendar every year, all Yi people, men, women and children, wear the most beautiful clothes, get together, celebrate by drinking during the day, and carry out bullfighting, wrestling, horse racing, archery and other activities. In the evening, a bonfire party is held, that is, a pile of wood is lit, and everyone sings and dances around the fire, and they also hold torches for a parade. Numerous torches swam across the fields of Shan Ye, and the scenery was very beautiful. The boys played flutes, touching Qin Yue and Da Sanxian, and danced the beautiful and cheerful dance "An Xi Jumped over the Moon" with the girls. How did the Torch Festival come about? Why do Yi people celebrate Torch Festival? Legend is to commemorate an ancient heroine who died because of her intelligence, loyalty and resistance to violence. It reflects the desire of the Yi people to drive away evil and pursue a better life.

It is a custom for Yi people to dance Torch Festival on Torch Festival, which originated from an ancient legend.

About 500 years ago, a wealthy family had two daughters. The eldest daughter got married and celebrated without dancing or singing. The old man felt very sad and depressed. So he called the people to negotiate and created several dances according to the division of labor, connecting them according to the interesting things of life in farming activities, such as transplanting rice seedlings, feeding dogs, kicking cockscomb and driving ducks. Finally, the dances created by everyone were combined to form twelve sections.

The dance on the Torch Festival of Yi people is a special form of expression of "expressing feelings with feet" in the hall. The range of dance movements is not large. Young men and women form a circle, holding hands. Generally, there are 6 to 8 people or 12 people in a group. They dance without any accompaniment, mainly through the changes of the telescopic movements of feet, ankles, knees, hips and other joints, as well as the mutual impact and trampling of soles.