As we all know, the Dai people are hardworking, brave, gentle and kind. "Water-like nation" is another description of the Dai people's character. They are polite, gentle, soft outside and hard inside, smart and humorous. Their personalities are like water, sometimes like a trickle, gentle and delicate. Sometimes, it is like the torrent of a big river, rushing and worshiping. The dance of the Dai people also fully embodies this colorful national character. Dai dance has a long history. According to the Biography of Southwest China in the later Han Dynasty, in the first year of Yongning (120), the leader of the Dai ancestors presented large-scale acrobatics to the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This shows that as early as 1000 years ago, there was a high-level singing and dancing performance art in the local area.
There are many kinds and forms of Dai dances, which are widely spread and have their own characteristics. Generally speaking, representative programs can be divided into three categories: self-entertainment, performance and sacrifice. Self-entertainment street dance includes "Ga Guang", "Elephant Foot Drum Dance", "Yela Club" and "Shout Half Light", among which the most representative ones are "Ga Guang" and "Elephant Foot Drum Dance". 1. "Gaguang" is A Dai. "Ga" means jumping or dancing. "Guang" refers to drums in general, and also means gathering and piling up. "Ga Guang" can be translated as "dancing around the drum" or "dancing encouragement". Xishuangbanna is called "Fanguang", and many places are also called "Tiaobai" and "Ningbai". This dance is the oldest dance of the Dai people, and it is popular in more than 20 counties and cities. It is a kind of self-entertaining dance, which can be danced by men, women and children, regardless of the venue. Gaguang is equipped with national percussion instruments such as elephant foot drums and cymbals; But in some places, people who beat gongs and drums also take part in the dance and lead people to dance in circles. When dancing in the past, dancers could do whatever they wanted, as long as they were warm and cheerful. Many unified movements and routines have been developed, with different names in different places, and some dance programs have been derived. For example, there are more than 30 sets of "Xin Ga Guang" danced by young people, "Ga Yang Ya" danced by two middle-aged and elderly women, and "Ga Wen" (soft dance) danced by old people.
2. Elephant-foot drum dance is a kind of male dance with self-entertainment and strong performance.
The elephant foot drum is named after the shape of the drum. Dai people generally call it "Gaguang", but long, medium and small elephant foot drums have different names. This kind of dance is mainly played with elephant foot drums, accompanied by cymbals, cymbals, or drums and cymbals.
The long elephant foot drum is 1.8 to 2 meters long, which is called "Ga Guang Rao" in Dai language and can be seen everywhere, but Ruili County is the most representative. Long elephant foot drums are mostly used for accompaniment, and they can play a variety of drums. There are also some drum expressions, such as "about writing, about writing, about miles" (meaning "good lifting, good lifting, good wings lifting"); You can also dance solo while playing, and at the same time show your drumming skills, and form a beautiful dance with the great rotation and swing of the long drum tail.
The drum of China Elephant Foot Drum is about one meter long. This kind of dance is popular in the whole Dai area, especially in Luxi, Yingjiang and Lianghe counties, Baoshan and Lincang areas in Dehong area. China Elephant Foot Drum is called "Gaguang" in Hong Rong Dai language, also called "Gaguang Wu Jie" or "Gaguang Heila". When you jump, you usually jump around with your back drum, or you can jump with two people or you can jump with cymbals. In Dehong mangshi, there was a drum competition, and the winner hung a silver medal on the drum according to the length of the drum, the quality of the timbre, the shaking range of the drum tail and the graceful dance.
The drum body of the little elephant foot drum dance is about 60 cm long, which is popular in Jinghong, Menghai and Mengla counties. The Dai language in Xishuangbanna is "Fanguangtuo". Because the drums are small and light, they can dance flexibly, so this kind of dance is mainly competitive, usually in groups of two or four. When dancing, there are actions such as beating drums, avoiding and kicking. To win by taking off the "Baotou" on the other side's head.
Shouting half light is an ancient dance form of Dai people, which is popular in mangshi, Yingjiang, Ruili and other counties in Dehong area. Shouting half light is Dehong's A Dai language. Shouting means singing or singing, half means following me or surrounding, and light means drums. Literally translated as "songs sung with drums" There is no limit to the number of people jumping, and the movement is free.
Yelahui is a self-entertainment song and dance popular in Xishuangbanna. In the past, only men danced during the Songkran Festival, but now it has become a form of collective song and dance that can be participated by men, women and children. This kind of song and dance is simple and can be played freely when dancing; But the tune is fixed. As long as someone improvises and takes the lead in singing, everyone can sing in chorus. Because I sang the last sentence, "Yelahui, water one, water one." So this kind of song and dance is called "Yelahui". The dances performed include peacock dance, Elephant Dance, Fish Dance, Butterfly Dance and Hat Dance. The most representative is peacock dance. Peacock dance is the most distinctive performing dance among Dai dances, which is popular in Dehong, Xishuangbanna, Jinggu, Menglian, Gengma and other counties. Peacock dance is called "Galoyong" in Dehong Dai language and "Fanoyong" in Xishuangbanna Dai language. "Ga" and "Fan" both mean to jump or jump; "Luo Yong" and "Nuoyong" both mean "Peacock". During the performance, the dancers wore a pagoda-shaped golden crown mask, peacock props and musical instruments such as elephant feet drums and cymbals. There are solos, duets, trios and musical performances.
Peacock dance's dancing method varies from place to place, and forms different styles according to the performers' skills. The most representative soloists are artists from Ruili County, who take this as an example. Make, form rich dance steps; There are many semi-professional artists in Ruili County, such as Rui Ban, He Fei, Mao Xiang, Yue Xiang and Wang La. They have their own innovations in performance and are famous for their own genre style. Peacock dance, also known as "Fan Nannuo", is the most representative peacock dance, a double, popular in Jinghong County. "Nan" means "noble woman" and "Nuo" means "sparrow" or "bird"; Fan Nannuo can be translated as "Sparrow Princess Dance", which mainly shows the dancing of two peacocks, male and female. Peacock dance, from mangshi, luxi county, first performed the "Peacock and the Devil" three-person dance, and later evolved into a solo dance. He used peacock props to be big and exquisite, and opened and closed freely, attracting a wide audience. Peacock dance in Jinggu County is a musical performance, singing and dancing. The dance steps are simple, mainly walking and breaking. The performance is the Buddhist story "Call He Han Beat Peacock". In the Dai village of Yuanyang County, "Sacrifice and Encouragement" is a simple action, accompanied by drums, with teachers and mothers singing and dancing on the altar and the masses dancing freely under the stage. There is a kind of "dragon dance" in the Dai folk houses in Shiping County, which is carried out in the activity of offering sacrifices to dragon trees. When dancing, the wizard holds an iron ring with a ring, and the witch holds a sheepskin drum. They lead the dance. The villagers participated in the dance rhythmically. Sometimes the whole group is in a circle, and sometimes two people jump around. There is no fixed form or formation. Dancers change their postures at will, seeking only high spirits and solemnity. Dance movements are simple and the steps are small. With the pace, the vibration amplitude of the knee is very small. Hands around the semicircle, drums and bells on the left and right waist sides.
Xinping county also has a "lion dance" at the funeral, accompanied by suona and gongs and drums; There are some routines, such as dancing around the coffin and clearing the way in front of the coffin. The performance style and music of this dance are similar to those of Han and Yi, and there are obvious traces of absorbing the dance music of Han and Yi.
Some sacrificial dances, such as "Six Gods Dance" once popular in Dehong area and "Bema Dance" once popular in Jiangcheng county, are no longer danced.
In the Ming Dynasty's "Hundred Arts Biography", it was described that "when parents die, there is no need for monks and Taoist priests, and women are willing to be in front of the corpse. Relatives and neighbors drink alcohol in the funeral home, gather hundreds of teenagers, drink and have fun, sing and dance, which is called entertaining corpses; The women got together, played a game and were buried a few days later. " Sacrificial dance scenes can only be seen in the Dai residential area of Xinping County: on the second day of mourning, the drum blowing team must be invited to dance for the dead (that is, lion dance); The women banded together to fight with the men. It shows that the dance in the funeral activities that existed in the Ming Dynasty still exists today, but it is simplified. 1, IRA dance-also known as "annoying Yihe". Popular in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture. Every time the Water-splashing Festival, Kaimen Festival or the festive days in the Dai calendar, the Dai people will happily dance this dance, which is named after the lyrics lined with "Yila River". The characteristics of IRAH dance are similar to those of Gabbana dance.
2, butterfly dance-Dai language is called "awkward." Popular in Mengding and Ruili counties of Gengma County, Dehong Prefecture. It is said that the butterfly dance is created to create new faces during the competition. During the performance, the dancers tied the props in the shape of butterflies to their bodies, imitating the flying patterns of butterflies, and their movements and drums were similar to those of Little peacock dance.
3. Dai dance popular in Jinping County. It's hot and rainy there, and daily life and work can't be separated from hats. That's why there is the hat dance. The actions of the hat include "lifting the hat", "rolling the hat in front", "rolling the shoulder hat" and "throwing the hat". When dancing, the knees are gentle and slightly bent, but not obvious.
4. Lahou Dance-called "Jia Dian" in Dai language. It is a performance ritual dance, which is mainly popular in Xishuangbanna. The dance is gentle and subtle, and it often adopts actions such as sitting, standing, kneeling, stepping up and down, lifting the front side, bending the legs back, holding the lighted wax bar with both hands, and drawing a circle with your hands out.
5, chicken dance-Dai language is called "Beggars". Popular in children dance of luxi county, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. Dance mainly imitates chicken foraging, fighting and other actions, with long jumping time and fast speed as the victory. Children usually count and dance without musical instruments.
6. Twelve Horses Dance-called "circus double" in Dai language, is a kind of song and dance performed by twelve people, which is popular in Yingjiang County and luxi county of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. The performer wears horse-shaped props around his waist, pulls the reins in one hand and holds a fan in the other. The main reason is that he runs halfway, his soles are broken and shaking, changing various formations. Usually he sings about twelve months' labor, and sometimes he performs a story.
7. Yan Yan-which means "the dance of the little princess or young lady" used to dance only on religious festivals or when the toast got married and succeeded to the throne, and it was mainly popular in Mengdong area of Cangyuan County. Singing is the main content, including singing about marriage, love and twelve months of productive labor. When dancing, the man punches in front and the woman holds a fan or towel, which is similar to dancing with lights.