Yunnan Volume: Cap Dance of the Hani Ethnic Group
Cap Dance, popular in the Jinghong County of Xishuangbanna Region inYunnan Province, is a festival dance of the Aini People (of the Hani ethnic group) in the occasions of the Swing Festival, Bamboo Shoot Fair, Rice Seed Festival. While dancing together, men and women form a circle and there is no limit to their number. Men play music to help women change the floor patterns while the latter moving as the major dancers with uniquely shaped caps in their hands, forwards and sidewise, even over-headedly, and always abruptly and their knees shivering slightly, which makes the whole dance natural and stylish, easy-going and lively.
Liaoning Volume: Stilt Yangge
Stilt Yangge is widely popular in northern China while one kind of which spreading in the southernLiaoning Provinceproves to be one of the best Chinese folk dances. The ballad can give us an idea on how the local people love it: "People would itch to dance on hearing the trumpet blowing while they jump high on hearing the drums and gongs."
There are many characters in Stilt Yangge of the southern Liaoning Province such as "First Stilt", "Second Stilt", "Fisherman", "Match-Maker", "Scholar", "Female Character", "Clown" as well as many forms of dancing such as "Jietang", "Jiaxiang", "Dad-rang", and "Xiaochang", among which "Jietang" is a group dance performed in the street; "Jiaxiang" means peace with a physical pyramid of different poses; "Dachang" is passionate and exciting group dance done in a large open air space; and "Xiaochang" characterized by its love-story plot. In short, this dance form is both very funny and full of charm of daily life, and therefore very popular with the local people.
Guangdong Volume: Waking Lion Dance
Waking Lion Dance is mainly popular in southern China such asGuangdong Province, as well as the congregating areas of the overseas Chinese.
Waking Lion dance is characterized by its unique and vivid expression, of which the most attractive part is the lion "picking up vegetables", that is, the vegetables and monetary reward called "red package" are bound together, and either put. on the ground or hanged in the air, just to invite the lion dancer to pick them up by overcoming all kinds of obstacles and provide him with a chance to exhibit his wisdom and skills. Though it is not easy to accomplish, the clever dancer is always enough to make it and arouse deafening cheers and applause from his audience.
Hubei Volume: Phoenix Lantern
Phoenix Lantern, also called "Playing with Phoenix" or "Phoenix Dance", is popular in Yun County, Shiyan City, Danjiangkou City and Wuchang County, and performed at the Spring Festival and theLantern Festivalevery year. In China, phoenix is regarded as a lucky bird, therefore, to dance with it could bring good luck to one's future according to the Chinese traditional belief.
The dancing of Phoenix Lantern mainly expresses "Three Loves", that is, the love for peace, the love for peony, and the love for the sun. During the dancing process, the artist and the prop of the phoenix seem to integrate into one: when perching on the branch, the phoenix is very graceful and elegant; when seeing the peony, its movements of "smelling the peony" and "judging the peony" are intoxicated and delicate; and when looking up at the sun, it is flying wildly with joy with passionate and unrestrained movements.
The dance is performed with a beautifully made lantern decorated with phoenix images as props as well as simple and melodious music which as a whole give a uniquely local flavour.
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