Lo Lo people are flexible in traditional dance
HA GIANG – Lo Lo people in the two districts of Dong Van and Meo Vac have their own unique dances. The Lo Lo
Having the opportunity to admire the beautiful dances of the Northwestern people, visitors will love the unique culture of the ethnic minorities in our country.
One of the beautiful dances of the Northwest is the stall dance, also known as the stall dance of the Muong, Thai, and Kho Mu ethnic groups. This is a folk dance that is used a lot in spring festivals, seasonal festivals or full moon nights, creating a very special cultural imprint.
The stall dance needs props, which are two big bamboos for the female stall and many small bamboos for the baby stall. When dancing, people will place two female stalls a reasonable distance apart, so that they can hold the two ends of the stalls. Each sub-tree will be placed parallel to each other about 2 spans, creating a very majestic stall.
Bamboo dance is a beautiful and difficult traditional dance , requiring the dancer to be very focused. Usually, people participating in stall dancing will take on two positions: slamming and stall dancing. In which, the team beating the stalls must knock in a 4/4 rhythm, 3 times knocking on the female stalls, 1 time knocking 2 sub-slats together, creating a very bustling and fun sound.
Dancers must know the rhythms to be able to jump into the stalls gently, fly back and forth without getting stuck between the female stalls and the small stalls. Performances between people smashing stalls and wax dances must always be in tune with the singing and dancing in the sky.
If you have the opportunity to travel to the Northwest , you can visit the community tourism villages to see the H’mong people dancing the Khen. This is a folk dance often used in spring markets, festivals or serving visitors to the Northwest. The rendezvous dance is strong but also soft and skillful, requiring participants to have high technique.
Khen dance is a combination of technique and art when the dancer has to play the flute at the same time as the season but still ensure the sound is not interrupted. The interesting thing in the beautiful dance of the Northwest is the variety of dance movements. According to statistics, there are more than 30 unique and impressive Khen dance movements.
Khen is a musical instrument created by the Mong people with the connection of many bamboo tubes, which can be inhaled and blown out to create diverse sounds. The sound of the trumpet can simulate the sound of birds chirping, streams rumbling, the wind is low when suddenly, near and far, extremely poetic and colorful typical of the Northwest culture.
When performing the Khen dance, the Mong boys often hug the Khen and perform many new and fancy dance moves and dances. The difficulty of the Khen dance is that the dancer must both blow and perform movements such as rolling, playing the Khen, moving forward, backward, changing places, etc. with flexibility and rhythm.
For the H’mong, the Khen dance is divided into two types, namely the happy Khen and the Sad Khen. In which, Khen Vui is a dance held on festivals, seasons, early spring or to welcome visitors from far away. The sad trumpet with rhythm, quiet melody, used in funerals, wooden blocks with sad and dreary tones.
Whether it’s happy or sad, this is also a beautiful dance of the Northwestern people with skillful dance techniques. Hmong boys who want to play the flute must have good health and fitness, practice playing the flute from the age of 12 to 13, and learn dances to bring out spectacular performances.
In the Northwest culture , dances contribute to the diversity of the traditions of each ethnic group. If you have the opportunity to travel to this land, take the time to visit Thai villages in Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La and Yen Bai provinces. This is a beautiful dance containing many values of music, dance and culture of the people here.
Usually, Thai people will organize a spread dance around the fire to celebrate the successful harvest or important jobs. People dance and drink can wine in the sound of gongs and drums. For tourists, this traditional dance is a beautiful and extremely satisfying dance.
Today, the spread dances are further created to suit different situations. The dances are also named as spread round dance, spread hat, spread dance, … with different rhythms and performances. The image of a Thai girl with a conical hat in her hand creates a beautiful culture that every tourist wants to enjoy when returning to the Northwest.
In the Xoe dances, the conical hat is a favorite dance of Thai people and often performed. Thai girl with conical hat in hand performs soft and uniform dance movements, sometimes spreading out slowly like a blooming flower, sometimes leaning on her shoulder to create very beautiful images. Impressive to captivate visitors.
It can be said that the Khen dance, the stall season and the Xoe dance are the most popular and most loved by visitors of the Northwestern beautiful dances . To admire these dances, you can go to the community tourism villages where the Muong, Mong, Thai, … live, and the local residents mingle in the nights of jubilant singing, dancing, and activities. .
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