Mongolian dance grassland style

 

Mongolian dance grassland style

 

With the help of Agudengba and Lavani, Dorje rescued his daughter Yadan who was trafficked to a prostitute island in Bangladesh. Dorje took his daughter to meet Agudengba and Dawa, as well as Adhuo and Chu who came to Myanmar. Samsung and Xiangqima.

Dorje is a famous local musician who founded the Naypyitaw Song and Dance Troupe. He specially brought a dance team from the Song and Dance Troupe here. The performers of this dance team are mainly Mongolian teammates.

While they were communicating and talking, the members of the song and dance troupe had set up a Mongolian tent on the meadow. After a while, the team members happily danced the Mongolian dance.

The Mongolian people are a nation that is good at singing and dancing. Mongolian dance is a folk dance in areas where the Mongolian people live together. The dance culture of the Mongolian people is closely related to their hunting and nomadic life. The original dance form of the ancestors of the Mongolian nation is vividly and truly expressed in the Yinshan cliff paintings and Ulanqab cliff paintings carved in the Neolithic Age and Bronze Age. In ancient times, the Mongolian people also had many dances that imitated ferocious animals, such as the "Baihaiqing (white eagle)" dance, bear dance, lion dance, deer dance, etc. As independent forms, most of these dances have been lost, but they are still reflected in shamanic dance.

Dorje introduced to Agudemba, Dawa and others:

Mongolian dance is an integration of dance rhythms. They are different from the body rhythms of other ethnic groups and regions, but they also express the understanding of music regularly through the rhythm of the body. The rhythm of Mongolian dance makes the movement style coherent, natural and smooth. They constitute the unique flavor and meaning of dance language.

In fact, the origin of Mongolian dance is related to religious sacrificial activities. After the 16th century, in the religious rituals of Lamaism and Shamanism, dancers wore the Lamaism dance "Chama" wearing masks of deer gods, cow gods, etc. The procedures were rigorous and standardized, with plots and characters, and various expression techniques. Shamans have the characteristics of professional dancers and are highly skilled in dancing and drumming during shamanic religious ceremonies. During the performance, some shamans can spin hundreds of times on the spot and bend down to hold a drum; some have several drums dancing around their head, neck, waist and other parts at the same time. The dance is colorful and thrilling. Not only does Mongolian dance reflect religious sacrificial activities, in fact many other ethnic dances in northern China, such as the Manchu "Single Drum Dance" and "Waist Bell Dance", the Xibe Nationality's "Grasping Drum Dance", etc. are all shamanic dances that originated from sacrifices. .

Mongolian people love life very much, so they give a lot of emotional connotation to Mongolian dance. The shapes and movements of Mongolian dance all have certain cultural characteristics. For example, the Mongolian people worship the eagle very much, so many dance movements imitate the eagle's movements. Mongolian totems are mostly ferocious birds and animals, and they worship white. When witches in ancient shamanism dance, they wear white robes and hold white silk scarves in their hands.

At this time, several dancers came on stage.

The performer holds a pair of chopsticks in each hand, holding the thin end of the chopstick and hitting the thick end of the chopstick. The movements include crossing the hands in front of the chest to hit the chopsticks, or hitting the shoulders; crossing the hands in front of the abdomen to hit the chopsticks; hitting the chopsticks in front of the hands, then hitting the shoulders with one hand and hitting the legs with the other; hitting the shoulders with one hand and hitting the ground in a circle with one hand; squatting and turning; Use chopsticks with both hands in front of the chest, then use the other hand to hit the legs, then use chopsticks with both hands in front of the chest, then cross the hands to hit the shoulders, etc. The dance steps include parallel steps forward and backward, some ground steps forward and backward, or various turns and jumps made improvisationally by the dancers.

Duoji smiled and said:

This is the chopstick dance. Chopstick dance is famous for its shoulder movements. The dancer holds the chopsticks in his right hand and hits his hands, legs, shoulders, feet and other parts from time to time, and sometimes hits the ground. As the wrists turn, sometimes the shoulders shrug lively, sometimes the legs jump nimbly, sometimes turn to the left and lean forward, sometimes turn to the right and lean forward. The movements of its shoulders are both rhythmic and have a special charm, integrating cheerfulness, gracefulness and vigor.

Duoji continued to explain:

Mongolian dance has made innovations on the original basis, which shows the unique artistic personality of modern dance. The props used in dance performances have also undergone certain changes. Dances during festivals are all passionate and unrestrained. People can sing and dance casually, express their emotions through different methods such as banging bowls and chopsticks, and highlight the cheerful mood of the show. For example, people began to use bowls, chopsticks, plates, cups, etc. as dance props. The representative dances are the chopstick dance and the cup and bowl dance.

At this time, a girl dancer held a porcelain bowl on her head and held two cups, dancing solo. Under the accompaniment of music and according to the rhythm of the clinking cups, her arms are constantly stretched and bent, and her body is moving forward or backward, which is intended to express the dignified, quiet, soft and strong character of Mongolian women.

Duoji explained:

This is the cup and bowl dance. The dance uses dance vocabulary such as "soft hands", "shaking shoulders" and "broken steps" that are characteristic of Mongolian dance style to express an elegant and subtle style. The dance postures are simple and simple, with no strict regular movements. It is mainly spread among the people of Ordos.

Dorje continued:

Mongolian dance has the characteristics of grassland culture, which is enthusiastic, unrestrained and heroic. Its dance rhythm is lively, showing the passionate, unrestrained and uninhibited personality of the Mongolian people. These Mongolian dances are all filled with Mongolian cultural characteristics. The main dances include the ancient Andai dance, the Chama that promotes Tibetan Buddhism, Horqin's "Bo" dance, a simulated dance "wrestling" in the Xilin Gol grassland, the Topshur music dance, and the wild and wild circle dance where everyone holds hands. In short, Mongolian dance has long been famous, and you should dance when you are happy.

Dorje specially explained the Andai dance. Andai dance originated in the Kulun Banner at the southern end of the Horqin Grassland in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It was originally a shamanistic dance used to heal diseases, with the meaning of praying for the protection of gods and dispelling evil spirits and eliminating disasters. Later, it gradually evolved into an ethnic folk dance that expresses joyful emotions. In the Horqin area, people dance Andai dance during festivals, harvest celebrations, funerals, weddings and welcome banquets. Girls and wives waved their headscarves and danced, young men took off their riding boots and danced barefoot, and children danced making faces... The dance moves include the scarf-waving step, the towel-wrapped step, the towel-waving step, clapping hands on the waist, running forward, flipping and jumping, Kicking in the air, curling up in the air, spinning left and right, squatting and stepping on silk, twirling silk with both arms, etc. These graceful and unrestrained movements integrate stability, accuracy, sensitivity, lightness, softness, health, beauty, charm and emotion into one. A grand carnival scene was formed, pushing beauty and the pursuit of beauty to the extreme.

Duoji excitedly told the origin of Andai dance:

According to legend, a long time ago, a father and his daughter lived on the Horqin Prairie. They depended on each other for life. One day, their daughter contracted a strange disease that could not be cured. The old father had no choice but to use a bullock cart to pull his seriously ill daughter outside to seek medical treatment. Unexpectedly, the cart encountered wind and rain on the way, the wheels got stuck in the mud, and the axle broke. The poor old father was so anxious that he didn't know what to do, so he circled the cart back and forth. His daughter was dying and her life was in danger. The old father cried until his tears dried up. He sang loudly around the bullock cart and prayed for the blessings of the gods. This singing attracted many villagers, who burst into tears when they saw this. They followed the old man and swung their arms and stamped their feet, singing mournfully around the oxcart. Singing and dancing like this moved the heavens. The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the girl's illness healed. She also joined the dancing crowd, singing and dancing.

This anecdote spread like wildfire, and later on the grassland, whether it was praying for rain, offering sacrifices to Aobao, or Naadam gatherings, this form of singing and dancing was used to express people's emotions. People gathered in a circle, opened the hem of their robes, held a silk scarf in their right hand, and sang and danced to melodious tunes, so people gave this dance the name "Andai".

Agudengba then asked Dorje a question:

Dear Mr. Dorje, now that you have moved to Myanmar, why do you still love Mongolian dance shoes so much?

Dorje did not directly answer Agudengba's question.

He said to Agudemba: The dance is about to end, let’s talk about these things after the performance is over.

Yadan opened her voice and sang a song "Dance of the Prairie":

 

We are in the beautiful prairie,

Dancing the Andai dance in a circle,

The girl and her daughter-in-law waved their headscarves,

The young man took off his riding boots and went barefoot.

The children all made faces and jumped,

Swinging the towel around, waving the towel, stepping forward,

He clapped his hands on his hips and ran forward again,

Flip, jump and kick in the air,

Soaring in the air, curling up and spinning left and right,

Swinging the silk, squatting and stepping on it, and twirling the silk with both arms,

Our graceful and unrestrained movements,

Bringing a grand carnival to the grassland,

We all have the same desire,

Dance and sing with spontaneity and enthusiasm,

Bring spring breeze and laughter to the grassland.

Come, come, come

Come, come, come

Come to our beautiful prairie,

We held hands and danced in circles.