Yanhe Dance (Tobacco Case Dance) of Yi Ethnic Minority in Shiping County
Brief Introduction:
Yanhe Dance (Tobacco Case Dance) of Yi Ethnic Minority in Shiping County（石屏县彝族烟盒舞）is also known as “jumping Strings”, “Longzong( 垄揔，田埂)”, spread in the Yi village of Shiping(石屏) County, Honghe（红河） Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture.
Sine(正弦) and Miscellaneous Strings(杂弦)
Forming a variety of genres in mountainous and dam areas, dance routines up to 220 sets, at present we have collected and sorted 117 sets, of which 62 sets of sine, 55 sets of miscellaneous strings. The dam area style mainly highlights the sine part, takes the three-step string as the foundation, the skill action is derived from the three-step string, and most of them are imitation performances of animals habits, the skill component is more, mostly two people jump face to face.The mountainous style mainly highlights the miscellaneous strings, it is emotional sing and dance, The atmosphere is warm, reflecting pleasure, joy and unity .Dance forms include double dance, pas de trois(三人舞) and group dance, dance process with tobacco case and four strings and other musical instruments playing，the rhythm is bright, the atmosphere is enthusiastic . The beautiful dance benefits the ingenious use of head, feet, body, hand, waist and other parts of the whole body, lower waist rolling and other difficult dance skills contain a high artistic value.
History of Yanhe Dance
Yanhe Dance of Yi Ethnic Minority in Shiping County has a long history of heritage. And it loved by the masses, spread throughout the urban and rural areas. It has developed into a compressive art of song, dances, music, athletic and bionic performance, it has many advances, such as distinctive dance, a variety of skills, can be simplified, can be fitness and entertainment, dance smooth and chic, and artistic appeal.
Feature
Yanhe Dance as one of the distinctive dance species of Yi nationality in southern Yunnan, it tells us the view of history, morality, values and way of thinking of Yi people by dance language. And has high research value in ethnology, folklore, sociology and other fields. Its rich and varied dance routines and connotations show the Yi people’s outstanding ability of dance creation and artistic understanding. With the vicissitudes of the Times, the traditional ” eat tobacco ” tobacco case dance custom has disappeared, tobacco case dance with the appearance of style homogenization, the connotation of the trend of superficial, the traditional charm of the Yanhe Dance classic set on the verge of loss.
Highlights
On May 20th, 2006, the Yi ethnic minority’s Yanhe dance was approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
Translated by Lynette Fu/ 付云锐
Chinese Version；http://www.ynich.cn/view-ml-11110-1235.html
