Nuo dance (Nuo dance in Le'an)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Nuo dance (Nuo dance in Le'an)

Applicant: Le'an County, Jiangxi Province

Project No.: 110

Project No.: Ⅲ - 7

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Jiangxi Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Le'an County, Jiangxi Province

Protected by: cultural center of Le'an County, Jiangxi Province

Introduction to Nuo dance (Le'an Nuo dance)

Applicant: Le'an County, Jiangxi Province

Nuo dance is a popular folk dance with the functions of exorcising ghosts and diseases and offering sacrifices. It is a part of Nuo ceremony, and is usually performed from the first day of the lunar new year to the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. The existing Nuo dance is mainly distributed in Jiangxi, Anhui, Guizhou, Guangxi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Fujian, Yunnan, Guangdong and other places, where there are local appellations such as "Tiao Nuo", "Gui Wu" and "fun Xi". Nuo dance has a long history. It was formed in the ceremony of "grand Nuo" in the court of Zhou Dynasty, and it is recorded in Zhou Li. In the process of historical development, Nuo dance has formed different styles in different regions, and occupies different proportions in Nuo ceremony. In the performance of Nuo dance, the mask of a certain role is usually worn, including mythical images, secular figures and historical celebrities, thus forming a huge Nuo genealogy, "it's human to take off the mask, and it's God to put on the mask.". The accompaniment instrument of Nuo dance is simple, generally drum, Gong and other percussion music. The organization performing Nuo ceremony and Nuo dance is called Nuo class. Generally, there are more than eight to ten members, often with strict class rules. Nuo dance often appears in the climax of Nuo ceremony and the stage of performance. There are abundant Nuo dance programs all over the country, which have dual functions of sacrifice and entertainment.

Donghu village in Le'an county is located 30 Li south of Le'an County in Jiangxi Province. The clan of Yang family in the village has passed on an ancient Nuo dancing ceremony from generation to generation. The local people call it "gunnuo God". This ceremony is strictly regulated and can not be passed on to the outside world. The "gunnuo God" in East Lake has a history of nearly a thousand years, which has been passed down as a ritual of exorcising evil spirits and benefiting the people. Before the Nuo temple in the village (built in the eighth year of Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty and now collapsed), there was a couplet "Nuo dispels pestilence, Ding Shengmu is prosperous, and God blesses the town to establish cunning".

The mask of "gunnuo God" is different from other Nuo dances. Instead of covering the whole face, it is composed of two pieces of upper forehead and lower mouth. There are 18 faces, such as pig's mouth, chicken's mouth, goose king, Dongyue, judge, baihujing and waizui mother-in-law. The accompaniment music is a drum and a gong. The rhythm is 3 / 4 beat. The weak beat is in the front and the strong beat is in the back. Donghu Nuo troupe is composed of 12 people. The main performances include chicken beak, pig beak, Bancha, singing drama, ghost catching, Bull Demon King, seven stars, stepping on firecrackers, etc. This kind of Nuo dance includes both solo dance and duet dance. When performing, most of them hold props. The dance moves are simple and rough, and soft in the rigidity. There are some movement skills such as "kicking leg and squatting crotch", "rebound Archery", "flicking face and shaking hands", "meeting step" and so on. In case of plague, all the 18 Nuo gods will go to the village to search for exorcism. The whole process is relatively primitive, with few traces of human processing.

The "pig's beak" and "chicken's beak" in "gunnuo God" are rare in China's Nuo dance. They are the only surviving Nuo ceremony and dance.