String dance (Yushu dance)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Xianzi dance (yushuyi dance)

Applicant: Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province

Item No.: 122

Project No.: Ⅲ - 19

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Qinghai Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province

Protection unit: Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Cultural Center

Introduction to Xianzi dance (yushuyi dance)

Applicant: Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province

Yushu Yiwu is a popular folk dance in Yushu Tibetan area of Qinghai Province with a long history. Since the late Paleolithic period, Tibetan ancestors have been living in Yushu area. Yushu area, located on both sides of Lancang River and Tongtian River, has relatively developed agriculture and concentrated population. Tibetan ancestors have been engaged in collective production and labor for a long time, and created Yushu Yi dance with singing and dancing.

There are more than 400 kinds of Tibetan folk dances in Yushu, of which Yi dance accounts for more than half. The names of Yushu Yi dance are different, but most of them have formed unified appellations, such as "alatala", "Gesala", "gasongyazhuo", "lachamo", "qiongzhusonacuo", "ziqionggasongzhuoma", "zaxicai qiongcaida" and "suoamulemao". In the process of inheritance, these dances have always maintained their original form, formed a distinctive music style, and become the symbol of dance varieties.

Yushu dance is elegant and natural, with big ups and downs, strong and powerful steps, bright and smooth rhythm, and bold style. There are nine basic movements of female dancers: swinging step, double twisting step, cushion step, double hand winding step, single twisting step, left and right leg swinging step, forward stepping step, rolling step, front step and back step; while male dancers hold strings and sing while pulling, and their footwork is similar to female dancers. Among them, colorful sleeves are the basic characteristics of yushuyi dance, and three steps and one bend are the basic movements. The lyrics of Yushu Yiwu mostly use traditional content, which mainly praise the landscape of hometown, sing about labor and life, and pray for auspiciousness and happiness.

Yushu Yi dance is the most representative form of folk dance in Tibetan dance, which is deeply loved by the Tibetan people in Yushu. At present, Yushu Yi dance is regarded as a compulsory dance in professional dance schools all over the country.