Reba dance (Dingqing Reba)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Reba dance (Dingqing Reba)

Applicant: Tibet Autonomous Region

Item No.: 124

Project No.: Ⅲ - 21

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Tibet Autonomous Region

Type: new item

Applicant: Tibet Autonomous Region

Protection unit: Cultural Bureau of Dingqing County, Changdu City, Tibet Autonomous Region

Introduction to Reba dance (Dingqing Reba)

Applicant: Tibet Autonomous Region

Reba dance is a form of dance performed by Tibetan "Reba" artists. Reba is a kind of comprehensive art performed by a troupe of vagrant artists (generally composed of families) who make a living by performing arts. It is mainly composed of tambourine and integrates rap, harmony (song and dance), acrobatics, qigong and Reba drama. According to historical records, Reba originated in the 11th century AD and was founded by Milarepa, the second-generation patriarch of Tibetan Buddhism. The predecessor of Reba is the "witchcraft" and "totem dance" of the primitive religion "Benjiao" in Tibet. It has a long history, rich content, unique style, superb skills, witty monologue and peculiar mask, and absorbs the essence of ancient Xiangxiong culture, religious culture and folk art. Therefore, it has become a wonderful flower in Tibetan ancient splendid culture and art, with high artistic value and research value. Reba dance is distributed in Changdu, Gongbu, Naqu, Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and other Tibetan areas.

Dingqing Reba dance is a kind of inspiration, and also a comprehensive performing art integrating speaking, singing, dancing, acrobatics and Qigong. Dingqing Reba dance originated from qiongbu Dingqing, whose founder is said to be qiongbu miratabaga, also known as mirariba. It is said that Dingqing County in Changdu Prefecture had a tropical climate at that time, where elephants lived. After killing elephants, people took their skins and spread them on the ground, and danced on them to worship gods, thus creating the Reba dance. Dingqing county can be said to be the birthplace of Reba dance.

There are three main genres of Dingqing Reba dance. They are: gacuoreba popular in sezha, also known as "sezha Reba", which has a history of more than 500 years; wotoreba popular in jue'en, which has a history of more than 940 years; dongluoreba popular in Sanduo, also known as kangshareba, which has a history of more than 300 years. One of the most famous is wotoreba, who is pushing Joan pudding. Wotoreba is characterized by high and difficult skills, such as pole climbing skills, breaking stones on the abdomen, knife clamping rotation and so on. Kangsareba is one of the most important Reba schools in Changdu. Its traditional programs include one point drum, three point drum, six point drum, nine point drum, etc. Meanwhile, it is interspersed with string dance, Zhuo dance and male female dialogue (equivalent to comic crosstalk). Their music is characterized by simplicity, brightness, exuberance, boldness and fluency. The main content is to avoid disasters, to celebrate the harvest, to wish good luck and so on.

Dingqingreba has an ancient tradition, many schools and superb skills, which is an indispensable unique variety of Tibetan folk dance. After liberation, although there was a decreasing trend in the number of folk Reba artists, due to the fact that literary and art workers at all levels went deep into their lives and worshipped folk artists as teachers, they not only inherited the traditional Reba better, but also made some reforms in their acting skills and costumes to meet the needs of stage performance. Now, Reba dance has been on the stage at home and abroad, loved by the majority of the audience. In 2002, Dingqing county was named "Reba art town" by the people's Government of Tibet Autonomous Region.