Tianlin Yao Bronze Drum Dance
Bronze drum dance is a folk dance form created by the Mubing Yao people. It is a local art deeply loved by the Yao people. It is spread in the Yao Nu Village of Sanyao Village, Lucheng Yao Township, Tianlin County. It has a history of more than 200 years and is a beautiful mountain flower in the garden of culture and art of the motherland. The bronze drum is a treasure carried by the ancestors of the Mubing Yao during their migration and has always been regarded as a god. Every year from the second day of the first lunar month to the second day of the second lunar month, the whole village will dance the bronze drum to commemorate the ancestors, celebrate the festival, and pray for health and longevity, prosperity of livestock, and good harvests. On this day, all the men, women, and children in the village must wear festive costumes. The annual "treasure-raising" ceremony is presided over by the elders of the tribe. The two bronze drums, known as one male and one female, are dug out, placed on the incense table, and offered. After offering the bronze drum, the host will direct the young people in the village to hang up the three drums. The main priest will play a round first, and then others can take turns to play. At the beginning of the drumming, the movements are slow and gentle, gradually speeding up, the drum beats are high and passionate, and finally like a storm. The two dancers who beat the cowhide drums are the lead dancers. They beat and dance, sometimes from the front, sometimes turning around, and the copper hammers keep hitting the drum surface from behind their heads, waists, and crotches in turn, with a clear rhythm, coordinated movements, and seamless. At this time, men, women, old and young on the field also joined the dance, with no limit on the number of people, and the scene was spectacular and enthusiastic. First dance "Circle Dance", then dance "Welcome Spring Dance" and "Pole Dance" in turn. The style is unique, the dance posture is beautiful, unique and charming, interesting, and refreshing. After dancing the bronze drum every year, the bronze drum is buried underground, and the location is little known. The wooden handle Yao bronze drum has profound ideological and distinctive artistic characteristics. Its rich content and inheritance history are rare in the Chinese nation's literary and artistic garden, and it has extensive research value in language, literature, aesthetics, music, and art. At present, bronze drums are facing danger due to historical and other reasons. We need to strive for surveys, file building, research, and publication, and establish a Mubingyao Bronze Drum Dance Cultural Ecological Village and a "Mubingyao Folk Art Vocational Education Class" in Tianlin County so that the Mubingyao Bronze Drum Dance can survive, be passed down, and develop. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)