Nasier Nusuer

01 · Lineage & Regional School

From childhood he loved folk literature and art, and from the time he was old enough to understand such things he studied the hand drum and Sanam dance under elderly folk artists; he performs Kuche Sanam well and has passed folk art on to young enthusiasts and guided their practice. Within the regional tradition and school record of Sainaimu in Kuche, Xinjiang: Kuqa Sainaim is transmitted in the towns and villages of Kuqa County in Aksu Prefecture; Qiuci music and dance was once an important centre of the music and dance of the ancient Western Regions and was carried to the Central Plains along the Silk Road. To this day the Meshreps of Kuqa still take Sainaim as their main body, which can be seen at festivals, weddings and bazaar gatherings; the art is passed on among artists through family and neighbourhood apprenticeships, and the line of Nasir Nusur, for instance, comes from Kuqa itself. Kuqa was anciently called Qiuci, and music and dance have flourished there since ancient times; Kuqa Sainaim inherits to a considerable degree the legacy of the music and dance of the ancient Western Regions. In volume 142 of the Tongdian the Tang writer Du You describes the music and dance of the Western Regions as “some leaping, some bounding, starting and stopping abruptly, raising the heels and snapping the fingers, shaking the head and making eyes play, with feeling issuing from within and unable to stop of itself”; the movements “shaking the head”, “making the eyes play”, “raising the heels” and “snapping the fingers” there are basically identical with the dancing of Kuqa Sainaim.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Uyghur, born in December 1932 in Kuche County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. He regularly performs Kuche Sanam dance at various cultural performances and wedding celebrations, continually improving and consolidating his performing ability. Within the documented technical tradition of Sainaimu in Kuche, Xinjiang: Kuqa Sainaim is the most popular folk song and dance in the life of the Uyghur people of Kuqa County, Xinjiang. Kuqa was anciently called Qiuci, and music and dance have flourished there since ancient times. Kuqa Sainaim is elegant and dignified, graceful and many-formed, beautiful and lyrical; its movements of “shaking the head”, “making the eyes play”, “raising the heels” and “snapping the fingers” are basically identical with the description of the music and dance of the Western Regions in the Tang writer Du You's Tongdian. Kuqa Sainaim belongs to self-amusing folk song and dance; the performance is free and lively, and those who dance do not sing while those who sing do not dance. With the drumming and the accompanying singing, the participants enter one after another, dancing solo, in pairs, or several together; there is no restriction of sex and the movements are casual. Partners may be changed at any time during the dance, and following one's own mood and skill one may improvise freely to the beat. At the climax the onlookers clap their hands to add to the merriment and join with the drumming and music, and for a moment the air is filled with a din of voices and the scene is extraordinarily lively. The Kuqa Sainaim dance is lyrical and steady, and when men and women dance together the exchange of feeling is also rather implicit and restrained. The lyrics of Kuqa Sainaim deal mainly with love, though some also sing about life and labour. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Western-Region dance in the Tongdian": Du You's Tongdian describes Western-Region dance with leaping, sudden pauses, raised feet, snapping fingers, shaking heads and darting eyes, all matched in the Kuqa form. "Dancers do not sing": In this self-entertaining form dancers do not sing and singers do not dance, entrants coming in solo, in pairs or in groups as the drums and voices carry them. "Meshrep in the Kuqa oasis": The most popular dance of Kuqa, it allows partners to change at will and dancers to improvise, the crowd clapping until the noise swells. "Nasir Nusur's pupils": Born in Kuqa in 1932, Nasir Nusur performed constantly at shows and weddings and trained pupils including Ahmat Möllek and Alimjan Mahmut.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Sanam (Kuche Sanam), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He attaches importance to carrying out transmission work; his apprentices include Ahemaiti Maolaike, Alimujiang Maihemuti, and Yisikandeer Maimaiti, and he has also trained many enthusiasts of Kuche Sanam dance.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Nasier Nusuer · National Representative Bearer Archive