Ameiqituo
01 · Historical Records
The Yi people living today in the Beipanjiang River basin belong to the Baiyi branch; the group migrated in from Yunnan Province and elsewhere during the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty, and Amei Qituo came with the Yi ancestors in that migration, giving it a history of more than 500 years. The dance has twelve basic movements in all, namely "hong de" (planting rice seedlings), "qi zao pu" (turning the toe-finger), "qi mo lou" (turning over the foot-board), "qi tuo zhai" (back to back), "ge bo bu" (falling on the foot-board), "jue ba qu, a gei ye" (ending the work and washing the feet), "qu chao zu" (feeding the dog its rice), "ya gao du" (kicking the cockscomb), "bai yi dao, yi bu ye" (the duck taking the water, the duck swimming in the water), "gu ji bao" (holding the bent knee), "gu ji zhao" (playing with the bent knee) and "zhe le zhe le te, kao qi du" (turning round and round, turning away and back, kicking the plank wall). These use the language of dance to vividly express the production and living conditions of the Yi people.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Amei Qituo is an important component of the local Yi marriage customs, and is now also performed at festivals such as the "Yi New Year" and the "Torch Festival". It is passed down generation by generation mainly by oral teaching from heart to heart. Amei Qituo is a group dance that mainly uses variations in the movement of the hip, knee and ankle joints. The dancers may be women, men or mixed men and women, six, eight or twelve of them joining hands; in performance they form a circle or a line across and dance, stamping on the ground. There is no specific musical accompaniment; holding hands, the performers dance lightly, stamping on the ground. Nowadays songs are also composed to accompany them according to the content of the dance, forming a performance form of "singing while stamping on the ground".
The twelve basic movements
The twelve named steps, from transplanting rice and turning the toes to duck drinking water and chasing the dog away with food.
Danced for the departing bride
The dance of the departing bride, performed by her companions as she leaves home, carrying the community's hopes for the new household.
Hip, knee and ankle articulation
The form works chiefly through hip, knee and ankle articulation, the rhythmic stamping being its identifying bodily signature.
Circles and rows of six, eight or twelve
Dancers link hands in circles or rows of six, eight or twelve, women alone, men alone or mixed.
Stamping song: from bare feet to sung accompaniment
Once unaccompanied, the dance now often has songs set to it, producing a form of singing while stamping.
The Wang Apu family and the Ming migration
Local Yi account traces the dance to a family wedding in the Yunnan mountains, brought north by the White Yi who migrated in the early Ming.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
"Amei Qituo" is Yi and means "the dance of the girl going out in marriage". It is a folk dance of the ethnic group dependent on the traditional Yi marriage rites, and it is circulated among Yi villages in Qinglong County, Xingren County, Pu'an County, Pan County and other places in the Beipanjiang basin of Qianxinan Prefecture, Guizhou Province; Sanbao Yi Township of Qinglong County is its main area of circulation. According to the account of local Yi people, Amei Qituo arose in the family of a man called "Wang Apu" in the Eight Great Mountains of ancient Yunnan when his second daughter was married off. Amei Qituo is rooted in the production, life and social history of the local Yi people. It expresses the fine qualities of the Yi people, their solidarity and mutual affection, respect for the old and love for the young, thrift and good household management, and love of life, and it is an indispensable cultural activity of the Yi people, playing a positive role in promoting cultural transmission and educating the people.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Amei Qituo depends on the Yi marriage customs. When a girl is married off, her companions join hands and, stamping on the ground, dance to send her away; it is a way for women to pass feelings and blessings to one another. The twelve basic movements of the dance are named in Yi, such as "hong de" (planting rice seedlings), "qi zao pu" (turning the toe-finger) and "qi mo lou" (turning over the foot-board), and they use the language of dance to restate production labour and household work, exerting a subtle influence on the education of later generations in daily life. Today the dance has left the wedding setting and is performed as a group dance at the "Yi New Year" and the "Torch Festival", with Sanbao Yi Township of Qinglong County remaining its main area of circulation.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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