Uyghur Dawazi
01 · Historical Records
The Compendium of the Turkic Dialects (Tujue Yu Da Cidian), compiled between 1072 and 1074, already contains the written record 'walking the slack rope, performing dawaz'. In January 1990, the Xinjiang Acrobatic Troupe absorbed the only surviving dawaz troupe of Yengisar County and established a dawaz team of five principal performers including Adil Wushouer. Adil Wushouer not only created innovative and highly difficult moves on the high wire — handstands, the splits, riding a unicycle and bending down to pick a lotus — but also twice broke the Guinness record for high-wire walking, in 1997 and 2000, becoming a 'warrior of the sky' beloved by many.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Uyghur dawaz means 'walking on a high rope' in the Uyghur language; it is an acrobatic art form that the Uyghur people have carried on for a thousand years. For more than a thousand years, the performance style of dawaz has essentially preserved its traditional character. Dawaz performances are usually held in the open air; their hallmark is carrying a great variety of acrobatic skills onto a rope or wire tens of meters above the ground. The performer holds a balancing pole about 6 meters long, wears no safety harness, and performs a breathtaking series of skills on the rope: walking forward and backward, sitting cross-legged, walking blindfolded, walking on plates, and leaping through the air. Accompanied by Uyghur folk music, the high-wire performer dances and sings to the beat while swiftly changing between difficult moves; the act is humorous, the scenes are lively, and the performance is highly distinctive. In addition, there is the dawaz troupe of Aishanjiang Wushouer. The star of dawaz performance today is none other than the 'Prince of the Air', Adil Wushouer of the Xinjiang Acrobatic Troupe; he is the sixth-generation inheritor of a dawaz performance family whose practice of this art spans at least four hundred years. Dawaz has a long history and unique technique; it stands apart among high-altitude acrobatic programs, is warmly received by audiences, and is also widely known in Central Asia, Japan, France and elsewhere, with far-reaching influence.
The six-metre balancing pole
The artist carries a balancing pole about six metres long, wears no safety line, and on ropes or steel wire dozens of metres up walks, sits cross-legged, walks blindfold, steps on dishes and leaps.
Adili's high-wire feats
The sixth-generation inheritor Adili Wuxiuer invented headstands, splits, unicycle riding and lotus picking on the wire, twice breaking Guinness records in 1997 and 2000.
Recorded in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk
The eleventh-century compendium of Turkic dialects already records walking the soft rope and performing darwaz, and the show has kept its traditional form for a millennium.
Dancing aloft to folk music
Performed in the open air, the artist dances and sings on the high wire to Uyghur folk music, rapidly changing difficult tricks in a merry and crowded scene.
Yengisar, Hotan and the two troupes
Once current around Hotan, Yarkand, Yengisar and Kashgar and later spread east and north, the art survives in two troupes, one absorbed by the Xinjiang acrobatic company in 1990.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Dawaz was formerly popular in the Hotan, Shache (Yarkand), Yengisar and Kashgar area, and later spread to Kuqa, Turpan, Hami, Ili and Urumqi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, both troupes are in Urumqi. However, the transmission of the dawaz art currently faces difficulties: its highly difficult, high-risk performance requires practitioners to possess extremely strong physical balance and good psychological qualities, so even those interested in learning often find it hard to meet the art's established requirements, which has made dawaz successors hard to find. Coupled with the impact of modern entertainment, the performance market for dawaz is on the verge of collapse, and this ancient acrobatic art is increasingly endangered, requiring organized and planned protection. Adil Wuxiu'er (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): male, Uyghur ethnicity, born in 1971, a native of Yengisar County, Xinjiang. Dawaz is a high-altitude performance item of great difficulty and danger; it demands that performers possess extraordinary courage and nerve. He began learning the art at the age of seven. To innovate, develop and transmit dawaz, he actively explored combining stage acrobatics with folk dawaz; his distinctive style and exquisite skill have won the love of people of all ethnic groups across China and high praise from friends around the world. To carry forward this ancient art, Adil Wuxiu'er has now devoted himself wholeheartedly to training successors in Xinjiang Uyghur dawaz performance art; his students' skill levels are steadily improving, and they repeatedly achieve excellent results. A representative inheritor of the first national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item 'Uyghur Dawaz', and a first-class performer. Adil Wuxiu'er has repeatedly broken the Guinness world record for high-wire walking and received many honors; he has been named one of the 'Ten Outstanding Young People of Xinjiang', selected as a member of 'excellent in both art and moral character' of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, awarded the 'May 1st' Labor Medal, and received from the State Council a certificate for 'contributions to the development of China's performing arts', along with a special government allowance.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Adili Wuxiuer 01-0037
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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