Helou Dance
01 · Historical Records
The other performers wear false masks on their faces, small bamboo hats on their heads, black tops and skirts, scarves tied round their waists and hemp shoes on their feet, and hold rice ears in their hands; singing the Helou songs, they sway their bodies, wave their hands and stamp their feet, dancing towards the four directions of east, south, west and north. Helou dance was originally a ritual dance of the Wuhu people of the Yue ethnicity in the Nanjiang river basin during the Qin and Han dynasties, performed to celebrate the harvest and to sacrifice to the gods; it later passed from the Nanjiang valley across the mountains to Gaozhou, Huazhou, Taishan, Yangjiang, Yunan and other places. Its continued existence is closely bound up with the livelihood of rice cultivation: every year after the autumn harvest or around the beginning of spring, the grain loft is set up and a shed is built for the performance, and village elders officiate the sacrifice; after the rites the people dance in thanks to the gods. The locality calls it the "living fossil" of ancient rice-farming culture, and it is of reference value for the study of the production and life, religious beliefs and everyday folk customs of the ancient Baiyue peoples.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
According to historical research, it was originally a dance of the Wuhu people of the Yue ethnicity in the Nanjiang river basin during the Qin and Han dynasties, performed to celebrate the harvest and to sacrifice to the gods; it later passed from the Nanjiang valley across the mountains to Gaozhou, Huazhou, Taishan, Yangjiang, Yunan and other places. The movements of Helou dance are primitive and rough, while the melody of the Helou songs is fixed and the tunes are melodious. The lead dancer wears a lotus-flower crown on the head and a red-and-yellow cape over the shoulders, holds a tin staff with an ox-head finial in the left hand, and shakes a bronze bell tied with coloured ribbons in the right. The Helou dance, after it was excavated and restored, appeared on stage many times and repeatedly received praise. The Helou dance troupe consists of two parts, the lead dancer and the group dancers: the lead dancer wears a lotus-flower crown on the head and a red-and-yellow cape over the shoulders, holds a tin staff with an ox-head finial in the left hand and shakes a bronze bell tied with coloured ribbons in the right, standing at the head of the line and leading its direction; the group dancers wear false masks on their faces, small bamboo hats on their heads, black tops and skirts, scarves tied round their waists and hemp shoes on their feet, and hold rice ears in their hands; singing the Helou songs, they sway their bodies, wave their hands and stamp their feet, dancing in turn towards the four directions of east, south, west and north. The dance steps are steady, centred chiefly on stamping, halting, swaying and shaking; the movements are primitive and rough, while the melody of the Helou songs is fixed and the tunes are melodious.
The leader's lotus crown, ox-head staff and bell
The lead dancer wears a lotus crown and red-and-yellow cape, raising an ox-head staff in the left hand and shaking a ribboned bronze bell in the right.
The corps costume
The other dancers wear masks and small bamboo hats over black tunics and skirts, sashes at the waist, hemp shoes and ears of rice in their hands.
The helou song and the four directions
The corps sings the helou song as it sways and stamps toward the four directions; the fixed, flowing melody sets off the rough archaic steps.
The Wuhu harvest rite
Research traces the dance to the Wuhu people of the Nanjiang basin under the Qin and Han, a harvest and spirit rite tied to rice cultivation.
Its spread beyond the Nanjiang
Crossing the hills from the Nanjiang the dance reached Gaozhou, Huazhou, Taishan, Yangjiang and Yunan, each with slight variation but the same harvest rite at heart.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Helou dance is transmitted around Liantan Town, Yunan County, Guangdong Province, and has a history of more than two thousand years.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Helou dance is a product of ancient agrarian culture. It displays the distinctive local cultural features of the ancient Baiyue region, that is, the Nanjiang river basin, is known as the "living fossil" of ancient rice-farming culture, and is of important value for research into the production and life, religious beliefs and everyday folk customs of the ancient Baiyue as well as into the history of folk dance in the Lingnan region. At present this ancient folk dance faces a serious survival crisis, and protection and transmission are urgently needed. At present the transmission of Helou dance depends mainly on the villagers around Liantan Town in Yunan County and on the performance troupes organized by the local cultural departments; props such as the masks, lotus-flower crowns and ox-head tin staffs are copied in the old styles, and the lyrics of the Helou songs have been collated from memory by the old artists. As the older generation of performers grows ever older, the completeness of the dance steps and vocal styles is no longer what it was before, and emergency documentation and teaching have become an urgent task.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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