Lezuo Dance
01 · Historical Records
After nearly a century of evolution, yuezuo has become the conventional name for this dance among the Hani and Yi peoples. Hani and Yi villages on the south bank of the Red River have long lived side by side and visited each other, and the two branches danced yuezuo together at festivals and weddings, so that yuezuo became a dance name shared by both areas.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Yuezuo dance is an ancient folk dance shared by the Hani and Yi peoples that integrates singing, dancing and music into one; it is transmitted among the Hani and Yi villages of Honghe County on the south bank of the Red River in the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Yuezuo dancing is called zaibi in Yi folk usage; among the Hani it is called haseise, and is also known as longzongcuo. The name yuezuo has been in use for at least more than one hundred years. Judging by the Hani language, le means everybody together, and zuo means to play and dance. Yuezuo therefore simply means that everybody comes together to dance for fun. It is said that among the Yi, yuezuo is a variant name used by people of Shiping and Jianshui for the Yi dance of the south bank of the Red River. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, literary and art workers learned and exchanged the dance, spreading the name yuezuo as used outside the river region to the artistic circles of the whole province and then of the whole country, and it became the general term by which people referred to the yuezuo dance of the Hani and Yi on the south bank of the Red River. Yuezuo dancing is not restricted in time, place, number of participants or form, yet it follows a certain procedure. Before the dancing begins there is lyrical singing accompanied by a band. The band members do not join the dance, but they often sway their bodies to the rhythm of the accompaniment and join in the choruses with high-pitched voices to add to the festive mood. Then people, mostly an even number, form a circle and dance, singing as they go, starting and stopping abruptly, clapping from time to time, sometimes crossing through one another in interlaced fashion, sometimes turning on the spot, but on the whole the outward form of a circle is always kept. The dancers are graceful, their movements soft and light; the waving arms are like a dragonfly beating its wings, the knees flex and extend with springy elasticity, and the steps form a rich and complete repertory, revealing a distinctive ethnic style and a strong local flavour. Yuezuo dance is the spiritual bond of the Hani and Yi peoples; in the social activities of young men and women of the frontier ethnic groups it serves as a medium, and it has made a great contribution to promoting friendship and unity among the frontier peoples.
The band sings before the dancing
A lyrical accompanied song comes first, the band swaying and joining in, before the circle begins to dance.
Zaibi and Hasaisai
Shared by Hani and Yi, the dance is called Zaibi in Yi and Hasaisai, meaning everyone comes to dance.
Dragonfly-wing arms
Arms move like dragonfly wings and knees flex elastically as pairs circle, stopping, clapping and threading in turn.
Li Apang
Li Apang of Honghe county, born in 1963, is known for her distinctive style and celebrated singing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yuezuo dance is transmitted mainly in the Hani and Yi settlements of Jiayin, Baohua, Leyu, Azhahe and other townships of Honghe County; the Honghe County Cultural Centre is the protecting unit. Li Apang is the representative inheritor of the Yi yuezuo dance of Honghe County. In 2010 she represented Honghe Prefecture at a Netherlands cultural exchange activity on the yuezuo dance Hani polyphony presented under the title Chinese Red River, and she has more than twenty disciples.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, because protective measures are not yet adequate and because of the influence of outside culture, yuezuo dance already faces a survival crisis and urgently needs protection and transmission. Li Apang (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): a woman of the Yi ethnic group, born in April 1963, native of Honghe County, Yunnan Province. She formed her own distinctive dance style in her youth, and her yuezuo vocal style was also famous locally. In 2010 she represented Honghe Prefecture at a Netherlands cultural exchange activity on the yuezuo dance Hani polyphony presented under the title Chinese Red River. Representative inheritor of the fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Yuezuo dance. She has won the Honghe Prefecture folk song-and-dance Performance Award and the Honghe Prefecture Intangible Cultural Heritage Transmission Award many times. She is active in transmitting yuezuo dance, has more than twenty disciples, and frequently teaches yuezuo dance to professional dancers from the province, the prefecture and the county who come to collect material and study.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Apang 05-2270
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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