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Flying Dragon & Dancing Phoenix Dai Dances
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 The folk dances of the 840,000 Dai nationality enjoy not only wide popularity but great diversity. Most of them imitate the movements of subtropical creatures. The percussion instruments used for accompaniment include elephant-foot drums, gongs, and bronze drums. Different dances have their one special drumbeat and drum vocabulary. The drumbeat is not only the tempo of a dance but a kind of language for people to communicate their feelings.
The dances described below are the most popular in Dai areas. They include Peacock Dance, Elephant-Foot-Drum Dance, Gabanguang Dance, Double Drumhead Dance, Fish Dance, Roc Dance, Egret Dance, Garland Dance, Knife Dance, Rod, Stick and Boxing Dances, Gaduo Dance, Yilahe Dance, Butter-fly Dance, Bamboo-Hat Dance, Candle Dance, Demon Dance and Cock Dance. | PEACOCK DANCE
Known as Galuoyong, Fanluoyong or Gananyong, Peacock Dance is the best loved dance of the Dais.
To the Dais the peacock is a symbol of good luck, happiness, beauty and honesty. At festivals Peacock Dance is performed by amateur dancers. The dance is based on folk and fairy tales and stories from Buddhist scriptures, or it imitates the movements of peacocks.
Peacock Dance is usually performed by one, two or three people. At the climax of the dance spectators shout, "Wu, wu," and "Shui, shui," with great enthusiasm. The dance has certain fixed elements, such as imitating a peacock flying from its nest, watching with sharp, expressive eyes, strolling naturally, looking for and drinking water, playing in the water, bathing, shaking and sunning its wings, spreading its tail to vie with other creatures, and flying freely in the sky.
The movements of the dance are quite diverse. The most common hand gestures include tucking the thumb under with the four fingers extended close together, "peacock hand" (the thumb slightly tucked, the index finger bent and the other three fingers spread in a fan shape), and the "eye" gesture (the thumb and index finger close to each other and the other three fingers spread in a fan shape to imitate the shape of an eye). The dance steps include tiptoeing and undulating steps (kicking one foot backward toward the hip, stepping back, then stretching and bending the other leg in rhythm). |  Peacock Dance takes three forms: peacock, peahen and peachick. The peacock dance is the most popular among the Dais. In performing the dance, the leg is bent and stretched forcefully and the body twists sharply.
The peahen dance is mostly performed by men. the knee is slowly raised and lowered. The dance is graceful and refined, usually coupling a thrust of the chest and a turn of the shoulder to denote subtlety. The drumbeat is slow and light.
The peachick dance features quick shivering movements, steps in a half squat and a light shrug of the shoulders. The drumbeat is quick and deft. | | 1 2 3 4 next |
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