Dance of the Li People
Artful and vibrant, the Li dances are choreographed in the light of everyday life and work of the people. The most popular dances are the bamboo rod dance, rice pounding dance, and coin-bell and cutlass dance.
While dancing the bamboo rod dance, also known as the firewood chopping dance, performers leap on top of two square timbers over which two parallel bamboo poles as thick as an adult wrist are quickly tapped together and pulled apart in order to trip the dancers up and catch their feet. The tapping of the bamboo poles against the wood makes a rhythmical sound. The dancers leap through the bamboos, and make graceful poses. Each time they escape the clamp of the poles, the pole manipulators cry out with cheers. The dance requires great skill and courage.
The rice pounding dance was probably inspired by the Li women's work of pestling rice. At Li weddings, four or six women pound rice in wood mortars to remove the chaff, and in doing this they hit the mortars with the pestles to make music. The dance involves the tilting of their bodies in a graceful way.
The coin-bell and cutlass dance has its origins in a Li story. Long ago two young men fell in love with the same girl. One of them was humble while the other was cocky. The girl selected the former. On their wedding day the cocky man suggested that the two of them engage in a kungfu competition. He then assaulted his love rival with two knives. At a critical moment the groom picked up a shoulder pole in order to fight back. The coin-bell dance is performed by two men in red headbands and traditional costumes. One wields two cutlasses and the other holds a 70-centimeter stick with two strings of coins on both ends, which resembles the shoulder pole. The stick holder swirls around deftly to ward off the stabs.
Other Li dances are the Spring Festival dance, March 3rd (in the lunar calendar) dance, straw cap dance, clear sound dance, and gong and drum dance. The performances are accompanied by songs and music that is played with a nose flute, leaves, wood, and bamboo.
The dadase opera is the pinnacle of Li songs and dances. The name means "beginning" in the Li language. This opera depicts the life and customs of Li ancestors and their optimistic and passionate character. It has five parts: Prelude, Women's Sky, Men's Sky, Women and Men's March 3rd, and Let's Dance.
