The culture of the wooden drum is a rich and profound part of folk culture. Not only in its production and use but also in its performance, style and characteristics that reflect the social life, religion and customs of the Miao, Yi and Wa people. It is an indispensable part of the culture of these people, and is definitely an important subject in the further study of drum culture. The modern wooden drum dance has adopted a lot of new content.
Ⅰ. Fanpai Miao Minority Wooden Drum Dance
Declarer：Taijiang County,Guizhou Province
The wooden drum dance is an important festival activity for the Miao in the Taijiang area. In the hot summer, Miao girls will come from several miles away with their parents to dance the wooden drum dance. In this wooden drum festival, while the young girls are dancing to the rhythm of the wooden drum, the young men are looking for their life partners. When the curtain of night comes down, the young women and men will express their affections for each other by antiphonal singing.
The Fanpai wooden drum dance is prevalent in the Fanpai Miao Village in Taijiang County. The dance, dubbed the "Oriental Disco" for its fast and violent movements, originated from a primitive legend in which a brother and sister learned how to dance from the birds and insects.
Ⅱ.Wa Minority Cangyuan Wooden Drum Dance
Declarer：Cangyuan Wa Ethnic Autonomous County, Yunnan Provicne
The Cangyuan Wooden Drum Dance of the Wa ethnic group is popular in Cangyuan Wa Ethnic Autonomous County, where 90 percent of the villagers are good at wooden drum dancing and singing.
The wooden drum dance of the Wa people is colorful and varied. "Chopping Wooden Drum", "Pulling Wooden Drum", "Beating Wooden Drum", "Dancing in the Hut of the Wooden Drum", and "Sacrifice to Wooden drum", are past sacrificial dances which were used in grave sacrificial rituals to offer sacrifices to the gods, to please the gods, to ward off calamities and to get blessings from the gods. Nowadays, people beat the wooden drum and dance with the drum at ceremonies and festivals, not to please the gods but to amuse themselves, to bless and sing in praise of their new life.
Because of the sacred status and function of the wooden drum, the pulling of the wooden drum has become a very grand and magnificent religious sacrificial activity. The pulling of the wooden drum is when people cut wood in the forest, then, pull it into village and make a drum with it to replace the old drum. The pulling of the drum is usually held in the eleventh lunar month (the first month of the Wa calendar).
The most common wooden drum dance is the 'Beating Wooden Drum'. In their wooden drum dance, the Wa people use wooden drums and cymbals as major instruments, blending the beats with songs to create a main melody with strong and harmonious rhythms, full of encouragement and impulse.
Email to Friends
Print
Save