157489

Yi Ethnic Dance

What is Yi in Chinese culture?

The Yi or Nuosu people, historically known as the Lolo, are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering nine million people, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China.

Yi Ethnic Dance

One of China’s oldest ethnic groups, the Yi people have a history of some 3,000 years. Today, they live primarily in China’s southern provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. Their affinity for song and dance is legendary.

As suggested by colorful dance movements, the Yi seize occasion to “dance out” their feelings in everyday life. Choreographed performance pieces depicting their style are often set in the lush hills of Yunnan, and are known for vibrant rhythms and energy. Combinations of threes and sixes characterize Yi ethnic dance. Some basic movements include “Three Steps and a Pause,” “Three Flips Three Spins,” “Six Stepping Flips to Form a Flower,” and “Half Tumble Half Turn.”

Many movements are taken from daily life. The “Beating Buckwheat Step” was inspired by the annual harvest. It is characterized by taking three steps forward and one step back while moving in circles. While the feet are busy stepping, the upper body sways gently left and right, creating a distinctively Yi rhythm.

Yi Ethnic Costumes

The ladies of the Yi ethnic group are known for styling their hair in a bun, wearing pleated skirts, and embroidering silver flowers on their collars. Their skirts often reach the ground and end in a wide hem. From top to bottom, the skirt features large colorful bands with red, yellow, and black being most popular.

Traditional Yi attire is decorated with cross-stitch embroidery, as Yi girls are taught from a young age how to sew. The quality and lavish details testify to the wearer’s dexterity with the needle.

Yi ethnic dance inspired by the people of Yunnan province’s Red River region. Starting at three years of age, the girls there wear a special hat shaped like a rooster’s crest. It is decorated with silver spheres and exquisitely detailed embroidery. They wear these until they are married. The rooster crest hats represent luck and light, and are worn in hope of a happy and beautiful life.

A complex network of valleys, crags, mountains, and flatlands. Here is a region that spans topography as diverse as snowcapped Himalayan mountains, fertile basin lands, and subtropical evergreen forests typical of Southeast Asia. Stretching across the provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and parts of Guangxi, southwest China’s natural surroundings are resplendent; its scenery, delightful.

The region is also ethnically diverse. Southwest China is home to dozens of ethnic groups, including the Yi, Dai, Miao, Bai, and Tibetan—all are known for their unique cultural expression in song and dance.

Source: shenyunperformingarts