The Long Drum is a traditional dance of the Yao ethnic minority in China.
The Yao people are widely distributed in South China and are one of the very oldest ethnic groups. The ancestors of the Yao people lived in Changsha, Wuling or Wuxi in their early years, and later migrated all the way to the south. The Yao people believed in gods and fairies, and in the process of social development, formed a unique local culture and dance to worship totems, so at the beginning, the long drum is usually used in the rituals.
While the dance came out of ritual activities to drive away ghosts and evil spirits, it has now been added to a beautiful love story. Legend has it that a father and his son lived on Yao Mountain.
After the death of the old man, his younger brother, Dongbi, was taken by various people to take his share of the family fortune and wandered in Sichuan. Later met the Pangu King's daughter Fangsha thirteen sister, in accordance with the agreement to remove all the difficulties made this long drum and jumped up, the two people became a divine couple ascension. Therefore, when people come across the Pangu King's Birthday, they have to jump up and down on this long drum. The Yao people not only dance the long drum together, but also have the flower drum to celebrate together.
Expanded:
The long drum dance mostly reflects the production struggles and living customs of the Yao people, and reflects the thoughts, feelings and ideal wishes of the Yao people, with a unique style of the Yao people. In both performance form and program, it fully expresses the character traits and temperament of Yao people. The movements of the dance are rough, courageous, unrestrained, vigorous and free; the rhythm is bright and agile.
The dance vocabulary imitates going up and down the mountains, crossing the streams and valleys, cutting down trees and carrying wood, fighting with dragons and tigers, etc., which is vivid and understandable at a glance. Almost all Yao dances are mass, square, and have certain props, such as long drums, flower drums, cow horns, parasols, etc., constituting the style of the nation, which is popular among the masses and easy to circulate. Therefore, on various occasions such as festivals, weddings, religions, funerals and so on, there are songs and dances, which are very lively.