"Silkworm Dance" is a folk dance in Xupu County. Popular in Longtan, Xiaohuangsha, Zhuyuan area, is a gathering in this area Zhang family clan lights. Before the liberation of the Spring Festival held every year, Longtan Street, a thousand people gathered, bustling. All major surnames, regardless of the near and far, are to be the family's light dance to the street performances, in particular, the small Huangsha Zhang surnamed people's "silkworm lights" unique, in this place enjoys a good reputation.
The historical origin of the lamp is now no written information can be examined. According to the old artist Zhang Wang Kwai, Zhang Wang more: Longtan small Huangsha Zhang's ancestors from Hubei Jingzhou in the second year of the Yongle Ming Dynasty migrated to Guizhou Liping, and then to the Longtan Huangmao Yuan, and finally came to the present small Huangsha settlement. The working people around Jingzhou had the habit of planting mulberry and raising silkworms, and the Zhangs continued to develop sericulture after settling in Xupu. As a result of the love of spring silkworms, the Zhang family will be someone's original idea, weaving a performance of silkworm life "silkworm lights" to every Spring Festival lights will be performed on the street in Longtan, in order to show that the Zhang family's prosperity and prosperity. The dance has a history of more than three hundred years.
"Silkworm lamp" resembles the maturity of the spring silkworms, within the bamboo gabions woven into dozens of circles of different sizes to do the skeleton, connected by a rope, divided into the head, body, tail three segments, outside the white cloth masked into the body cavity of the silkworms point candles, the full length of about 5 meters. Silkworms can stretch and move, swallowing mouth wide open, mouth with red beads. Dance with three men dancing a string of lights, two strings of lights for a group (a group of lights **** 6 people), the number of groups is not limited, the more the more beautiful the picture dance. Before the lights, the first in the village Wochang Pingdi to the air released "Kongming lamp" several, the lights are woven with bamboo gimlets a round lamp, the outer paste leather paper, built-in volatile camphor and cooking oil mixture of candles, lit straight to the sky, can be maintained in the air for half an hour, according to legend, for the Three Kingdoms when Zhuge Liang invented. After the lights rise, the whole village suddenly shine, men and women, young and old, jumping for joy. Neighboring villages, people saw the sky rose "Kongming lamp", know that the Zhang surname "silkworm lamp" began to perform, so every family set off firecrackers to meet the "silkworm lamp".
"Silkworm Dance" vividly and delicately expressed the graceful demeanor and serene habits of the silkworm. Dance in the "double door", "ritual dance", "Tai Chi", "silkworm lamps wrapped around the waist, "Worship four doors" and other dance movements are extracted from the usual twisting of the body of the silkworm, shaking the head, standing tall and entangled with each other and other demeanor. Dances such as "Dancing on the Road", "Two Silkworms Going up a Tree", "Two Silkworms Crossing a Bridge", "Two Silkworms Eating Leaves", and other movements are taken from the spring silkworm's search for mulberry leaves. The movements of "two silkworms on the tree", "two silkworms crossing the bridge" and "two silkworms eating leaves" are taken from the demeanor of spring silkworms searching for mulberry leaves.
In the whole performance process, the dancers must cooperate with each other, meticulous, so that the performance to achieve a static and static, coherent and natural, both God and shape, giving a kind of elegant and simple, fun art enjoyment. At night, "Silkworm Lights" marching on the ridge, from a distance, a string of white silkworms swimming in the night meandering, very spectacular. Especially dozens of strings of "silkworm lights" gathered in the square performance "on the table", "on the tree", this strange silkworm lights team formation diagram, can bring people to a dream-like realm. It is rich in mythological romantic color, in folk dance is rare, fully embodies the wisdom of the working people to create.
"Silkworm lamp" music is mainly used in the local folk tune "ten kinds of Jin" and gongs, cymbals, drums, three kinds of percussion instruments, with oboe, fast-paced, clear and pleasant to the ear, rich in vernacular characteristics.