Materials
dancing
ICH Materials 475
Audios
(9)-
Rogon Ni Sum e Langad (History of Betel Nut Use in Yap)
This is the history of how native Yapese learned to use indigenous betel nuts (areca nuts). Native Yapese added pepper leaf and coral lime powder to betel nut and called it langad. Langad was not used by the native Yapese until it was introduced by a friendly ghost who was stranded on the main island of Yap several hundreds of years ago. The ghost, whose name was Llong, was left behind by his companion Luug. Llong then settled himself at the Ron’uw village in the northwestern part of the island. For some reason, Llong relocated himself to Gilyaboch village on the Gakaan peninsula on the western side of the island. There he lived and began making and setting fish traps along the water. Day after day, the natives saw him and wondered what he was doing in the water and who he was. The natives approached him and became friends with him. Llong taught them how to make fish traps and how to set them in the water to catch fish. When setting the traps, branchy corals were required to be placed on and around the traps to cover them. Collecting branchy corals almost every day for the traps, the natives asked Llong if those corals were edible, seeing that they were almost everywhere in the fishing ground. He replied that they were edible, but needed to be processed in advance. So they collected some of the branchy corals and brought them onto land. Thereafter, Llong taught and showed them how to make lime powder out of branchy corals. Llong explained that the powder shouldn’t be taken alone, but could only be taken with two more elements. Llong ordered the natives to bring betel nuts and pepper leaves. Native Yapese at that time used the trunks of betel nut trees only for building houses, but did not use the nuts. Llong gathered everything up and demonstrated how it use it. He added a little amount of powder in a split betel nut and wrapped a piece of pepper leaf around it, putting it in his mouth and chewing on it. After he chewed the mixture, he spat the bloody red liquid out of his mouth. It looked very interesting to the natives, so they tried it right away. Eventually, everyone had a chance to try the newly discovered products. They all felt high from using them and began singing, dancing, and enjoying the sensation until they all felt tired and wanted to take a nap. During their naps, Llong bestowed his blessings upon the langad ingredients so the natives would have the interest or the urge to use them again. When they woke up from the short nap, they were sober and all surprised to see the redness on their lips as well as the spit marks on the ground. They got worried and concerned that their chief in Lamear village might find out what they had done, so they kept it a secret from him. Later, they decided to pay the chief a visit and present him the langad. The chief tried it for the first time and was very impressed. He showed his great excitement, saying that he had never experienced such a euphoria. From then on, he proclaimed the tradition that the people should offer him the langad on a regular basis. This is the story of how native Yapese started using betel nuts. It began in Gilyaboch village, but quickly spread to their chief in Lamear village and to other allies on the island. This knowledge of chewing betel nut with coral lime powder spread throughout the island and became a tradition of the Yapese culture hundreds of years ago. Langad is now a part of daily lives in Yap. It is widely used for social gatherings, community meetings and events, funerals, and so much more.
Micronesia -
Bison Horn Maria dance
This is a dance of the Bison Horn Maria tribe, so called because of the head dress of bison horns that they wear during ceremonial occasions. The song is “Nima waya noni” (You come on younger sister). A group of eight to ten girls are dancing, accompanied by singing and drums.
India 1978 -
Tamil lullaby
The refrain, Va va, means “Come, come.” This lullaby welcomes the baby by describing the joyous scene of forty people singing and dancing and referring to a baby coming in a golden chariot pulled by twelve horses. This may be a reference to the birth of a deity.
India 1938 -
Xin hoa - đố chữ
This song belongs to the phase of festive singing (performed after the hát cách), alternating between singers and instrumentalists. Singing, accompanied with dancing to demonstrate some story, creates a joyful atmosphere.
Viet Nam -
Bimbisale – Harvest song
“Bimbisale” or “Dimbisale” is sung during the harvest season in the month of Suggi (March) as people go dancing from door to door and collect rice and other grains. They have a feast in the evening, and the grains are distributed among the people. A senior with a large repertoire leads the song by singing each line. He is accompanied by the the others, who sing in chorus, “Bimbisale / Dimbisale.” This is sung in Tulu and in Kannada, but also in Arebhashe, a local dialect.
India 1938 -
Malayalam lullaby
This lullaby playfully asks the child, “Do you resemble a lotus or a creeper? A dancing peacock, a Parijat flower, a lamp, or a bouquet of flowers? Are you as pure as milk or as fine as jasmine? Are you born with the blessings of Lakshmi Bhagavati or Lord Padmanabha?” The themes are typical and include the beauty of the child and the blessings of a god. It is sung to the rhythm of the cradle’s rock.
India 1938 -
Tauri au me daru taralala(Take Me for a Dance)
The song vividly describes the graceful movement of dancing with a partner.
Fiji -
Solo of the kèn
According to statistics data in 2009, the Cao Lan people (known as Sán Chay) in Vietnam had a population of 169,410 people, residing mostly in Tuyên Quang province. The Cao Lan ethnic minority has a treasure of poetry, folk music, and dance such as sình ca (unique folk singing), múa trống (drum dancing), múa xúc tép (small shrimp catching dancing), múa chim gâu (cuckoo bird dancing), etc. The musical instruments of Cao Lan people are various, including thanh la (small knobless gong), não bạt (small cymbals), drums, bells, and wind instruments. Kèn is a wind instrument performed in festivals and ritual forms. Kèn consists of four parts: the body, the bell, reed stake, and the reed. The body is a cylindrical hollow tube made of hard wood about thirty centimeters in length. On the body, there are seven pressing holes on the front and one hole on back near the stake. The instrument bell is made of a frustum-shaped thin wooden piece. The smaller of the bell is attached to the big end of the tube. The stake is attached to the small end of the tube. The reed is made of a reed pipe or worn nest attached to the stake. Its sound is strong, a little discordant at high pitches and a little cracked at the low end. The register of the instrument is two octaves. Kèn is played by men only. This track is a medley of extractions that are often played in the rituals, such as hành quân (army operation), kèn Khắp, and đưa Phật (Buddha greeting).
Viet Nam 1959 -
Gond Karma dance
Karma is a festival celebrated by the tribal communities of Central India from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to Jharkhand. An important aspect of the festival is dancing through the night after a Karma tree is planted. Men and women dance together. This is a Karma dance of the Gond community. In this track, five women are dancing with a group of three men, accompanied by musicians. The instruments are the mandar (drum), timki (small kettle drum), and manjira (brass cymbals). The dance consists of men and women dancing in rows facing one another, going three steps backwards and forwards.
India 1982