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| Nung ethnic people charmed Hanoians with their unique cat-lion dance performance over the holiday. — Photo toquoc.vn |
Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Nung ethnic people in the northern mountain province of Lang Son have charmed Hanoians with their unique cat-lion dance performance over the holiday.
The performance was part of a series of cultural activities held in the framework of ‘Lang Son Market’ on Monday at Viet Nam’s ethnic Culture and Tourism Village in Son Tay District to celebrate National Day.
The so called cat-lion dance is an indispensable tradition for the Nung people in Lang Son, and is observed on occasions such as Lunar New Year, the Long Tong Festival (a ceremony to pray for good weather and bumper crops), the Full Moon Festival and new home ceremonies.
The dance features music and martial arts. The dancers wear lions’ heads and cat masks painted in vibrant red, black, yellow or green. The dancers also have panther masks, monkey masks, sticks, knives and swords.
The dance has several meanings. It showcases their love for martial arts, symbolising luck and happiness, and the Nung people believe that performing the dance wards off bad things.
The performance really comes to life thanks to the scary masks and impressive martial arts displays.
Lang Son Province is home to around 90 dance troupes with thousands of dancers in the districts of Cao Loc, Loc Binh, Van Lang and Van Quan. Each troupe has around 8 to 16 artists. — VNS
OVietnam