China celebrates Bot50 through dance and song
Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday September 27, 2016 16:21
The festival that ran for two days, enabled Batswana to watch and experience the Chinese culture through unique ethnic dances and songs. With every act depicting various dancing forms and songs, the Troupe started off with a song proposing a toast. It’s a traditional ceremony of Tibetan nationality for welcoming guests and they also presented Hada (a piece of silk used as a greeting gift) to praise and greet guests, who included the Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Thapelo Olopeng.
The group then officially kick-started their performance with a Tacheng Reba, which is a dance of Tibetan nationality. The general characteristic of the Reba Dance is rough, wild, daring and magnificent. It is a classical dance, which has a long history, and it is a visual representation of the traditional ritual. It was believed that, Milarepa, the second founder of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, founded ‘Reba’, during the 11th century A.D. Reba dance was started in Tengchen County. He did the Reba dance to worship the gods.
A high-pitched and melodious Xian Zi style folk piece sung by a female member of the Troupe then followed. The singer managed to capture the attention of the audience with her amazing voice.
To show more culture to every performance, the Troupe performed a folk dance of Hani nationality called ‘Ringing of Bamboo Grove’, which reflects the personality of Hani women as soft and tender as water and their unique beauty.
It was not just about singing and dancing, but the Troupe managed to show the power of their musical instruments with a melody of Xian Zi, a traditional Tibetan instrument. It has a soft sound to express tenderness and is popular in Tibetan living area.
Among the various dances on the day was a dance of Yi nationality that is used to welcome people from all over the world with hospitality and love. It was followed by a group dance of Lisu Minority. Lisu people, living in Weixi Yunna, created the dance from their daily routine calling it Achimugua meaning the dance of goats in Lisu language.
The Yunnan, China is a multi-cultural place with 25 minorities living together and has a unique and specific singing and dance art form. The China Yunnan Shangri-La Arts Troupe captures the Da Ge in a women’s dance to Yi people’s positive and open personality.
A men’s group followed to depict the dance that shows the enthusiastic outburst of Tibetan men but with tender nature as well.
Speaking at the show, Olopeng said the cultural performance speaks friendship and cooperation that has bound them for many years. He said in the past 40-years, cultural exchanges between the two countries have become a critical part of bilateral relations. “As a country we continue to benefit from the cultural exchange programmes with China, thus strengthening our links as well as people to people contact,” he said. Olopeng said cultural exchange is a bridge connecting the two countries and people. He thanked the Troupe for travelling such a long journey to give their best performance for the enjoyment of locals.