Xoe is a dance form with movements symbolizing human activities and is practiced in rituals, culture and life. There are 3 types including ritual Xoe, circle Xoe and performance Xoe. The Thai ethnic people in the Northwestern provinces were honored when UNESCO listed “Thai Xoe Art” on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The cradle of the ancient dance
“The wind carries the sound of flutes from the mountains/ Together returning to Nghia Lo, the forest is covered with white Ban flowers”. According to the spring poem, I have returned to Nghia Lo, the western part of Yen Bai province, many times. Each time I return, I feel excited, discover and wait.
Coming to Yen Bai, many artists have been intoxicated by the Han Khuong nights, the xoe dances with soft wine and charming Thai girls. Some came back to write music, some wrote poetry, some painted brilliant and lyrical pictures, expressing the unique spirit of highland girls.
Talking about Nghia Lo is talking about a land of favorable weather, favorable terrain, and favorable people. This place is also the birthplace and nurture of a unique culture with Xen Ban Xen Muong festivals, namely Long Tong festival, Xen Dong festival, Xip Xi festival. Then there is the Ban flower picking festival, Han Khuong activities... Nghia Lo is the cradle of 6 ancient xoe dances, the origin of more than 30 famous dances.
In the sound of drums, the deep and bustling gongs, the soaring and passionate flutes, the xoe steps make people closer and more harmonious with each other. When standing in the xoe circle, holding hands next to the warm fire, it seems that everyone just wants to transform, to immerse themselves in the joy, regardless of age, young, male or female. Everyone wants to send into the xoe festival, to the sacred land and sky, the dreams and aspirations of people before the beauty of life. Every Thai girl knows how to dance. The com shirt, xa tich, silver bracelets, skirts, Pieu scarves..., the costumes of Thai women are almost intact because they bought them themselves to dance happily.
I also found a pair of eyes in the Han Khuong night three years ago. She is Lo Thi Huong (Cang Na village, Trung Tam ward, Nghia Lo town), this year she just turned 17, since the age of 15 she knew how to pose, very lovely.
Huong said that Thai girls, from a young age, are taught by their grandmothers and mothers how to tie a “xài yêu” (cloth belt), so that when they grow up, they all have a “waist as thin as a wasp’s waist”. That is why when they grow up, Thai girls are graceful with beautiful curves. Thai girls’ skirts are black, with a colorful fabric flap inside the hem. With each step, the skirts shimmer with color, discreetly and gracefully undulating.
Huong drank alcohol quite well. When entertaining guests, she sang beautifully with a little alcohol in her system. Guests were not only intoxicated by her sweet voice but also by her wet, passionate eyes.
Through Huong and her family, I learned more about the hospitality of the people of this culturally rich land. But there was one thing that puzzled me: many young men from the lowlands proposed to her and wanted to marry her, but she refused. I don’t know how her parents kept their daughter here, or whether Huong couldn’t bear to leave the land where she was born and raised. Once I asked her why she stayed in Muong Lo fields, stayed with the xoe nights and Han Khuong nights as if it were destiny, but Huong just smiled, and her mysterious eyes sparkled.
Sedimentary zone
Coming to the Northwestern villages in spring, visitors seem to be lost in a land of colorful dresses like the white flowers blooming in the Northwestern forests, and are even more captivated by the xoè dances.
The Thai people in the Northwest live in the midst of majestic nature, they have to face two-legged and four-legged enemies. Whenever those tasks are completed well, they hold hands and dance around the fire to celebrate in a completely spontaneous way. From there, the xoè dance was developed to perfection, imitating the steps of our ancestors in reclaiming the land, planting rice, offering wine... the practical activities and dreams of life are expressed vividly and subtly, from generation to generation.
In Dien Bien province, where the Thai ethnic group accounts for more than 35% of the population, Xoe dance has become a link connecting the community, expressing the unique cultural identity of the nation.
For generations, the Thai community in Dien Bien has always preserved this beautiful cultural identity.
Artisan Tong Trung Chien, Hong Lech Cang village, Thanh Chan commune, Dien Bien district (Dien Bien province), said: There are many ancient xoe dances. The first is the "Kham khen" dance: around the fire, people hold hands and dance in a primitive way, expressing community solidarity, wishing for a prosperous and happy life. The "Kham khan moi lau" dance: lifting the scarf to invite wine. It is a dance full of lyricism and warmth, expressing hospitality. The "Pha xi" dance shows community solidarity, respect for ancestors. The "Doi hon" dance: dancing forward and backward, wanting to say that no matter what happens in the world, human love is always steadfast. The "Nhuon khan" dance: is the most jubilant scarf-tossing dance, often performed during bumper crops, weddings, moving to a new house... The Thai people have a saying: "No xoe, no good rice. No xoe, the barn is empty".
With each passing step, people feel their spirit is cleansed, life is more lovely, more harmonious, they love people more to enter new working days with bright faith.
In the past, under the colonial feudal regime, xoè dances and the lives of xoè girls were mainly to entertain the mandarins. The fire of the xoè circle kept shaking, the girls performed while trembling, not feeling comfortable. Most of them were forced. It was thought that at that time xoè dance would be extinguished, but the fire in people's hearts was always warm, so it has been preserved until now.
Since 1990, the Thai community in the four provinces of Yen Bai, Dien Bien, Lai Chau , and Son La have taken measures to protect the art of xoe, such as establishing Thai xoe teams, and having folk artists and local researchers record and publish documents on the creation and development, xoe methods, melodies, performance contexts, and related cultural forms.
The Xoe art of the Thai ethnic group has surpassed the beauty of traditional dance forms and has developed into a highly creative aesthetic, expressing the aspiration to reach the values of truth, goodness and beauty of each member of the Northwest ethnic community.
It is also a symbol of national solidarity, sharing, deep love between people, harmony between people and culture, national identity and majestic nature with noble philosophies of life.
Artisan Lo Van Bien (Cang Na village, Trung Tam ward, Nghia Lo town, Yen Bai province), who has many years of research on Thai culture, said that due to living in the midst of majestic nature, along with diligence and creativity in conquering nature, every time an important task is completed, Thai people hold hands and dance around the fire to celebrate.
The xoè dances were formed and developed from there. The xoè dance also has another name, “Xe kham khen” (hand-held dance), which arose in the process of labor, in daily life, in customs, festivals, etc.
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