Zhongshan County is a place where Han, Zhuang, Yao and other ethnic groups live together, and folk dances with ethnic characteristics are quite rich. Before liberation, it was limited to all ethnic groups.
Lack of communication and various historical reasons have led to these folk dances not being widely circulated or even lost. After liberation, the county people's committee deployed special forces in September 1956, and excavated and arranged 26 kinds of folk dances in relevant areas. The main folk dances are: Claw Dance is popular in Caoduiyuan Village, Yao Township, Liang 'an, and it is a dance that the Yao people danced when they sacrificed their ancestors Wang Pan. Legend has it that in ancient times, King Pan helped the King of Zhao to kill the Prince of Yan and win the world. Zhao Wang betrothed three women to him and gave birth to six men and six women, which later became 12 Yao surnames. A hunting was held in Wang Jinshan as a gift to celebrate Zhang Yue's birthday. Unfortunately, he was forced to die by a goat between two catalpa trees. His children rushed to the mountain to hunt goats, cut off catalpa wood, made drums, killed goats, peeled off sheepskin and made long drums, then cut off their horns and held them in their hands, dancing together to pay homage to King Pan. This dance is called claw dance.
Long Drum Dance is a Yao folk dance (also known as wall-rushing dance) popular in Shaping Village, Liang 'an. Introduced from Gongcheng Sanjiang in the early 1950s. At first, it was a double dance, and later it developed into a multi-person dance. Dance takes Long Drum Dance as props and fulcrums, simulates various actions of building a house against the wall, and shows the labor process of building a house against the wall. Dance movements are coherent, graceful and generous, and the rhythm is distinct, which shows the excellent quality of Yao people's love for labor and life.
Lantern Dance (also known as Lantern Opera) is popular in Zhuang areas around Liu Miao Village in Qingtang. According to local artists, Lantern Dance was introduced into the six wonders from Yaoshan in the Qing Dynasty (the exact age is unknown). This is a New Year performance with singing and dancing. During the Spring Festival every year, artists will transfer ownership from one village to another, hold a New Year greeting ceremony and wish the householder good luck. During the performance, the two tied props and horses for riding, and several people held lanterns and danced on the stage, singing and dancing. Lantern Dance has a solid performance program, and the whole dance content is divided into three parts: "Lantern Dance (Ten Praises)", "Vendors and Ladies" and "Wugengli". From the content, the three performances are relatively independent, but the artists combine them and perform at the same time. Therefore, it is generally considered to be an inseparable performance of the whole. The three performances have different vocals, but they all have the characteristics of lively rhythm, humor, three sighs and euphemistic lingering. The content of the song can fully express the sincere love between young men and women.
In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, it was normal to jump lanterns. By the end of the Republic of China, activities basically stopped. After liberation, the performance was resumed after being excavated and sorted by the sects of the county Ministry of Culture. He once participated in 1980 Zhongshan County folk art performance and 1986 Wang Pan Festival commemoration jointly organized by the three provinces of Zhongshan County. In recent years, due to the continuous enrichment of other cultural life forms, artists seldom use lantern dance to celebrate the New Year.
Nanshe Lion is a folk song and dance that spreads in Dongxin Village, Yangtou Township, the county seat. The number of performers is mainly three. One person plays the land father, and the other dances the Southern Snake Dance (one holds the head and the other dances the tail). In the performance, the South Snake Lion made its debut, and performed more than 70 sets of modeling actions such as the South Snake coming out of the hole, winnowing rice, changing boats, changing mountains and grinding. Then the father-in-law of the land appeared wearing a mask, performing songs and dances, praising good feng shui, prosperous fortune and prosperous future generations. Finally, the south snake lion came out to dance again, and the land father rode into the stadium. The whole performance is humorous and full of comedy.
In addition, there are 19 kinds of dances, such as "Spring Club", "Flower Umbrella Dance", "Fairy Out of the Hall Dance" and "Yao Lusheng Long Drum Dance", which are all public opinion dances excavated after liberation. In particular, "Yao Lusheng Long Drum" was rated as an excellent program in the 1957 provincial cultural performance and was sent to Beijing to participate in the national folk cultural performance.