Tacheng Reba Dance

　　Tacheng Reba Dance is a traditional dance from Tacheng Town, Weixi County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It boasts a profound historical background and unique artistic charm, and is a national intangible cultural heritage. The following provides a detailed introduction from multiple perspectives:

　　Historical Origins

　　Tacheng Reba Dance has a long history, tracing its origins back to around the 11th century. It began as a ritual dance for primitive tribal ceremonies, gradually evolving into a form of folk art performance. Tacheng Town was anciently known as "La Pu," meaning "sacred river" in Tibetan, hence Tacheng Reba Dance is also called "Sacred River Reba Dance."

　　Dance Characteristics

　　Movement Style: The movements are unrestrained and free-spirited, with a strong Tibetan style. The dance often involves rapid spins, jumps, and kicks, incorporating imitations of animal movements such as an eagle spreading its wings and a tiger leaping, showcasing unique artistic appeal.

　　Performance Style: Accompanied by drums, it's a large-scale collective song and dance combining singing, dancing, and monologues, belonging to the orthodox classical Reba style, unique in the Tibetan areas of China. During performances, under the direction of the lead dancer (called "Chong Bei" in Tibetan), drums beat in unison. Female dancers lightly move their feet with graceful postures while beating the sun and moon drums. Male dancers shake rattles, wave yak tails, and perform strong, steady steps, soaring and spinning.

　　Clothing and Props

　　Clothing: Dancers wear gorgeous Tibetan costumes. Male costumes are light and designed for ease of movement, with strong color contrasts. Headwear includes braids, "Dongri" (multicolored beads strung into several small strands, hanging down from the braids near the eyebrows), and "Bixiao" (multicolored threads and braided hair hanging down from the temples). Clothing includes large-collared short jackets, Chuba (a traditional Tibetan robe), colorful trousers, and Ula boots. Shoulders and backs are adorned with ribbons, "Kada" (multicolored or seven-colored ribbons), mirrors (called "Nilo" in Tibetan, tied to the shoulder blades to subdue evil spirits), and protective Buddhas (called "Gau" in Tibetan, boxes made of copper or gold/silver, inlaid with turquoise, patterns, gold/silver foil, and agate, containing Buddha statues, scriptures, and sacred relics). Female costumes are brightly colored, with headwear including braids, head scarves, silver chains, five-Buddha lotus crowns, false ears, and hadas (ceremonial scarves). Necklaces include "Quan Sang Gong She," chest ornaments include protective Buddhas and "Xie Lubuman" (a string of 108 beads worn across the chest). Clothing includes white shirts, large-collared short jackets, vests, belts, pleated skirts, and high boots.

　　Props: Primarily rattles, yak tail dusters, long-handled drums, drumsticks, and horizontal bars. Additional props such as sambar deer, white cranes, and phoenixes are used in extended scenes.

　　Musical Accompaniment

　　Vocal Music: Musical phrases have upper and lower sections and a structure with introduction, development, transition, and conclusion. It mainly uses the pentatonic scale, occasionally incorporating "4" or "7" to form a heptatonic scale in some melodies, but these third intervals are mostly passing tones. The music features a high proportion of the Aeolian mode, followed by the Lydian mode, then the Ionian and Dorian modes. Melodic development primarily uses repetition. In terms of rhythm, free rhythm is relatively flexible, while rhythmic singing has clear strong and weak beats and a more unified rhythm. Singing is divided into solo and chorus, mainly using natural voice with appropriate falsetto. Female voices are bright and soft, while male voices are deep and exciting. Lyrics combine "Lu" style, "Xie" style, and free style.

　　Instrumental Music: Primarily male rattles and female long-handled drums create various rhythms to accompany the dancers. Drum beats include "opening beat," "one beat," "three beats," and six other sections, each with different beats. The rhythms vary in density and length, some complementing the dancers' graceful movements, others inspiring and driving the performance to a frenzied climax.

　　Cultural Connotation

　　Religious Significance: Tacheng Reba Dance has strong Tibetan Buddhist influences, related to stories in Tibetan Buddhism. The costumes and props used in the dance reflect various legends in Tibetan Buddhism, embodying people's wishes for divine blessings. Before a performance, considerable preparation is needed, including selecting a date and performing certain rituals, forming a traditional set of performance customs.

　　Ethnic Integration: Tacheng Town is a multi-ethnic area, with cultural exchange and mutual influence among different ethnic groups. In its inheritance and development, Tacheng Reba Dance has absorbed the essence of other ethnic cultures, continuously enriching its own connotation and becoming a vivid portrayal of harmonious coexistence and integration among the many ethnic groups in Diqing.

　　Inheritance and Development

　　Honors and Achievements: In 1957, the Sacred River Reba Dance won second prize at the second National Folk Music and Dance Performance in Beijing. In June 1999, Tacheng Town, Weixi County, was awarded the title of "Home of Reba Art" by the prefectural government. In September 2007, Tacheng "Sacred River Reba" was named as a "Yunnan Province First Batch of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage Projects" by the Yunnan Provincial Government. In 2011, "Sacred River Reba" was included in the provincial intangible cultural heritage protection list by the Yunnan Provincial Government, and in 2014, it was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage protection project by the State Council.

　　Protection Measures: The local government and cultural departments have implemented a series of measures to protect and inherit Tacheng Reba Dance, such as establishing inheritance bases, cultivating inheritors, and organizing cultural activities, to promote the inheritance and development of this ancient art form.