Bamboo dance Guidance | Global Campus World Tour | BVIS Hanoi

The cultural value of a country can be expressed in such ceremonial practices of that culture. Bamboo dancing is a window to Vietnam culture. It is a unique folk dance performed by the ethnic minorities in the northwest of Vietnam. It's a cultural exchange amongst ethnic groups where they gather around and celebrate happy vacations. Across literature, Vietnamese bamboo dance is documented to have originally been used as a separation of the ten, or in other words, lunar new year. The instruments needed are two long bamboo stalls, three to four meters in length, and six bamboo sticks. The two long stalls have to be placed parallel to each other, and there should be enough spaces between them so that a pair or even a group of three people can fit through. After that, the bamboo sticks are placed horizontally on top of the stalls. The stalls will act as two supportive bases, one at each end of the bamboo sticks. The sticks should be arranged as pairs. The gap between different pairs of sticks should be slightly larger than the gap between within the bamboo pairs. The members participating will be divided into two groups, the dancing groups and the bamboo stalls groups. The group that is moving the bamboo stalls will be divided into three pairs, sitting face to face against each other behind the opposite stall. Two people who are opposite to each other will hold on to the ends of the two adjacent bamboo sticks. They will knock on the bamboo stalls to the four-four rhythm, with the first two times knocking the bamboo sticks onto the stalls and closing the sticks together on the third beat. The rest will have to try and dance through the stalls. The dancers move by stepping alternatively in and out from between and across the pair of horizontal bamboos, held against the ground by people sitting face to face on either side. One by one, each pair will step in, followed by the next pair after the previous one have moved onto the next pair of bamboo sticks. The duo can dance face to face or turn to the forward direction that they are moving in. Holding hands are optional. This is the most common style of bamboo dancing. With the right leg and left leg are placed continuously into the bamboo pair, the dancers move forward through the stalls. With the second style, the dancing method is still similar to the previous one. However, for each stall, instead of moving straight to the next one, you will move backward once and then continue to move forward to the next stall after that. The pairs will move forward and backward together. In this style, they will move in opposite direction to each other. In the first four beat, the person on the left will move forward while the right person moves backward and then vice versa for the next four beat. After that, the pair move forward together to the next stall and repeat the process. The key thing in bamboo dancing is the rhythm and beat. Since the bamboo sticks are moved rhythmically to the music, dancers should count the beat in their heads. It can also be a bit hard to find the suitable bamboo sticks and styles for the dance. Road A0 paper can be used as an alternative. Three to four centimeters diameter or any other kind of sticks that are long enough. The traditional bamboo dancing in Vietnam has its own traditional folk music to dance to. However, we would like to challenge you to combine bamboo dancing with a song of your choice or a song that is popular in your country. The song that you picked should have a good rhythm. Good luck and have fun with the challenge!