A fire dancing performance of Red Dao ethnic community took place in Na Hang district, Tuyen Quang province on October 12, as part of the annual cultural, sport and tourist festival 2019.
The traditional dance usually starts with worshipping rituals performed by the shaman (he must belong to the red Dao community). Worshipping offerings often include rice, wine, votive paper, boiled cockerel, etc.
Dancers run onto the bonfire in bare feet
After that coals are burning. The bass sounds from bamboo instruments and drums and the deep sounds from bronze instruments seem to encourage the men. They seem controlled by a super natural power, shake their bodies, jump on one leg in front of the altar and then leap onto the burning coal with bare feet. The ceremony is over when the fire dies out.
The fire dancing is usually held at the end of the year and at the beginning of a new year to thank Fire Deity for warmth, safety, prosperity and a good harvest, and to for chasing away ghosts, devils and diseases.
Tuyen Quang is currently home to 90,600 Dao ethnics and Red Dao people mainly reside in communes of Son Phu, Sinh Long and Nang Kha of Na Hang district, and Tho Binh of Lam Binh district. The fire dancing is a deep cultural and spiritual tradition of the Red Dao ethnic group.
PTT
