On the Lunar New Year or typical local holidays, the Tay and Nung in Lang Son often hold a unique dance with the mascot called “lion cat” in the folkway.
Every year, on the 1st and 2nd of the Lunar New Year and some special occasions such as the field-down festival, Mid-Autumn Festival , Spring Festival, new house entrance ceremony …, people of Tay and Nung ethnic groups in Lang Son jubilantly held the lion dance festival.
This activity is mainly performed in the districts of Cao Loc, Loc Binh, Van Lang, Van Quan, Binh Gia and Trang Dinh. Over the years, lion dance has become a unique folk activity handed down in the lives of the people here, contributing to preserving traditional cultural values, connecting the community.
In the Nung language, lion cats are “unicorns”, ie unicorns – one of the Four Spirit: long, unicorn (unicorn), quy, phoenix (phoenix). Local people often call the legendary animal with the rustic name of the lion cat.
Photographer Nguyen Son Tung (Lang Son) who attended the lion dance festival on Tet holiday many times in Lang Son said that this dance was originally only in the Nung people (including Nung Phan Slinh and Nung Chao). Later, the Tay and Nung people mixed together, undergoing cultural exchange and this ritual was absorbed.
Each dance comes with a different music. The lion dancer only needs to listen to percussion music to know how to perform the corresponding song.
Not only young men but also many children are also very excited to participate in the show, showing flexible and professional moves.
In Hai Yen commune, Cao Loc district, lion dance has been included in the content of extracurricular activities at the communal junior high school. In Van Lang and Binh Gia districts, this kind of performance transmission has attracted many young people to participate in the practice.
With traditional cultural values, lion dance of the Tay and Nung people in Lang Son has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a type of national intangible cultural heritage in 2017.