Uyghur Dance: The Girl of Daban City
Uyghur Dance: The Girl of Daban City 6:11
Choreography by Zhu Yuxiang
All copyrights of the videos and photos reserved to Central China Normal University (CCNU)
This Uyghur (Chinese: 维吾尔族; pinyin: wéi wú ěr zú) dance performance, “The Girl of Daban City” (Chinese: 达坂城的姑娘; pinyin: dá bǎn chéng de gū niang) showcases its unique dance and music traditions that are influenced by Persian and Arabic cultures. Borrowing the name of a well-known Uyghur folk song, the dance celebrates the youthful vitality of Uyghur girls.
Daban City (Chinese: 达坂城; pinyin: dá bǎn chéng) is located at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and the southern section of the Junggar Basin. "Daban" in Uyghur means "The backbone of the mountain".
The Uyghur people are appreciated and known for their hospitality culture and customs. Uyghur hosts often enjoy treating guests with dance performances after a sumptuous feast. The dance music is typically played by their national musical instruments such as dutar (a traditional long-necked two-stringed lute) and rawap (a fretted plucked long-necked stringed instrument). Uyghur dances display a style of passion and delicacy. They are also unique for the dancers’ fast rotation and dynamic movements such as neck-shifting, wrist-turning, and repetitive knee-shaking.
"The Girl of Daban City" is the first Uyghur folk song adapted into Mandarin Chinese. Wang Luobin (December 28, 1913 - March 14, 1996), Chinese composer and ethnomusicologist, collected more than 1,000 Xinjiang folk songs which he adopted and published in 6 volumes of song collections. Among them, "The Girl of Daban City", "Alam Khan", "Raise Your Hijab", "A Lovely Rose", "Mayila", "Dance of Youth" and "Under the Silver Moonlight" are the most popular. In 1994, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded him the “Outstanding Contributions to the Exchange of Western and Eastern Cultures”.
To help you enjoy the dance, we have provided the lyrics of "The Girl of Daban City" in Chinese version with Pinyin and English translation.
达坂城的石路硬又平啦 | Daban City’s stone streets – hard and flat. |
西瓜大又甜啦 | Watermelons big and sweet! |
那里住的姑娘辫子长啊 | A girl who lives there has long braided hair |
两个眼睛真漂亮 | And a pair of beautiful eyes! |
你要是嫁人, | If you want to marry, |
不要嫁给别人, 一定要你嫁给我 | please marry me only! |
带着你的嫁妆 | Bring along dowry |
带着你的妹妹 | and your younger sister |
赶着那马车来 | and catch the horse carriage. |
(English Translation of the lyrics sourced from Thinkerten.com)
About the Choreographer (Zhu Yuxiang)
Associate Professor Zhu Yuxiang is Head of the Department of Dance at CCNU and an expert member of the project assessment panels of Chinese National Arts Fund and China’s National Social Science Art Program.
Associate Professor Zhu’s research focuses on the theories of Chinese folk dance, and Hubei traditional dance heritage and protection. She has been the Chief Investigator on multiple grants in China’s Humanities and Social Science General Program and the General Project of Hubei Provincial Social Science Fund. Her academic publications include monographs and course curriculums, such as “Research on the Changes of Tujia Folk Dance Art in the Context of Cultural Integration” and “Demonstration Tutorial on Experimental Dance Teaching for Quality Education,” and multiple papers on core journals such as “Journal of Beijing Dance Academy” and “Journal of Wuhan University of Technology.”
Associate Professor Zhu is among the winners of “Hubei Provincial Teaching Achievement Award” and “CCNU Teaching Achievement Award.”
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.