It’s amazing how mankind has created so many beautiful and vibrant forms of dance over the ages. For many, many years now, people have enjoyed moving their bodies to the rhythm of the music, either alone, with a partner, or in a big group, and from fiery salsa routines to elegant ballet performances, the many forms of dance continue to enchant audiences around the world.
One lucky group of audience members were getting ready for a very special performance as they took their seats for the Zionsville High School Chinese New Year Celebration.
In order to ring in the New Year in style, some of the students at the school decided to perform a traditional Chinese umbrella dance.
Umbrella and parasol dances have been popular for many years, especially around Asia in nations like China and Japan. For this particular performance, the girls took their inspiration from the Miao people of South China.
Dressed in traditional Miao headdresses and robes, the performers stepped out onto the stage holding pretty red parasols in their hands.
They line up in small groups, some holding the umbrellas by their sides, others holding the umbrellas over their heads, and one extra group keeping their umbrellas down as the music begins.
Traditional, lively Chinese music rings out around the arena as the dancers start to move across the stage, opening and closing their umbrellas in time with one another and assembling together in one large group.
When they all get together in the center of the stage, they open their umbrellas one by one and form a huge red wall!
It’s quite an impressive sight and just one example of how umbrellas can enhance a dance in unique visual ways.
As the performance continues and the melody begins to soften, the girls continue to move in line with the music, slowly and gracefully raising, lowering, and rotating their umbrellas around.
And what makes this performance truly special is how the dancers all manage to stay so synchronized throughout! Even during the more complex and lively moments of the routine, they all seem to move as one.
Another amazing aspect of the performance is how the dancers use their umbrellas in so many different ways.
It’s hard enough to learn a difficult dance routine that involves lots of arm and leg movements, but these ladies also had to incorporate their accessories into the performance, peeking around from behind their pretty red parasols and waving them around in the air.
While some dances are highly energetic and fast-paced, this one is wonderfully relaxing, with the dancers captivating our attention entirely.
We almost feel like we’ve been whisked away to a traditional Chinese temple, witnessing a real routine of quality and elegance.
These inspiring dancers put on a show to remember and absolutely deserve the big round of applause they receive at the end. Check out their dance in the video below, which has already been viewed close to 300,000 times.
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