Tet dance of the Red Dao people

Tet dance is a holiday of ethnic minorities of the Red Dao people in Ta Van village in Sa Pa. Located about 12km from the center of Sa Pa town, Ta Van village is home to the H'mong, Giay and Red Dao people. The dance festival of the Red Dao people is usually held in the families of the eldest and eldest children, the time taking place on the 1st and 2nd of the Lunar New Year. A few days before that, all of them went to the chief's house to clean the altar and prepare the offerings. An indispensable offering in the dance festival of the Dao people is chicken or pork, when the chicken is finished boiling, it is not cut to leave the whole body, with full internal parts, the Dao people think like that to pay their respects. for ancestors. Depending on the family, the dance festival can be held on the 1st or the 2nd of Tet. The ceremony takes place solemnly in front of the ancestral altar. The shaman will control the Sai Cos who are male dancers, while dancing and reciting ancestral vows. After performing the ancestor report ceremony, praying to the ancestors to bless the new year, see the offerings and dances, each dance has a different meaning such as the dance to welcome the gods, or the dance to welcome the gods. dance to greet the deceased parents…. On this day, the statue with the name of the ancestors is usually wrapped in cloth and stored carefully by the Dao people, brought down by the Dao to perform a bathing ceremony to change into a new robe, clearly showing the culture of worshiping ancestors of the Dao people. In the New Year dance of the Dao, there is a fire dance performance, only selected healthy boys who are worshiped by the shaman from the beginning of the session can dance the fire, they believe that when they are performed by the teacher, they are protected by the gods. , with only bare feet jumping over piles of burning coals unaffected by the heat of the coals. The New Year dance festival of the Red Dao people has become a unique festival when people have combined many art genres such as music, dancing, etc. If you come to Sapa on the holidays, you should not miss miss the experience of watching this festival.