Here are come clips of an old style of Hmong dance called "Tsuab Qeej Tuam Taws" which translates as "Kicking Your Feet While Playing the Qeej". Unlike most other Asian cultures' dances, which focus more on graceful hand movements, these old, traditional Hmong dances put emphasis on using complex footwork.
My grandpa used to always tell me stories about how back in the days, long before ball tossing was introduced into our culture, how young men would play the qeej to woo their prospective girlfriends. During any community events, and especially during the New Years, they would gather in the village square, showing off their skills to whomever was watching them.
If a girl liked the way a certain boy danced or the way he played his qeej, she would come up, grab his arm and pull him aside from his friends so she could dance with him.
Today, the Hmong in China are the only ones who still practice this age-old courting dance where both genders participate together. Us SEA Hmongs have lost the female part of this courting dance, and very rarely do you ever see women dancing alongside a qeej player in our performances.
Here's one of my favorite videos: in the first clip, a father is teaching his little girl the steps to the dance, then in the next scene, we see a young couple demonstrating the routine.
Musical Chairs (Hmong-Style!!!): in this version, the men and the women start off in two separate groups. When the music changes, they must quickly merge into each other and whoever they end up with, they have to dance with each other until the song changes again (the cameraman only captured the ending of the dance though).
Hmong Square Dancing: In this last video, an old qeej player explains the words to the qeej song then demonstrates the dance.
Notice how the onlookers gradually join in with the dance, then form a circle around the main dancers.
Topic: Traditional Hmong Dances (No Thai/Lao influence) (Read 8763 times)