As spring arrives, the San Chay ethnic community in the northern province of Thai Nguyen joyously celebrate harvest festivals with their traditional Tac Xinh dance.
The harvest-praying ceremony of the San Chay community typically takes place before or after the Lunar New Year. During this ritual, villagers prepare offerings to seek blessings from heaven and earth, the deities, and the ancestors for favorable weather, bountiful harvests, and peace in the village.
During the harvest festival, villagers perform their traditional dance, which was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014.
The Tac Xinh dance symbolizes hope for a new year filled with favorable weather, abundant growth of all species, a successful harvest of rice and corn, and a serene and joyful village.
Traditional folk dances also embody the values of honoring the ancestors, serving as a spiritual connection between heaven and earth, linking the past and future generations and inspiring faith and determination to overcome the challenges of nature.
The Tac Xinh dance is quite simple and is suitable for community practice. The joyful sounds of the dance bring villagers closer together, and hold not only historical and cultural significance but also provide researchers with valuable insights and expresses the diverse Vietnamese ethnic community.- (VNA/VLLF)
