Muong So, Homeland of Xoe Dance of the Thai Ethnic Group

According to the legend of the Thai people in the northwest, in the 10^th century, Lac Truong, the chief of the Muong Lo area (in Yen Bai Province today), led the villagers to Muong So area (in Phong Tho District, Lai Chau Province today) to reclaim land for farming and building their hamlets. It was the place where the Xoe dance of the Thai people in the northwest originated.

Initially, the Xoe dance was performed by the boys and girls in the hamlets, who held hands to form a circle and danced together. The musical instruments for the dance included gourd lutes, drums, two-chord fiddles, gongs and cymbals.

Before the Dien Bien Phu Victory (1954), the whole Muong So area was inhabited by the Thai people and ruled by King Deo Van An, a Thai native. He was amorous and loved the Xoe dance very much, so hundreds of teams of Xoe female dancers in Muong So were established and Xoe festivals were held throughout the years. During the festival, boys and girls from the hamlets of the Thai ethnic group gathered on the banks of the Nam Na River to get acquainted with one another, perform Xoe dance and drink corn wine. Under the flickering firelight, their singing and the melodious sound of the gourd lutes created a fascinating dancing night.
 

 

In the first years of the 20^th century, from being a popular dance, Xoe became “a court dance” to serve the chiefs in the northwest. 89-year-old artisan Lo Thi Phe who is the last living dancer of the Xoe team of King Deo Van An said that before Dien Bien Province was liberated, the Xoe ensemble of Muong So area was taken to Paris to perform by the French and won the praise of the westerners.

She also said: “The gods and ancestors of our Thai ethnic group are living in Heaven. So, before we organize a Xoe festival we hold a ritual to plant a Neu tree and sing to invite Heaven to join the festival with the villagers.”

When we came to the hamlet, Phe was busily training the Xoe ensemble of Muong So who was preparing to go to Yunnan Province (China) for a dance exchange to strengthen the friendship between the two countries.

Today, the Xoe dance has grown and become the common “asset” of the ethnic groups in the northwest. It has become a symbol of the solidarity and cultural festivals of ethnic people in the northwest. The festivals are held every year in Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh and Yen Bai Provinces.

Xoe Party in Muong Areas

According to Do Thi Tac, a researcher and collector of folklore in Lai Chau Province, the Xoe dance with gongs is the biggest festival in spring of the Thai community in the northwest in general and in Muong Than in particular. The Thai people hold this festival to pray for good weather, bumper crops and a peaceful and happy village. The festival is so famous that it is considered a “Xoe party” because it has many fascinating items like the delicious and strange dishes of a party.

In the northwest today there are four areas inhabited by a large population of Thai people, namely Muong Thanh (Dien Bien Province), Muong Lo (Yen Bai Province), Muong Than (Lai Chau Province) and Muong Tac (Son La Province). These areas have the most renowned Xoe ensembles in the northwest.

Visiting Muong Than (Lai Chau Province) in spring, the season of unique festivals of the Thai people, tourists seem absorbed in a joyful atmosphere of the Xoe dance with gongs.
 

The festival of Xoe dance with gongs starts with the melody of the gourd lutes mingling with the laughter of boys and girls who come from different hamlets. The sound of gongs and drums urges visitors to join the festival. All people, regardless of the Thai, Mong and Dao groups hold hands to form circles and dance rhythmically and flexibly to the music. Seen from afar, the circles in layers, formed by the dancers in their traditional dress with sparkling silver buttons, look like a huge bauhinia flower in the forest.

Visitors to the festival enjoy 36 ancient Xoe dances performed by the girls from Muong Than. These included the dance with flowers, dance with rings, dance with conical hats, dance with fans and dance with scarfs.

Today, the Thai people in Mai Chau (Hoa Binh Province) have also established Xoe ensembles to serve tourists. For instance, in the tourist hamlets of Lac and Pom Coong there are nearly 10 Xoe ensembles.

Vi Thi Tuyet, a member of a Xoe ensemble in Lac Hamlet, said: “For us, the Thai natives, we do not need to learn Xoe dance because automatically, we can dance when grown up.” Then she sang a folk song of the Thai people: “Without Xoe dance we are not happy, without Xoe dance, rice does not grow ears, without Xoe dance maize does not grow ears, without Xoe dance boys and girls do not become lovely couples….”

In Lac Hamlet, it was cool with mist at night. Suddenly, we heard the sound of drumbeats, gongs and gourd lutes. It turned out that Vi Van Thanh’s family welcomed a delegation of 30 guests who came from France, Russia and China to enjoy the Xoe performance.

That night, a “Xoe party” was held in the yard of the house-on-stilts. The Thai girls in their traditional dress presented a Xoe performance, fascinating the visitors. Late at night they and the visitors hand in hands danced together and enjoyed the Can wine, a local delicacy of the mountainous area.