(VOVworld) – Vietnam’s northwestern region is endowed with beautiful landscape and a traditional dance called Xoe. Xoe dance of the Thai ethnic group is also a language to express human feelings.

A Xoe dance that involves more than 2,000 people

At the base of the Phu Nho Kho mountain range in Muong So, Thai girls in their colorful traditional dress are dancing to the accompaniment of a traditional musical instrument called a Tinh.

Muong So is considered the cradle of the magical Xoe dance. A legend says that a rich landlord named Deo Van On was infatuated with the Xoe dance performed by young Thai girls in their close-fitting dresses. There were three dance troupes to entertain him. Xoe dancers are traditionally beauty queens with small waists, long necks and full breasts.

Lo Thi Doi, a veteran dancer in Vang Pheo village, says the Xoe dance troupe there was established long ago: “The Xoe dance of the White Thai ethnic group is passed down from our ancestors. When I was small, I saw my grandparents dance. Xoe dance is performed during festivals and other happy occasions and is an essential part of local life”.

 For 30 years Mr. Hat has played the Tinh, similar to a three-string guitar. He says that originally Xoe was performed for landlords and mandarins. The dance is lively during festivals but calmer when depicting a separation. People drink ruou can, a kind of rice wine drunk out of a jar through straws, while watching the girls dance Xoe.

Xoe dance is a special language that reflects hospitality, the wish to make friends and declare love. When New Year comes, Thai ethnic people hold a Xoe dance festival which goes on for the whole first lunar month of the year. Lo Van Dau of Muong So told us how the Xoe troupes work: “Previously, Muong So had only one or two troupes. But now there are 16 troupes, thanks to the development of the national culture, and the care of the Party and State, including the commune’s People’s Committee. The art troupes perform on special occasions and during art exchanges”.

In Vietnam’s northwestern region, every hamlet now has Xoe dance troupes to serve community activities, art events and tourism. Women, young and old alike, who are engaged in farm work and weaving, sway attractively in their Xoe dance.