Raising lively voices for a dying singing style
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Every Dong person knows the saying, "Rice is for the body; song is for the soul".
They take great pride in their "grand songs (dongzu dage)", or "galao" in the local language - the only polyphonic chorus without accompaniment or conductors in China.
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Dong people perform "grand songs (dongzu dage)" on stage [chinaculture.org] |
"Singing offers the chance to reveal our innermost feelings," says Yang Huanying, a local galao vocalist living in Tongdao Dong autonomous county in southern Hunan province.
"You can't say you are a Dong person if you can't sing."
Yang has become a local celebrity. In 2006, she performed grand songs with her family for CCTV's program China Stage (Shenzhou Dawutai). Their pure voices stunned the audience and won them first prize. Domestic tourists got to know about the beautiful folk art and began visiting Dong villages to see live shows.
Galao originated in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and UNESCO recently listed it as an Intangible Culture Heritage.
But the outside world has known about the grand songs for a long time. Chinese musicologist Zheng Lucheng (1918-76) discovered the art form in the late 1950s. He was shocked to discover the Dong were singing polyphonic music, which had never been identified among the musical forms indigenous to China.
His discovery caught the attention of French musician Louis Dandelaire. In 1986, he invited a choir of nine Dong women to the Paris Autumn Festival. The harmonious sound was praised as "the chorus from heaven".
Dong choral groups are traditionally formed among a family. They create songs by mimicking the sounds of birds and streams, and add their emotions to the melodies. They express feelings openly, especially with love songs.
"In the old days, young people sang to each other when they were courting," Yang says.
"If a young man can't sing in a Dong village, he can hardly find a girlfriend."
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