Legend of Champa dancer

According to statistics, the Champa people have a total of 80 dances and each dance represents 80 of their gods. For the Champa people, dance is very important. Dance creates a sacred, joyful, and lively atmosphere for the festival. From the festival, they created folk dances to serve themselves. Therefore, folk dance reflects the life and work of the Champa people.

The dancers wear multi-layered conical hats, their bodies are graceful, their arms are raised, around their waists are wrapped many layers of sampot, the flaps are flying and winding, their legs are jumping, the right leg is slightly bent, the left leg is thrown back. When dancing in a group, the dancers put their right hand lightly on their hips, the left hand is raised high, connecting them into a posture expressing a vibrant beauty. In individual dances, the dancers always wear a thin scarf, both hands are wrapped above the head, pulling the veil along, both legs are bent evenly on the ground, the body weight is concentrated on the toes. Yellow or pink is the main costume of the Champa dancers.

From an aesthetic point of view, Champa dances all show off the beauty of the female body. Champa dances are attractive when accompanied by traditional Champa musical instruments such as the ghinang drum, paranung, and saranai trumpet. In the mysterious flickering firelight, the “Cham women” gracefully move their “belly, thighs…” to the sound of the drums and trumpets, captivating the audience.

It can be said that Champa dance is a unique part of Champa cultural heritage. In recent times, this art form has received attention from all levels and functional sectors in order to preserve and promote it properly, partly satisfying the needs of creativity and enjoyment of art of the masses. With the passion for art and proper investment, Champa dances are increasingly developing in a healthy direction.