Play, games, and sport have remained prevalent in the contemporary world. As a matter of fact, different communities or cultural groups would practice these activities for various reasons. Among other things, the general purpose of these activities is mainly to enhance the cultural norms and values of the communities associated with them. The sport activities of any group are of great significance, since they help in reaffirming or transgressing the cultural patterns of that particular group.
This article describes a sport or leisure activity within a particular group whereby the following aspects are keenly observed: the nature of the sport, its history within the group, the participants, the audience involved, elements of the activity that would tend to contravene prevailing attitudes, and finally, what the activity suggests about the self-perception of the group which practices it. The Bamboo Pole Dance, commonly practiced by the Li people of China has been chosen for this assignment.
Bamboo Pole dance is a popular sport among the Li people. In this type of sport, people jump and dance systematically between bamboo poles that are placed parallel to each other, and which are held from either side by eight people. The poles are slammed together to match the rhythm of the accompanying tune which serves as a guide to both the pole holders and the dancers. Meanwhile, the dancers jump between the sticks as they display all kinds of elegant moves.
The holders of the poles can shift from one position to another to change the height of the poles, thus exposing the dancers to different height levels. In so doing, they make the dance either easier or more challenging to the dancers. The main trick of the game is to have the dancers’ feet get trapped between the poles. On the other hand, victory can be realised when one successfully makes their way through the puzzle. Losers are politely dismissed from the dance, while those who emerge victorious are lifted up to the jubilation of the audience.
The Bamboo Pole Dance was started by the Li people of China. As it would be observed, the dance was originally known as ‘Ka Ge’ in the community’s dialect.
The Li people, like other communities used dance and music to accompany their many chores in the fields and also when performing traditional rituals. There is no doubt that the Bamboo Pole dance was the most adorable sport activity among this group of people. This elegant traditional activity would be performed whenever people came together for significant events. Initially, the dance was only meant for the men.
Those times, the role of the women was to hold the poles for their male counterparts to dance. This, however, has changed over the years, and today, both men and women can directly take part in the dance. In this respect, people of all ages can compete with each other to maneuver their way through the moving poles. Similarly, there is no restriction on the age of those who can observe the activity.
The Bamboo Pole Dance is a wonderful sport activity which attracts great audience, probably owing to the magical performances involved. However, one way in which the play contravenes prevailing attitudes is that, there can be too much exposure of the participants’ bodies as they react to different levels of the dance. Even though this type of sport can be performed at anytime, it is normally conducted during important festivals such as when worshipping the gods or when pestling the rice.
This actually is a special way through which the Li people express enthusiasm to their tradition and culture. In this regard, the activity clearly suggests that the Li people have strongly respected their cultural demands regardless of the prevailing transformations of modern-day China.