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GUOZHUANG DANCE :

The carimbó is a large drum of African origin. It is made of a hollow tree-trunk section - about 1 meter tall and 30 cm wide - covered on one end by a deer skin. The carimbó gives its name to a folkloric dance of the state of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon, in the area of the Marajó . Island and the capital city Guozhuang, a term often used, is homophonic with Guoxie in Tibetan and means singing and dancing in a circle. There are farmers' and herdsmen's guozhuang. Farmers' guozhuang is popular in Qamdo in eastern Tibet, while herdsmen's guozhuang is popular in the vast pasture land of Damxung, Heihe and Sog Xian.

Farmers' guozhuang consists of two parts: singing and quick singing and dancing. The tempo is subdivided into slow, medium and quick. At the beginning of a performance men and women stand in two separate circles and sing in rotation while swaying and stamping their feet. They conclude their singing by shouting "Ya!" Then their steps quicken and come to a stop at an exuberant allegro. The allegro music is often a condensed version of the slow music.

The loose, wide trousers of the male dancers look like the feathered legs of eagles, and the men's movements are imitative of creatures, especially eagles, such as an eagle spreading its wings, hopping, and soaring. The form of herdsmen's guozhuang is largely the same as farmers' guozhuang, but there is a big difference in the movement. In herdsmen's guozhuang, for instance, the dancers jump while waving their hands in front of the chest and step forward, then turn left or right, hands and feet move in the same direction. The sonorous singing produces a magnificent effect.