Dancing at the Hmong festival
By Hannah Stephens
“You know, at the end of the day, it’s so rewarding because you do not just get a sisterhood out of it, you get friends, you get family; you get a bond that never really disappears…”
Picture of Yang and Vang’s dance group taken by Mrs. Yang
Dena Yang looks back as a festival dancer. She, along with our other OHS student Saint Sophie Vang, rehearsed for months and even baked to earn enough funds in order to take part in the Hmong New Year Festival.
Yang and Vang started dancing last year to learn more about their culture, but what exactly is Hmong culture?
Vang explains, “The festival is Hmong New Year, it is a two-day cultural festival for Hmong people, a Chinese ethnic group that broke off and created their own language and customs.”
She also adds that the festival has religious aspects such as Shamanism tied to it as it is important in Hmong culture.
Yang explains, “[The festival] is usually held in the fall season throughout the United States. The state of Oklahoma has a Hmong council (HMAAO)… that is dedicated to the funding, donation and the organization of Hmong people and Hmong events.”
Although the festival is held in the fall, preparations begin a year in advance. The dancers spend painstaking hours over the period of many months in order to perfect their routines.
Yang states, “Last year, we only chose one competition, so we spent that year preparing for that one competition. We started off with choosing two songs, a traditional Hmong song… and then a free round which is either a traditional Thai, Laos or Chinese song. Throughout the year we practiced.”
While one group prepares for one season, they can have a completely different group the next year. The dance groups have just recently been created for this year’s Hmong New Year festival.
Dena Yang explains, “We pick our groups through auditions. The way me and Sophie joined, we joined through a mutual friend and that's how we started dancing last year. Our full season was from 2021 to 2022.”
Picture of Yang and Vang’s dance group taken by Mrs. Yang
Dancing for the competitions seems like an exciting thing to take part in. After all, dancers can dance with their friends and wear their traditional Hmong clothing, but in reality, it can be quite draining.
Vang states, “Dancing is a very stressful thing… you have to bend your fingers back and stretch a lot to achieve your goal. It’s more than just moving around.”
Yang adds, “Hmong dancing is stressful mentally but physically too.”
Because of this exhaustion, Vang has decided to not continue dancing at this year’s festival. She wants to dance on her own time and focus more on school activities, as group dancing is very demanding.
Although Sophie Vang has chosen to stop dancing with a group, Dena Yang states that with dancing, “you get a bond that never really disappears, and you carry that throughout your whole life whether it’s in dancing or not.”