Скачать или смотреть Shan/Tai Traditional Long Drum, Gong and Cymbal and Dancing at Shan New Year

This video was taken as part of our documentation from the Shan Cultural Preservation Project at www.thaifreedomhouse.org You can see more about our work on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/thaifreedomhousecm

Here is a typical scene from a temple festival, Shan/Tai style with drumming on a long drum, gong and cymbal and traditional dance style.

For the past 6 years our non for profit organization, Thai Freedom House (language and arts community learning center) has run a project called the Shan Cultural Preservation Project in an attempt to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of traditional Shan culture including food, dance, dress, family values and worship not only for our students from Shan State but for Thai people and the general public.

Many of our students are refugees from Shan State, Burma (Myanmar) and are living in exile in Thailand, sometimes for years as the situation in their hometowns is still dangerous and unstable. In an attempt to help them keep in touch with who they are, have pride in where they come from while facing the daily discrimination and racism in Thailand and promote better familial communications, we started the Shan Cultural Preservation Project. We teach them how to read and write their own language (most of them speak it but aren't literate) about their history and customs, traditional dress and dance styles, foods and so much more, cultivating self confidence and self love through understanding and appreciation.

We have three dance troupes as part of this project under Thai Freedom House, a children's group, teenager group and adult group which are open to any ethnicity, religion and gender. The classes are taught by peer volunteers who are also our students and they even design their own dresses in the traditional styles, their parents and extended families are so proud of them as they perform on the big stages at temple festivals and the huge celebration in Chiang Mai and Mae Rim for Shan New Year on stage in front of thousands.

We are immensely happy to be able to provide this kind of encouragement and appreciation of traditional culture. If you would like to support our efforts (providing transportation, scholarships for costume making, food for dancers when they need to go off site and incidentals associated with the project) you can make a donation through our website and mark the funds for the Shan Cultural Preservation Project. www.thaifreedomhouse.org

This year, at the event, I took a small tour through the crowd with my camera so that those not lucky enough to attend could see what all of the excitement is about! You can see our dancers performing in other videos on this channel and lots more photos on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/thaifreedomhousecm

Thank you!
Thai Freedom House Family