Chapter 110 – The ritual dance (1/2)

Translated by Sunyancai

Not everyone would have the chance to learn the ancient dance, also known as the ritual dance.

By the end of every winter, at the ritual ceremony during the Snow Festival, there would be fifty totem warriors selected to shoulder the responsibilities as ritual dancers next to the fire pit. All fifty of them were elites recognized by the entire tribe.

However, based on Shao Xuan’s knowledge, only outstanding young warriors with a few years worth of hunting experience, and those with outstanding contributions to the tribe, could be nominated to the list of ritual dancers. Over hundreds of years, very few would enter the list in their teens. Moreover, Shao Xuan had only awakened a year ago.

It sounded absurd at first.

When Old Ke heard the messenger’s words, his first reaction was denial as well. Anyone in the tribe with a normal brain wouldn’t believe it. However, the messenger double checked to confirm its authenticity, and said that it was indeed a decision made by the Shaman. The Shaman asked Shao Xuan to be prepared soon.

No wonder Old Ke became so excited.

The ritual ceremony being an important event in the tribe, the ritual dance wasn’t solely about selecting proper dancers. It had to be delivered exactly as instructed by the ancient teachings. Shao Xuan had never learned anything about this so-called ancient teachings in the past. It doesn’t seemed to be simple guideline teachings.

Since Shao Xuan knew no one that he could turn to for help with regards to the ritual dance, he could only go up to the mountaintop to ask the Shaman for help. Even Mai and Qiao weren’t familiar with the ritual dance, let alone the others that lived lower than them.

Early next morning, Shao Xuan carried the stone box and rushed to the Shaman’s place.

By the time he arrived, the Shaman was talking about the upcoming ritual ceremony with the Chief and the two team leaders from the tribe. There were a lot of things that needed to be prepared well in advance.

With the appearance of Shao Xuan, the two team leaders and the Chief looked at him at once, but in a very gentle way. It was out of their expectations that Shao Xuan would be part of the selected fifty. However, that day when the Shaman asked them to have a meeting, he directly indicated that Shao Xuan should be a part of the ritual dance.

They were aware of the one-year deal made by the younger generation, as well as the fact that Shao Xuan defeated Tai with a single move. With regards to ability, Shao Xuan was indeed the brightest one amongst the newly-awakened warriors in the past years. There was no denial of that. He also made a few significant contributions to the tribe during the last year. So, when the Shaman decided that Shao Xuan be one of the fifty, both the team leaders and the Chief did not raise any objections.

Aside from these big shots, Shao Xuan also met Tuo inside the stone house as well.

“Ah-Xuan, I appointed Tuo to teach you all the moves of the ritual dance. As for the paintings…” The Shaman had an even deeper smile: “You can stop practicing it for now.”

Chief Ao looked at the Shaman, and then looked at Shao Xuan again. He sensed that there was something that he didn’t know about. But sometimes, the Shaman was just like that. No one could ever predict his actions and thoughts.

“Okay.” Answered Shao Xuan.

Instead of staying in the stone house, Shao Xuan left with Tuo.

Tuo lived near the mountain top, so it didn’t take them too long to reach his place. Also, Tuo was one of the fifty this year.

Warriors from Tuo’s family of his parents’ and grandparents’ generations had performed the ritual dance. So, the ancient dance had been passed along in his family. He did not need to learn the moves from others to be proficient in them. Or else, the Shaman wouldn’t let him teach Shao Xuan.

The truth was, Tuo was more than surprised when the Shaman assigned him to teach Shao Xuan the ritual dance. After all, Shao Xuan was too young, and had only been awakened as a totem warrior for only a year. He shouldn’t have been listed as one of the fifty! Perhaps, it was because that he found the ancestors, Tuo thought.

“I have learned how to perform the ritual dance since I was young. It’s not hard.” Said Tuo, “I’ll dance the full set of moves for you to watch. Here, watch me.”

At the end of his words, Tuo began to dance in the room. In Shao Xuan’s eyes, those moves were still very clownish, without any sense of beauty. They didn’t seem melodious at all, and there was even a move that looked as if the dancer was washing dishes. However, Tuo was very serious when performing the dance, as if he was doing something that was very grand and solemn. Even it was only a demonstration, he did it with respect and honor.

After a whole demonstration, Tuo taught Shao Xuan one move after another.

“You bend your body, like this…and here, pull back your hands…”

Shao Xuan imitated Tuo’s moves as he swung his arms up and down, back and forth. Sometimes he had to shake his arms and thighs, or shake and stamp his feet, to make strong rhythmic sounds. Also, his feet had to move back and forth, sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right. Sometimes his body should lean forward, and then squat down a little, before he jumps up on one foot, and lands down with a horse stance. Then, he needed to wave his arms above his head as if holding a whip, and then constantly look back and forth.

If Shao Xuan saw similar dances during his previous life, he would totally have laughed at it aloud. However now, he had to force himself to learn it, and stay serious when doing all the moves.

Although there were no drums or whistles making the beats, all moves maintained certain rhythm.

It was not all about the moves. Tuo told Shao Xuan that he should use his totem power when performing the ritual dance, as well as to breathe in a certain way. That was all part of the “ancient teachings”.

In general, Shao Xuan came to a conclusion, that the ritual dance needed to be accompanied with meditation and specific breathing!

What was the use of this coordination? Tuo said nothing about the effect now, but Shao Xuan could guess that it should be related to the flames or totem.

Shao Xuan had heard from someone that the earliest form of humans showing their feelings was through body movements and dancing gestures. Dance and moves were also a certain language of people expressing their passions and desires.

Here, the ancient dance was a tool they used to communicate with the flame and the totem. So when dancing, people would perceive them.

Thinking about the fact that the ritual dance was used in ritual ceremonies, and how the two team leaders would fight over the fifty spots, perhaps the ritual dance was really for people’s cultivation.

Just like what Tuo had said, the moves were quite simple, and could be easily memorized. The most important thing in the whole process was how to do the meditation during the dance, and how to properly breathe in the process without messing up with one’s own moves.

When it was almost noon, Shao Xuan had learned and memorized all the moves.