Mongolian American Culture

Given that this “visit” was more like a virtual experience, I was still able to access a couple of my senses, just as if I was at the actual exhibition. Through the use of anecdotes and detailed images, I am able to see all of the personal experiences an individual had while practicing a particular dance and what it meant to them. In this exhibition, there are ten different dances displayed, including the: Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance, Yakama Girl’s Fancy Shawl Dance, Cubeo Óyne Dance, Yoreme Pajko’ora Dance, Mapuche Mütrüm Purun, Tlingit Ku.éex ' Entrance Dance, Lakota Men’s Northern Traditional Dance, Seminole Stomp Dance, Hopi Butterfly Dance, and finally, Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance). All parts of the exhibit were insightful, but the two that sparked my interest the most were the Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance and the Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance).

The Mongols were first ruled by the great leader Genghis Khan.They had conquered and had control over the most land area ever in the history of the world.The Mongolians had 3 waves in their empire, the first was taking North China and somewhat Persia, while making arrangements with trading with Persia, a Shah had murdered a Mongol Caravan of 150 traders(Introduction) and what followed to be was a massacre of the Shah’s people. The second wave was Russia and Eastern Europe, by this time Genghis has died and his son Ogedei had taken over. Finally the third wave was The Middle East, right before they were at the walls of Jerusalem Mongke Khan had died and they pulled back.

Ever since 1691, Mongolia had been under the rule by the Manchu conquerors of China and while Mongolian cities were somewhat easy to control, there were also nomadic Mongolian tribes who remained firm in their identities as agriculturalists. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 after the Chinese Revolution, the Mongolian nobility declared Mongolia’s independence from China and placed the Bogdo Khan, a reincarnated Buddhist lama, in the role of the country’s political and spiritual leader. However, the new Republic of China denied Mongolia’s declaration of independence and conflict ensued. Revolutionaries from Outer Mongolia enlisted the help of Russia to secure its independence, and in 1921 the Russian Red Army along with the Mongolian forces drove out the Chinese forces and regained control of the country. After this, the Bogdo Khan was again placed as the constitutional monarch, but after his death there was no lama reincarnation identified. Therefore, Mongolia was renamed the Mongolian People’s Republic and was under the leadership of the socialist Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP). In 1949, the Communists won the Chinese Civil War and under this new leadership accepted Mongolia as an independent country. Over the next decades leading into and during the Cold War,

The dancers are dressed in slightly more flamboyant white dresses yet a are still unified. The music is more heavily footed in African Caribbean style, as are the pelvic isolations and body contractions.

The Mongols were the greatest of the nomadic peoples who came out of the steppes (a large area of flat grassland) of Central Asia conquering the territories of their adversaries. The leader of Mongol Empire was Genghis Khan; he was the proclaimed leader of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and under his descendants, who sent invasions in every direction.

The Mongols just like many other tribes started as a small group and was created by Ghengis Khan. At the age of 19 when his wife as abducted, he gathered as many men as he could and started a civil war to rescue his wife. This proved his military proficiency and later became the leader of the Mongols. Soon after he began his conquest, he was swiftly taking over villages and then that became country after country. The Mongolian Empire stretched from their homeland all the way to the Caspian Sea. Even after his death the Mongolians never stopped their conquests as they were continued by his offspring’s. Ghengis Khan was known to love women so much that there are approximately 16 million direct descendants of Ghengis Khan. By 1240 the Mongolian

To learn this art is a challenge in itself. An intense choreography is needed to learn the steps. Without a certified choreographer, one cannot understand

The movements were very specific and showed the story of the dance. The partners used many movements that contained many body

Every country has its way of expressing its culture and traditions in a manner that reflects its unique characteristics. Some believe that dancing can play a major role in any culture. Others have the notion that other factors rather than the dancing per se to rely on. I am with the opinion that this kind of classy art carry a tremendous impact on any culture in the way of transmitting the cultural heritage, and strengthening the tourism industry.

Evidence suggests that dance originated from ancient rituals, spiritual gatherings and social events, and the way dance has evolved throughout history greatly varies between different societies. This lead to the modernisation of current styles, such as ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, tap, salsa and the tango.

Belly dancing originated in the regions of Mesopotamia more than six thousand years ago with Turks, Egyptians, and Phoenicians claiming this dance as their own. Throughout history, this form of dance has been performed by women, for women. In villages, women would dance solely for other women during family and social gatherings. The women would gather in a circle, showing off their skill, grace, and beauty by dancing solo or with each other. When

Similarly, the Doundoumba dance style had energetic movements. The dance begun with the dancers sitting down and using their arms to act like they were drumming. Dancers were interacting with each other. There was a part in the dance where one of the male dancers appeared to push another dancer down. The fallen dancer rose up quickly. They made good use of the stage space with their running movements. The dancers had great upper body strength as they spun rapidly in the air. A difference between Bhangra and this style is that Bhangra started out with both genders, whereas women came into this dance in the middle.

Genghis Khan played a pivotal role in the creation of the Mongolian Empire. Without Genghis Khan, the nomadic tribes of Mongolia, such as Kereyids, Naimans, Merkit, Tartars, and the remaining smaller Mongolian tribes, would have possibly never united, wether the union occurred through force or alliances. Genghis created his Mongolian Empire through the utilisation of his military and intellectual prowess, the crushing of his enemies (no Mongolian dared decline his leadership), and through his unique viewing and leniency towards outsiders. In the Empires creation, the Khan employed a meritocratic government, which allowed for men to be ranked on skill rather than birth, and implemented laws for allowing followers of all religions to be welcome within the Empire, which was unheard of within other Empires. Genghis created an Empire like no other, an Empire, which viewed skill and loyalty above birth, race or religion; an Empire notorious for brutality, feared by all and pillaged, yet welcomed conquered peasants and farmers into it, and an Empire which was lenient in religion, valued traders/artisans, and offered them a higher status than the Chinese or Persians would. Through the utilisation of Genghis’s military prowess and

As the actors move along, their movements are set to the beat of percussion instruments which compliment the steps and accentuate the underlying emotional tenor. Steady beats may help emphasise on continuity, which is punctuated with a clang of the cymbals when a distressed character makes an entry. The dance movements include turns and step-hops, done with one leg lifted and bent in front, and flowing wrist movements. These steps and movements are similar to the farmer’s dance and Korean mask styles. The dance sequences as part of the martial dance style of the Ache Lhamo, which tend to climax with an actor doing a series of barrel turns along a round path while the body is tilted at an angle of 60 degrees to the floor; similar to the martial dances performed through pan-Buddhist schools of dance.

Mongolia was once the largest empire that mankind had ever known. Mongolia is located in central Asia between Siberia on the north and China on the south. The term Mongol came from the tribe of Genghis Khan, who instaured the biggest empire ever known to mankind. Mongolia had to choose between China and Russia, two powers that share borders with it. The Mongolian government chooses to adopt the communist ideology of Russia. During the 1960s, tension between Russia and china grew, with the soviet attempting to conduct preemptive nuclear strike at Chinese nuclear plants. In 1992, Mongolian President Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat announced that his country would seek to become a one-state Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ).By the end of the cold