UNNOTICED SPACE OF UNITY: YALANG PERFORMANCE-BHOGENDRA LINGDEN

YALANG is the most popular cultural dance in Limbu community. Yalang literally refers to the paddy dance. Limbu teen-agers and adults of any age of both sexes participate enthusiastically in this dance. It is mostly organized at night and is accompanied by the rhythm of the Palam, the song sung at this dance. Musical instrument is not used in this dance and different movements of foot-steps determine the pace of this dance. The performance of this dance is mainly taken for entertainment and considered as a lineage of customs and traditions from the preceding generations to present. However, what has been neglected so far while considering this dance is extraordinary vibrancy of its performance that explores the hitherto unnoticed space of performance of unity and solidarity.

In this paper, I first briefly trace the origin, development and methods of Yalang. Then I examine this popular dance through the issues of performance, particularly on the basis of Marvin Carlson’s notion of performance. The focus would be on the performative aspects of Yalang in respect to its purpose and message.

It has been already stated that the literal meaning of Yalang in Limbu language is Paddy dance. In Lumbu language, the terminology Yalang is formed by the combination of two distinctly separate words: ‘Ya’ which means paddy and ‘Lang’ that means dance. The origin of Yalang can be well associated with the paddy crop. . Various myths are associated with the origin of this dance. Chaitanya Subba, in his The Culture and Religion of Limbus narrates the origin of Yalang as:
This dance originated with the aim to thrash the grains from dried paddy plants in the past. It is said there was no custom of using oxen to thrash rice grains as is done today and the young men and women from the villages around had to gather and thrash the grain by trampling the dried paddy plants. It was a hard job and they had to spend the whole day and night. So they used to sing whole night while trampling the plants with grains and their way of trampling turned into a dance while singing. Eventually it developed into the present form of Yalang or paddy dance. (57)
So, it is a harvest dance associated with the paddy and remarkably the steps of Yalang resembles the steps of trampling paddy. In course of time the custom of dancing and singing while crushing the paddy transformed itself into Yalamg. Gradually it turned into a tradition of Limbu community.

There is another myth associated with the origin of Yalang. Chandra Kumar Sherma allocates the credit of its origin to a bird. He writes:

In the ancient time when people had no idea of farming, a bird ‘Felyere Fempuna’ brought the seeds and taught human beings to sow and grow them on the condition that birds also can use them for living. During the harvest, the birds came and started to eat them up. As the promise made earlier, men could not chase them away or kill them. Then they sought a middle way of keeping the birds away. They gathered together and held each other’s hand and thresh the grains by trampling on them saying ‘ha…ha…ha’ which kept the birds away and ensured the saving of their grains. (3-4)
Both of these myths are popular in Limbuwan but the first one sounds more reliable and practical. It is hard to believe the fact that relates birds teaching farming to human beings. In the beginning the dance was performed in harvest time and it was seasonal. But now it can be performed by dance lovers any time irrespective of seasons or occasion, or can be organized at day or night.

Usual places and time for Yalang are fair, marriage and market place. It is performed by men and women clasping their hands. The dance movement can go either in a round circle or a line in the ground. They sway to and fro and swing their feet. There are certain rules that must be followed in Yalang dance. Relatives of blood ties are forbidden to dance together. This should be cleared prior to dancing. This is a sacred dance so foul words should never be exchanged. Shiva Kumar Shrestha, in Limbuwanko Aitihasik Adhyan clarifies these rules as:
The participants of this dance should not touch the feet and limbs of other participants. While moving backward and forward in the pace of the dance, if a person touches the feet or limbs of another person, they both should come out from the circle or line and should bow down and beg pardon for touching by mistake. After sharing the words of respect to each other they will rejoin the circle or the line. (106)
In this way, Yalang has its own unique set of rules that should be strictly observed in its performance. It is against the custom to dance among relatives.

The Yalang is not accompanied by musical instrument but it is accompanied by a song known as ‘Palam’. Depending upon the tempo of Palam this dance can be broadly categorized into two classes: Kembalang and Kushrakpa. “Kembalang is a slow motion dance and . . . the tempo of Palam is slow” while Kushrakpa “is based on the Palam of fast rhythm and tune” (Subba 58). There are some minor differences enen in these dance forms in different districts.
The performance of Yalang follows certain unique pattern of its own kind. It is a performative art form. Marvin Carlson in his essay “What is Performance” adheres that “the human activity as “performance” that are “carried out with a consciousness of itself” (72). He differentiates between “doing” and “performing” and asserts that “we may do actions unthinkingly, but when we think about them, this introduces a consciousness that gives them the quality of performance” (72). If we take Yalang from this perspective, it can be well placed into the domain of performance and performative art. Yalang is not a “doing” but it an act of “performing” as the participants are all conscious about what they are doing, what they should do and what they should not do.

According to Carlson, performance is display of certain skills following a certain established pattern. It is more than just doing something. He further clarifies his concept of performance as:
We have two rather different concepts of performance, one involving the display of skills, the other also involving display, but less of particular skills than of a recognized and culturally coded pattern of behavior. (72)

The conscious cultural performance of Yalang is based on display of skills and it always follows certain recognized and culturally coded pattern of behavior. These skills and patterns are taken for granted and both the participants and the spectators of the dance can undermine it. Displaying skills is very important in Yalang. The men and women who are well versed in Palam and Yalang, they are highly respected in Limbu community. On the other hand, those persons having little or no idea of Palam and Yalang are considered ignorant and foolish. Thus, the knowledge and skills of this dance is somewhat related to status in Limbu community. Chadra Kumar Sherma writes: “The persons who are skillful in Palam are considered superior and they are highly respected in the community. They can lead the group in the performance of Yalang and Palam and they teach the skills to the members of their group” (2). So it is a skill that is acquired by practice and patience.

Yalang follows a certain fixed pattern of performance of its own. The performance is never a random performance. The participants have to follow certain course of direction and must value the rules of proper beginning and end. It should never lose the track of its recognized pattern. The introductory part commences among the participants in the beginning in which they try to find out whether there are any blood ties among them or not. When they are sure of not such blood relations, they turn the themes of their melodious conversation towards love, life and origin through formal and tactful expressions. This is done through Palam in which they use symbolic and allegorical language explicitly to win the hearts of each other. They compare their love to different flowers. They relate the myth of origin and compare human life with different natural objects such as birds, wind, rivers, waterfalls etc. Their performance can take longer hours as the dance sometimes can last for three or four days. The length of performance depends on the participants, their interests and the available time for them. The pairs enthusiastically involved in Yalang may forget the passing of days and nights. Even it takes three or four days they should not stain their sacred and immortal love by their lust. They must maintain the sanctity of the dance and their relation.

Palam can be highly philosophical that not only talks about love and life but it can relate life to the myth of origin, love and hatred, fate and future too. “The dance is just the context and the theme lies in Palam” (Subba 58). It has a deep subjectivity and can turn in different themes. Both Yalang and Palam are primarily considered as means of entertainment and hereditary lineage of tradition. The dance is regarded as a perfect means of healthy entertainment and a means of exchanging romantic feelings between the pairs. But the dance also carries the sense of unity and solidarity for the participants which has been overlooked so for. Yalang is a continuous process, “once it occurred between two young men and women, it may follow throughout their life when they meet on some occasions” (Subba 58). There is clearly a sense of unity among these participants. The participation in the dance takes place because of the sense of solidarity and unity. They even can choose each other as life partner.

The sense of unity and solidarity is not only individual but it also works in the level of community. It is “a symbol of friendship, love and we feeling” (Lawoti 75). The dance promotes the unity and solidarity in Limbu communities because Limbu communities establish and maintain the good relationship through this dance. The dance partners are mostly from other communities and in many occasions the partners can be exchanged in mutual understanding.

When the dance approaches at the end, they sing Semmui, just before they part which is full of the pathos of separation, frustration and the uncertainty of love and life. They lament over their ill fate and short meeting. Thus the Palam narrates the universal human fate: meeting, separation, and suffering are ever-present. It is a part of human life. All human beings are essentially the same. This message of the dance can be explored in this part of Palam:
Memfemma chualam saktumlo
Ahingla thelik laktumlo
Kan pichin si le Sikkim nelal
Penchham yammi sille penni pan la
Ashi ga ra ponglo, Si-Mundhum
Ahing ga ra ponglo, Hing Mundhum. (Shrestha 107)
Thes lines can be translated as: Let’s enjoy dance till we live. When cattle die, there remains only the ropes; but when we die, there remains our songs and dialogue; let’s wish our love be the legend if we die, be it a legacy when we live.

From this above translation, it is clear that Yalang focuses on the quality of sameness in participants. Palam relates this ephemeral life with the blooming flowers which is destined to have a very short life. So it encourages the participants to dance and enjoy this life. Human life is short, full of suffering and pain but let’s forget them and dance while we live. This is the message of the dance. Yalang, for the Limbus, is more than a dance, more than a form of entertainment. The dance is unity, solidarity and harmony.

Yalang not only a ritual practice but it is also a social practice. It unites and reunites the relatives and strangers in a place strengthening the bond among them. In the performance of the dance, differences in interests are resolved. This is a social and practical skill where one learns how to offer respect to the visitors and guest, friends and strangers. Thus it has worked as a guiding force for social unity, solidarity and peace. Yalang, thus, has an extraordinary vibrancy of performance that explores the hitherto unnoticed spaces of performance. It is a dance for unity and that promotes “we-feeling” in the community.

Works Cited
Carlson, Marvin. “What is performance?”. Bial, Henry. Eds. The Performance Studies Reader. New York: 2008.
Lawoti, Yehang. Aadibashi Limbu Jatiko Sanchhipta Parichaya. Kathmandu: Dil Bahadur Lawoti, 2005.
Sherma, Chandra Kumar. Yalakma Mundhum. Damak: Bhupendra Thebe, 1999.
Shrestha, Shiva Kumar. Limbuwanko Aitihasik Adhyan. Dhankuta: Ganga Devi Shrestha, 2001.
Subba, Chaitanya. The Culture and Religion of Limbus. Kathmandu: K.B. Subba, 1995 Picture : https://nepaltraveller.com/sidetrack/dhan-nach-a-traditional-dance-of-the-limbus