What is Xoe Thai and where does it come from?
Xoe Thai is the traditional folk dance form of the Thai community in the Northwest, covering the provinces of Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Son La and Dien Bien. Xoe dancing is also called "Xe kham khen", meaning hand-holding dance, and grew out of the labour, daily life, customs and festivals of the Thai people of the Northwest.
According to written records, the Thai once called their dance art "Xe". By the mid-20th century, in Vietnamese the word "Xe" shifted in sound to "Xoe". Today people commonly speak of Xoe art, Xoe dances and Xoe pieces. Xoe postures and movements are highly pictorial, beautiful in line, graceful in bearing and subtle in rhythm.
Many Xoe dances mimic the steps of ancestors clearing land, slashing fields, planting rice, drawing water, tossing scarves and offering wine. All of them vividly depict real life and express the dreams and aspirations of the Thai people of the Northwest. The Thai say: "Without Xoe, flowers will not bloom; without Xoe, people are not happy; without Xoe, boys and girls do not become couples; without Xoe, rice and corn do not form ears."
What are the six ancient Xoe dances and what does each mean?
The Thai have more than 30 Xoe dances, but all of them derive from six ancient ones. These are ordered by their humanistic and educational meaning in Thai life, expressed through the emotional poles between host and guest in a shared cultural space.
| Xoe dance | Other name | Movement features | Main meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kham Khen | Holding hands | Holding hands and dancing around the fire | The basic Xoe, formed in earliest times when game was caught or joy was shared |
| Nhom Khan | Tossing scarves | Stepping and raising the arms high, tossing the pieu scarf to the drum beat | The most jubilant Xoe, used for a bountiful harvest, weddings and house-warming |
| Don Hon | Step forward, step back | One person steps forward, the neighbour steps back, moving to a double beat | Life has its ups and downs, but the heart does not change |
| Pha Xi | Four-way split | The formation divides into four directions | Community solidarity: wherever you are, you face ancestors and homeland |
| Kham Khan Moi Lau | Raising a scarf to offer wine | Raising a scarf as if offering wine | Hospitality, bringing people closer, turning a cup of wine into a cup of love and duty |
| Om Lom Top Mu | Clapping while circling | Walking in a circle while clapping | Joy at meeting again or at great achievement, usually closing the celebration |
"Kham Khen" means holding hands to Xoe together. This is the basic Xoe dance of Thai folk dance, formed in labour since earliest times. When game was caught, or whenever there was joy in the family or community, people held hands and danced around the fire. These are also the first basic movements that became the foundation for later Xoe dances and for outstanding folk dance works.
In "Nhom Khan", the footwork and raised arms are like Kham Khen, with the addition of a scarf around the neck. As the hands rise with the steps, both hands hold the two ends of the scarf and toss it high to the Xoe drum beat. This is the most jubilant Xoe, often used for a bountiful harvest, weddings and house-warming, expressing boundless joy. The pieu scarf on the neck rises with each Xoe beat like the many colours of life, and is also the creative labour of Thai girls.
In "Don Hon", within the circle, one person steps forward while the neighbour steps back. The footwork and high scarf toss resemble Nhom Khan, but move to a double beat: only after one 4/4 bar is the scarf tossed high and the foot marked, then the one who stepped forward steps back and the one who stepped back steps forward, and so on to the drum. Don Hon carries a deep humanistic meaning: though life has sad and happy moments and may sway before storms and hardship, everyone still shares one steadfast faith; though things change and stars move, the human heart never changes.
"Pha Xi" expresses community solidarity: wherever you are, you face ancestors and homeland. "Kham Khan Moi Lau" is a lyrical, warm dance of hospitality, like the lowland saying that a betel quid opens the conversation, bringing people closer, harmonious and united.
"Om Lom Top Mu" expresses joy at meeting again or at great achievement in life. As they Xoe, people look at one another as if sending joy, happiness and trust. Each time the Xoe circle reverses, it shows that however life changes, happiness and peace remain a belief and aspiration. This Xoe closes each celebration, once people have exchanged sincere feelings.
Who can join the Xoe circle and how does it unfold?
Xoe is open to everyone regardless of age, gender, social status, occupation or ethnicity, which is why it has lasting vitality and is passed down through generations. When dancing Xoe, the line between dancer and spectator is usually blurred. Performers and onlookers mingle and share feeling, rushing in to hold hands and join the Xoe rhythm.
At the centre of the Xoe circle people raise a pole called "cay xen xinh", hung with animal figures and images of the moon and sun, sometimes woven from bamboo or carved from wood. The instruments used are one drum, two gongs and one cymbal. The music also expresses the worldview of the old people: the drum is the sound of the earth, the gong the echo of the sky, and the cymbal a symbol of fertility for all beings.
The most common are circle Xoe dances with no limit on the number of participants. In Nghia Lo and Muong Lo, locals proudly say that no one there does not know Xoe. The dances are handed from one generation to the next, regardless of old or young, girl or boy, or ethnicity; anyone who loves the land and people of Nghia Lo and Muong Lo can join hands with the drum and gong beat and lose themselves in endless Xoe.
Xoe Thai in rituals and daily life
In the life and labour of the Thai community in the Northwest, Xoe dancing is a highly important traditional art form, passed from generation to generation. Xoe helps people forget the fatigue of daily life, so that after the Xoe festival they return to ordinary life loving work and life more.
Xoe appears on many occasions: celebrating a bountiful harvest, weddings, house-warming and community festivals. In Nghia Lo town, Thai Xoe is tied to traditional Thai Muong Lo festivals such as the Full Moon of the First Lunar Month, the Han Khuong festival (a national intangible cultural heritage) and Xen Muong. Xoe Thai art symbolises beauty and holds the values of dance, music, singing, costume, cuisine and cultural conduct of our Thai community.
Besides Xoe dancing, the Thai have a system of instruments tied to spiritual life such as the khen be, pi (flute) and tinh lute. Artisan Lo Van Bien in Cang Na hamlet, Trung Tam ward, Nghia Lo town (Yen Bai), though over 90, still plays the khen with full feeling. He says that as a man, to be loved by Thai women you must play the pi and khen well. The low and high notes, beyond courtship, also accompany khap singing (alternating songs) such as khap sai peng (love songs), khap pay can (farewell songs), khap chieu (work songs), khap long tong (field songs) and khap bao sao (courting songs).
How is Xoe Thai inscribed and safeguarded?
Xoe Thai art was recognised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013. On 15 December 2021, at the 16th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris (France), Vietnam's "Xoe Thai art" was officially inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Safeguarding work is carried out in many localities. In Nghia Lo town, besides honouring outstanding artisans who have contributed to preserving and teaching Xoe Thai art such as Lo Van Bien and Dieu Thi Xieng, the town encourages creative works on the beauty of Xoe Thai in the cultural and spiritual life of Nghia Lo and Muong Lo. The town teaches and practises Xoe Thai in all schools and in residential communities through mass arts teams and indigenous knowledge preservation associations. To date, in the town's 10 communes and four wards there are more than 200 arts teams with over 2,000 mass performers. All 36 kindergartens and other schools have extracurricular programmes on Xoe Thai.
In Lai Chau, the Then singing, Tinh lute and Xoe Thai art festival is held periodically. In 2024, the sixth festival drew five troupes with 125 artisans, performers and mass arts core members from districts and cities across the province. Each troupe gave a programme of up to 35 minutes with Then singing, tinh lute, Then dance and Xoe Thai art. The festival helps honour, promote, preserve, inherit and develop the Then practice heritage of the Tay, Nung and Thai peoples and the UNESCO-inscribed Xoe Thai art.
Given their artistic and humanistic value, Xoe folk dances are now compiled into basic dance lessons, and many Xoe pieces are entered in national festivals, competitions and performances, winning high prizes and touring at home and abroad. Xoe Thai art has gone beyond the beauty of a traditional dance form with creative aesthetics and the aspiration towards truth, goodness and beauty of each member of the ethnic communities of the Northwest. It is a symbol of ethnic solidarity, sharing and deep love between people, and of harmony between people, culture, ethnic identity and majestic nature with noble life philosophies.
