Fork Dance for Mizhi Festival (Photo from online)

Fork Dance is a traditional dance circulated in the Sani stockaded village of Shilin Yi Autonomous County in Kunming, widely circulated in the settlements of Sani people of Yi ethnic group in settlements.

Fork was a self-made hunting weapon that Sani men used for hunting. Long ago, Sani men often went hunting in the mountains. After hitting the prey, they set a campfire for barbecue and shared their harvest, singing and eating. Some people waved their steel forks and danced with the song, this slowly evolved to Fork Dance, which has been passed down from generation to generation.

Gui Mountain Fork Dance (Photographed by Ang Gui)

Fork Dance is usually performed on festival days. In the folk, there are usually 2 or 4 people dancing with diversified movements including winding fork, rolling fork, throwing fork, rotating foot, and kicking, etc. The performances mainly show the scenes of hunting and fighting, showing Sani men’s powerful and strong spirit.

Sani Fork Dance performance (Photographed by Shi Wei)

Fork Dance has a broad mass base in Shilin County as well as artistic and ornamental features. And the dance represented by Fork Dance has prominent ethnic style and local characteristics, having certain influence in Shilin County.

In 2005, Fork Dance (traditional dance) was included in the first batch of Kunming Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List upon the approval of Kunming Municipal People's Government (K.Z.F. [2005] No. 57).