TheAnsai Waist Drum Dancetakes its name from its birthplace, Ansai County in Northern Shaanxi Province of midwest China, in the middle of the Loess Plateau. Cut off from the surrounding areas either by theYellow Riveror by cultural and ethnic factors, Ansai was regarded in the past as one of the most important fortresses in ancient times and was labeled the "gorge of the northern counties" and the "key of the north gate."
Nurtured in such a geographically isolated place, the Ansai Waist Drum has absorbed little, if any, outside cultural and artistic influence, and has therefore developed its own distinct features.
The Ansai Waist Drum dance is a unique, large-scale folk dance with a history of more than 2,000 years. Like a hurricane sweeping across the yellow earth, the dance displays the unsophisticated and wild character of peasant life on the Loess Plateau, revealing its unique artistic charm.