Ornate Ordos wedding draws DC crowds

Performers from the Ordos Song and Dance Theater from Inner Mongolia autonomous region present wedding traditions through the musical drama The Wedding of Ordos at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Charlene Cai / China Daily

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The upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, which arrives on Friday, is a busy season for wedding ceremonies. On Friday and Saturday evening, a Washington, DC, audience of some 2,000 people observed probably the grandest wedding ceremony they had ever seen.

The Wedding of Ordos, staged by the Ordos Song and Dance Theater from China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, recreated a long and rich wedding tradition from the hometown of Genghis Khan.

The musical drama tells the story of a young man and woman's first encounter, their growing mutual attraction, their presentation to each other's family and finally the solemn wedding ceremony and their subsequent life on the great prairie of Ordos.

The eight-chapter tale begins with the prologue: sun moon fire, and is followed by pray for love, welcome son-in-law, sand bath, departure, wedding and cradle. It ends with the epilogue: sky earth man.

The many traditional rituals recreated on stage included marrying the bride with a bow, meeting the groom at the gate, toasting, sheep offering, asking names and birth dates, receiving the bride's mother's blessing, baptizing with sacred water, unveiling the bride's veil and the bride offering tea to parents.

The show has been hailed by critics both in and outside China as a moving experience of traditional Mongolian culture. The magnificent wedding ceremony can be traced to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) when the Mongols ruled China more than 700 years ago.

The 80-minute performance intoxicated the audience, not only with its colorful ethnic music, but also with its singing, dancing and celebration of local culture and customs. Just for the dance part, at least 20 different dances were employed, known in China as "Chopsticks Dance" "Sabre Dance," "Bowl Dance" and "Eagle Dance" - all passionate, lively, humorous dances.

The whole show demonstrates the warmth and outgoing nature of the people in China's Inner Mongolia, whose many traditions evolved out of a nomadic lifestyle.