Kin Pang Then is a traditional ritual of the Tai ethnic group in the northwest region of Vietnam to welcome and thank the deity known as Then. In the ritual, Then comes down to grant blessings on villagers and heal those whose souls are sick. The beneficiaries of the ritual are obliged to participate in the next Kin Pang Then ritual. The whole process of greeting and sending off the deity is intended to bring harmony and unity to all community members who participate in and enjoy the ritual. \nThis video shows the spiritual life of the Tai people and a master performing the ritual to bring good luck and wellbeing to the local people.

The Tai communities live in Son La, Lai Chau, Yen Bai and Dien Bien provinces in the Northwest of Viet Nam. Kin Pang Then is one of Then's important rituals of the Tai people. This is the occasion where the Then master and his followers perform a thanksgiving ritual for the Then god. The ritual includes songs and music that symbolically express the journey of the Then Master to travel to the other world to look for the lost souls of the disciples/clients and to call the souls coming back to their bodies. The film is about the destined ritual Master and his ritual performance with Xoe dance for healing, good luck and well being for the local people. The film demonstrates the spiritual life and religious Then practice of the Tai in Northwestern religion in Viet Nam.

Rampai Aceh is a reconstruction of Saman, a traditional performance art of the Gayo tribe of Aceh, Sumatra. The Saman dance which can be traced back to the 13th Century, is a group dance performed by over 10 dancers, who kneel in a row and perform the identical moves in a highly coordinated manner. They clap, slap their chests, thighs, or the floor with their palms, bounce their fingers off each other, gesture with their hands, shaking and twisting their heads from side to side to complex rhythms. The moves express scenes from nature and the daily lives of the Gayo tribe, such as leaves flying in the wind, water buffalo bathing, and ploughing the field.\n\nThe leaders of the performance are called “Penankat”, who sing poetic verses. They are accompanied by drums, rabana and dynamic clapping. The poetic verses sing about a wide range of themes including tradition and development, religion, heroic tales, morals from daily life and love stories, told with wit and satire. Saman represents the communal values of patience, cooperation and helping each other. Saman, which is enjoyed by people of all walks of life, is performed widely at a variety of occasions, including national holidays such Independence Day, religious occasions, welcoming ceremony for honored guests and weddings. However, with rapid urbanization, youth have been leaving for the city, creating problems for the transmission of Saman for the Penankat who are unable to find suitable successors.\n\nCharacteristics:\n∙An original dance based on the Saman dance, inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011\n\nPerformed by Marwar Budaya Dance Atelier\nDirected by Maria Sofia Trimawarsanti\nPhotographed by Maria Sofia Trimawarsanti

Elegant, joyful, and rooted in everyday village life, Bidu Lensu-Mutin—the White Handkerchief Dance—is one of the most beloved traditional dances in the Suai Loro community of Covalima, Timor-Leste. Performed by young girls with white scarves in hand, the dance is a celebration of welcome, harmony, and feminine grace, passed from mother to daughter over generations.\n\nThe name lensu-mutin comes from the Tetun words for “white handkerchief,” which the dancers carry as they move in coordinated steps and gestures. The origin story, widely shared in oral tradition, speaks of seven girls who danced with white scarves to welcome their community members back from a corn harvest. Their spontaneous joy and coordinated movements captured the spirit of unity and gratitude, and the dance has been cherished ever since.\n\nPerformed during weddings, religious celebrations, community gatherings, and rituals involving sacred houses (uma lulik), Bidu Lensu-Mutin carries layers of meaning. The white scarf symbolizes purity, blessing, and good intentions. Dancers use it to wave, twirl, and gesture in graceful arcs, often moving in circular or serpentine formations that reflect the flowing rhythm of traditional life.\n\nAccompanied by soft babadok drumming and gentle singing in the Tetun-Terik language, the dance creates an atmosphere of warmth and welcome. The songs, often metaphorical, may include blessings for the couple in a wedding, prayers for peace in a community, or expressions of joy and connection. In some versions of the performance, older women sing while the younger girls dance, creating a multigenerational moment of transmission.\n\nLearning the dance happens organically within families and the community. Young girls imitate their older sisters, mothers, and aunts at ceremonies or home gatherings. In recent years, schools have also incorporated the dance into cultural programs and performances, ensuring its continued presence in the lives of younger generations.\n\nWhat sets Bidu Lensu-Mutin apart is its gentle spirit and universal appeal. It does not require elaborate costumes or formal training—just the willingness to move together with grace and intention. The dance represents a form of cultural continuity that is deeply tied to everyday experiences and shared values: welcoming guests, honoring ancestors, and expressing collective joy.\n\nThough still widely practiced in Suai Loro and surrounding communities, cultural leaders recognize the importance of continued teaching and celebration. As modern influences shape young people’s interests and identities, Bidu Lensu-Mutin offers a graceful reminder of the beauty found in tradition and the strength found in unity.

Among nomadic Mongols, there are abundant customs associated with airag (fermented mare’s milk) and it is made in the cowhide vessel - bag or wooden keg for airag, by stirring it with Bülüür. The traditional home brewed milk-vodka (airag, khoormog and other beverages) is made by distillation of milk of different animals. The basic traditional technique of making mare’s airag consists of milking mares and cooling freshly milked milk, and repeatedly churning milk in a khokhuur with starter left inside to assist its fermentation. The liquid must be churned 2000 to 4000 and more times to make good fermented blend of airag. In the historic facts, it is stated that Mongols are people who enjoy the mare milk. Airag is consumed as an honored beverage during special occasions such as weddings, feasts and ceremonies, customs of worshipping the mountains and waters, or as an everyday consumption.\n

The Apsara dance is a dance inspired by the bas relief on the corridors of the Angkor Wat. It is also referred to as Khmer traditional dance and Khmer royal ballet, and was inscribed to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity under the title ‘The Royal Ballet of Cambodia’.\n\nApsaras are spirits of cloud and water in Hindu and Buddhist legends. They are also referred to as ‘celestial dancers’ or ‘dancing goddesses’. The dance is characterized by magical golden costumes, elaborate make up and accessories, and slow, elegant movements. Its detailed and elaborate hand gestures can only be performed by highly skilled dancers.\n\nThe Apsara dance has been performed at official events of the Khmer royal court such as coronations, weddings, funerals and celebrations for over 1,000 years. Today, the dance which recreates legends about the origins and history of the Khmer is regarded by Cambodians as a symbol of their culture. Although its practice was interrupted under the communist regime in the 60s and 70s, it was dramatically restored in 1979, right after the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. While its former glory has been restored to a certain extent, it still faces many challenges such as the lack of official support, difficulty in finding performance spaces, competition with popular culture and over-commercialization as a tourism product.\n\nCharacteristics:\n·Inscribed to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 (The Royal Ballet of Cambodia)\n\nPerformed by Leu Sivmeng, Leng Sreypenh, Pich Raksmey\nDirected by Yon Sokhorn

Sai Nai Mu (赛乃姆) is a folk dance rooted in the lives, customs, characteristics and clothing of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China. It has been widely transmitted among ordinary people in an agrarian environment. The dance moves also contain many motions from their daily lives, such as holding the hat, folding up the sleeves, dragging the skirt, and touching the chest while looking far away. A characteristic move is head shaking, moving the neck left and right. The knees are used fluidly to give a sensation of lightness and agility.\n\nThe Uyghurs dance the Sai Nai Mu on joyful occasions such as festivals or weddings. There is no set order for the format and movements, being impromptu and free in spirit. Although it is usually danced in couples, there is no restriction to the number of people and anyone can join in. The music is lyrical and elegant, but can shift to a more exuberant rhythm and pace according to the atmosphere of the moment.\n\nThe Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group which used to be active in the Mongolian highlands and Central Asia and currently reside mainly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. The Sai Nai Mu of the Uyghurs is a national grade intangible heritage registered in the Chinese Cultural Heritage and a compulsory subject in the middle school curriculum of China.\n\nCharacteristics:\n∙Utilizes movements in the daily lives of people in an agrarian culture\n∙Head shaking by moving the neck moving side to side\n\nPerformed by Yanbian Heumjung Dance Company\nDirected by Kim Yeong-hwa\nChoreographed by Kim Yeong-hwa

Mongol Tuuli is an oral tradition comprising heroic epics that run from hundreds to thousands of lines and combine benedictions, eulogies, spells, idiomatic phrases, fairy tales, myths and folk songs. They are regarded as a living encyclopedia of Mongolian oral traditions and immortalize the heroic history of the Mongols. Epic performers are distinguished by their prodigious memory and skills, combining singing, vocal improvisation and musical composition coupled with theatrical elements. Epic lyrics are performed to musical accompaniment on instruments such as morin khuur and tovshuur. Epics are performed during social and public events, including state affairs, weddings, a child’s first haircut, naadam and worship of sacred sites. Epics evolved over many centuries, and reflect nomadic lifestyles, social behaviors, religion, mentalities and imagination. Epic performers cultivate epic traditions from generation to generation, learning, performing and transmitting techniques within kinship circles, from fathers to sons.

In several rural communities of Timor-Leste, Tuku-Osan—meaning “iron striking” or traditional blacksmithing—remains a respected livelihood and cultural craft. Practitioners, often known as tukun-besi (blacksmiths), transform scrap metal into ritual accessories and functional tools using simple, locally made equipment: a small furnace, a bellows typically fashioned from bamboo or wood, hammers, anvils, and chisels.\n\nThis blacksmithing tradition is not just about utility but also ceremony. Items created include decorative arm rings (li’uli’u), ritual knives, and symbolic metal accessories worn during important events like weddings, funerals, and traditional dances. These artifacts often serve as markers of identity, social status, or ancestral ties.\n\nApprenticeship usually begins at home, with young boys observing and gradually assisting their fathers or uncles in forging metal. Mastery takes years and involves not only technical skill but knowledge of the symbolic meanings tied to each object. For instance, some blades or tools are believed to possess protective properties or spiritual significance, especially when used during sacred rituals or by lia-nain (custom custodians).\n\nThe process itself requires intense physical labor and patience. The blacksmith begins by heating pieces of iron until they are malleable, then striking them repeatedly on an anvil to shape them. The rhythmic clanging of hammer against metal is accompanied by puffs of smoke from the wood-fired furnace—an image that recalls generations of artisans practicing the same technique.\n\nWhile modern materials and factory tools have reduced the demand for handmade ironwork, many rural communities continue to commission traditional blacksmiths for ceremonial needs. These craftspeople are regarded as keepers of ancestral knowledge, and their work is vital to ensuring that elements of Timorese identity endure in tangible form.

Urtiin Duu is a traditional form of musical expression of the nomadic Mongols. As the slow pace, wide-ranging melody and poetic, philosophical text of the songs express values instilled by the vast, peaceful natural landscape where the nomads live, the Urtiin Duu can be considered as a manifestation of the nomadic spirit, while its composition and performance are directly associated with cycles of the nomadic lifestyles. It serves as a variety of cultural functions, in occasions for social gathering, entertainment and artistic production, community rituals such as weddings, new ger warming feasts, birth of a child, the completion of felt-making, the production of the first airag (fermented mare’s milk). Mongolian long songs are classified in three major styles: Aizam urtiin duu (rhythmic long song), Jiriin urtiin duu (typical long song) and Besreg urtiin duu (short long song). Urtiin Duu-Traditional Folk Long Song was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008.

Likay is one of Thailand’s oldest performing arts and is characterized by a high degree of audience participation. The roots of the name Likay can be traced to the Hebrew word zakhur, meaning “reciting to praise the Lord.” Stories in Likay are often inspired by classical works of literature and include stories of love, deception, and comedic episodes. \n\nIn modern times, new stories have been added to the art\u0002form as it is now performed at weddings, ordainment ceremonies, funerals, and temple events. This video shows the various essential elements of a Likay performance and the story of the members of a troupe that transmits Likay as a family business.

Gamelan is the generic term for traditional instrument ensembles found throughout Indonesia. The history and complexity of gamelan are comparable to those of the symphony orchestras of Europe. Gamelan ensembles consist of various instruments, mainly percussion. Gamelan music runs the full gamut from fast, powerful dynamics to slow, meditative, and quiet set pieces. \n\nThe drummer leads the gamelan orchestra as there is no conductor nor musical score. Gamelan is played widely on a variety of important occasions, such as weddings, celebrations, national events, and holidays.