According to Jino legend, the creator goddess made a boy and a girl and placed them inside a large drum to survive a natural disaster. The two children floated on water for days before finding land. They married and gave birth to humanity. As a symbol of reverence, the Jino people hang the sacred drum in the air rather than place it on the ground. The drum dance was traditionally performed to pay tribute to the ancestors.
"The Jino people regard the large drum as a mother figure," said He in an earlier interview. "It embodies and encompasses all things in the world. The drum dance is the highest ceremony to honor the goddess, a ritual of gratitude and blessing for the land."
However, this sacred tradition came with a prohibition: women were not allowed to touch the sacred drum, nor could they participate in its preservation or the ceremonies. For He, this prohibition only fueled her curiosity. As a young girl, she would watch the men play the drum and secretly observe their technique. She longed to try it herself.
"When everyone else had gone, I would stay behind and quietly practice on the large drum," He recalls. "I wanted to express my life through the drum dance, to use new and inventive movements to reflect my own self."
Her innovative approach, which included new choreography and unique drumming techniques, was initially met with resistance but eventually earned admiration. By age 18, He began teaching the drum dance to others. Today, at 50, she is the sole national-level inheritor of this tradition and has taught the drum dance to countless students, making her one of the most prominent practitioners of the art form.
This sacred drum, which plays a central role in the Jino people's cultural rituals and is an essential element of The Ocean Etched in the Forest, will be brought to both Beijing and New York.
Among He's students is her 11-year-old granddaughter, Piao Yunxian, who will also perform in The Ocean Etched in the Forest. Another performer is 13-year-old Yan Zi, a child with a hearing impairment, who also learned the drum dance under He's tutelage.
Du's dream, besides allowing more people to appreciate the Jino culture, is to see these children — whose voices carry the weight of centuries — perform on the world's largest stages, sharing their ancestral stories with new audiences.
