The Nanai. Modern culture and crafts, folklore groups, professional art 

Nanai dance is dominated by imitative movements that reproduce natural phenomena, the behavior of animals and birds; such movements are particularly frequent in various dances with the exception of dances without a topic. Other movements are mostly regular elements from shamanic dances such as movements that typify certain animals. Pantomime is used sometimes. Nanai dances display major borrowings.

Nanai villages have ethnic performing groups such as Givana, Mangbo, Siun, Tasima, Ilga dyarini, Kekuke, Amtaka, etc. The Nanai district in the Khabarovsk territory has many ethnic performing groups. The Ilga dyarini (Singing Ornaments) folklore band was established in 1986 at the village Community Center in the village of Dzhari and still functions at the Inter-Settlement Nanai Culture Center (Dzhari). In 2005, the performing group was given the title of the “People’s Amateur Performing Group.” Ilga dyarini prioritizes preserving and reviving ethnic culture via music, dance, and applied arts. They mostly perform old folk songs, legends, fairy tales, and the works of Nanai poets such as Georgy Beldy, Anna Khodzher, Kola Beldy, Victor Beldy, Grigory Khodzher, Andrey Passar, and others. Their ethnic culture is represented and reflected not only their songs, but also in applied arts. The group is very attentive to every detail of the ethnic costumes that the group’s members make themselves with ethnographic accuracy and of everyday household items. The group is very active in district, territory, Russian, and international events and has won many awards. 

The Inter-Settlement Nanai Culture Center in the village of Dzhari also has a children’s model ethnic dance group Silakta (Flower). Their primary aim is to scout and support gifted children instilling in them interest in the cultural heritage of the Nanai people. The group mostly performs Nanai dances: stylized dances (“Memory,” “Our Native Amur Lands,” “Silakta,” “A War of Elements,” “Welcoming Spring,” “A Koryak Dance,” “A Soul’s Awakening,” “Our Native Amur Lands,” “Little Golden Hooves,” etc.), folk dances (“Drum Beats,” “Dance with Sticks,” “Dance with Rattles,” “Boys Fencing with Sticks”), ritual dances (“Remembering the Past,” “Dressing the Bride,” “Undi”). The group’s repertoire also includes ethnic rites and games. Children learn to play folk musical instruments such as rattles, drums, sticks. The group’s head focuses the children’s attention on characters from literature and fairy tales, on rituals, on studying ethnic clothes. The educational program is divided into thematic sections, but due to the specifics of classes offered by an ethnic performing group, they tend to somewhat merge: one lesson may involve studying elements of classical and folk dances, another lesson may include elements of modern plastic arts and classical dance. The Silakta ethnic dance group regularly attends the specialized territorial children’s camp session “Children of the Amur: Life and Work.” In 2012, the group was awarded the title of the Model Amateur Dance Group. In spring and summer, the group is actively engaged in the tourism industry performing ethnic ritual dances.