23 January 2024
According to Mann Than Win Oo, chairman of the Karen Literature and Culture Association, efforts are being made to include the traditional Karen Don Yain dance in the World Heritage List to prevent the loss of traditional heritage.
The Karen Traditional Dance Team, the Karen State Cultural Association, and the Karen State Government have been working together for the past three years to make the Karen ethnic dance a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
If it is included in the heritage list, the ethnic traditional dance will be registered as a world heritage, and all the dresses, dances, music, and instruments will be recognized internationally.
“I think it will benefit the state and the nation a lot. All the choreography about Dom Yain’s dance has many interpretations depending on its choreography. Because we were able to preserve it from generation to generation, the Karen Don Yain dance has not disappeared,” said Mann Than Win Oo.
Karen Don Yain Dance has 32 teams including 16 men and 16 women and 24 teams including 12 men and 12 women and have been training for months.
Among the more than 200 countries in the world, 198 are UNESCO member countries, and 508 intangible heritages of 122 countries have been designated as UNESCO Intangible Cultural World Heritage Lists. Myanmar has many intangible heritages that meet UNESCO’s standards, including the traditional Karen Don Yain dance.
