Chinese Lion Dance [Archive] - Kung Fu Magazine Forums

Kung Lek

01-30-2001, 06:51 PM

Hi- cannon fist, yes I understand the meaning of beard colour and you are correct in your assessment of young lions and old lions representing young schools and older more established schools.

As for etiquette, there are many rules.
Our school has not met up with another at the same venue as of yet so have no experience in this area but I have been taught a lot about "what to do" in the situation from my Si Fu.

Number one rule is to not approach the other lion from behind it, there are a variety of reasons for this the foremost being that one lion should not assert dominance over the other unless a challenge is being issued.

I was not aware of the head being held higher but thanks for the topic to be discussed.

what about triumphant sequences where the players in one lion are naturally taller than the other players? I wonder how this would be avoided without making the naturally taller players Lion look a little impaired by the holding back of raising the head in triumph?

Other rules of etiquette included bowing to dignitaries, banners, guests and of course to the Si Fu's position (usually the drum).

Bows are in threes, left, right, center, with the lion lifting the head , then approching and dropping the head and shuffling back.
The Buddha joins the Lion in these bows if there is a buddha present with the Lion.

Aggresive "thrusting" of the head is ok when facing the choi chiang but is not acceptable when facing the Si fu or dignitaries and "swaying" the head is used instead of "thrusting".

I understand that if a school takes out a "chang fei" Lion then that in itself can be a challenge as Chang Fei is the "fighting Lion" and at one time, the dances that Chang Fei lions did were challenges for greens or mock combat routines displaying the ferocity of the Black/Green Lion.

In western terms and with the popularity of "modern" lion dance as seen at the Genting competitions and such, these rules are becoming less and less hard and fast.
Most competition routines are not quite that traditional and involve poles and acrobatics to the maximum!

Some rules are hard and fast though, such as the Hoi Gong ceremony which MUST be performed before taking a lion out for its first time. If this is not done the the lion is "spiritless" and cannot bring prosperity to anyone.

Bowing to dignitaries also must be done and of course there must be greens.
No greens, no dance.

well, that's it for me for now...

peace

Kung Lek

BIU JI

01-30-2001, 11:49 PM

I was told a story by my sifu about a day in china town Sydney when an inexperienced student not knowing the rules did aproach another schools lion from behind when it was on the ground and without meaning to give insult pretended to f**k it and almost started a war right there.
Alot of money was paid to the other school for that insult so a war didn't start. The schools already didn't like each other too much anyway.

Just a story but true.

fiercest tiger

01-31-2001, 12:11 AM

hi, i was at that lion dance and yes, our beginner didnt know about tradition so it was all a misunderstanding. the head was over the other lion that is all!

were you there or did your sifu tell you about it?

my student bui ji is wrong also his story is mixed up some what!! :mad:

we dont need politics in kung fu as all this was the past. yes we did apologise for the students wrong doing.

are you from the same school as potjunkie?

we have smoothed things over with the clf school, and we don't want to bring stuff like this up again.

peace

bakmeimonk@hotmail.com

[This message was edited by fiercest tiger on 01-31-01 at 02:22 PM.]

Shaolin Master

01-31-2001, 01:23 AM

1. Always Bai(Bow) when meeting another school head on. Drumming should not attempt to overempower and the heights of the head should be equal. An invitation/Identification card or letter is usual as well and is passed to each other during the bai.

3 Do not Do's

1. Do not raise the leg on a single leg kicking continuosly towards the other schools lion.

2. Do not use the ramble shuffling and shaking with the continual eye/ears moving towards the other school.

3. Never go to chew or shake towards the tail of the other schools head.

The Challenge (but not rivalry moves)

1. Height.

2. Superior Stepping and Technique.

3. Battle coordination movements.

Regards

CannonFist

01-31-2001, 02:05 PM

My teacher told me about that lion dance incident. I am amaze that till this day people still take it so seriously.

Pot Junkie?? I suspect thats my training buddy in Pak Mei :)

fiercest tiger

02-01-2001, 05:24 AM

hi there!! unfortunately some people do take the traditional stuff seriously, im one of them cant help myself.:rolleyes:
i came from a traditional sifu, no lion dance training no kung fu. master chau fu is a very nice man, his school in the past has help ykm in dragon dancing festivals. we are all brothers, pak mei and ykm here in oz!

does his sons help him teach? do they still do practise it?

;)

peace

bakmeimonk@hotmail.com

WongFeHung

02-11-2001, 03:45 AM

We were Lion Dancing in Chinatown several years back, and the group was a combination of two schools, so we had an army of guys with six heads going. Anyway, another school was across the street, and they put up towers, and we did as well, but he only had two lions to our six and thought we were not giving him face. The schools met, the lions exchanged cards and kissed and made up, but it was re-ally shakey there for awhile.

sifuchuck

02-20-2001, 10:57 PM

Lions and Weapons (Lion Dance)

I've heard a lot of contradictions as to whether or not it's proper to parade weapons before the lion or demonstrate weapon forms during a lion dance. I've come to the realization that schools view this differently. I'm interested in background info from those who think it's improper. That is, why does your school consider it improper and what is the history behind it?

Chuck
:confused:

bean curd

02-21-2001, 11:09 AM

the usuall reason why weapons aren't played with
the lion is it is believed that the weopons impede the required luck,wealth,etc that is being seeked.

one example is known as the "poisonous snake".
symbolic of empeding "wealth"
the poisonous snake is represented by one spear and two knives or daggers, some even use swords.

the lion then must conquer the snake, by swallowing it, and then members of the troupe, must perform with the weapons to show their martial skill.

this skill like "water green", "crab" and even "druken" aren't used much these days

Paul Skrypichayko

02-21-2001, 11:44 AM

Does anybody know if anyone still dances with a real poisonous snake, or dances the bagua?

sifuchuck

02-21-2001, 05:24 PM

"this skill like "water green", "crab" and even "druken" aren't used much these days"

I like the idea of the poisonous snake routine--that sounds really cool--what about those others; water green, crab and is that drunken? How are those done?

chuck

Kung Lek

02-21-2001, 09:17 PM

hi SiFuChuck.

Water Greens , although I have not performed that particular dance I have seen it a few times.
essentially the laisee is placed under water and the lion must figure out how to get it without spilling the water.

Drunken, is also known as "wine greens" where the laisee is placed under a jug of wine.
The buddha will find the wine jug and alert the lion, the lion comes, drinks the wine and is all of a sudden tarnsformed and acts quite vigorously (like a drunk). The footwork is more complex in drunken routine and has a lot of "drowsy" moves in the lions expression with stepping and head actions.

I myself have been working out stepping patterns and motions for a drunken routine and would like to develop it further with sifu when given the opportunity to do so.

alot of "he's gonna fall!" stuff in it. quite entertaining.

anyway, after the lion gets drunk and gets active, the lion then gets drowsy and falls asleep for a bit. then the buddha finds the laisee that the lion left behind in his "stupor" and wakes the lion and then directs the lion to the location of the laisee.

the lion collects the laisee, once again becomes triumphant and then ends the routine with standard bows and a dismount.

The Crab routine that I have seen is done with Chang Fei Lion or the fighting lion.
essentially the lion is curious about the crab (which is another player in a crab costume).
The black fighting lion approaches and is scared away a few times (by the crabs movement), in this case the crab represents the greens.
Soon the black lion figures that the crab is not a threat and he approaches the crab and proceeds to take it apart limb by limb until the whole crab is "eaten" and the laisee is revealed and captured. Triumphant routine follows, then bows and dismount.

water greens can be a really hard puzzle.

drunken routine can be very demanding on the players in the lion.

see you on the lion dance list!
peace

the crab routine is very different but is more traditional than contemporary lion dance.

Kung Lek

tricky-fist

02-22-2001, 12:18 AM

Actually, in our particular style of tiger fist, we have a specific Lion-Dance which involves a performer fighting the Lion with a staff, and then butterfly knives. Forget what the Chinese name is, but the name of the dance translates into â€œRiding the Tiger Down the Mountainâ€. It is supposed to pay homage to an old Chinese folk hero who won his fame killing tigers.

I can find out more if you likeâ€¦ seeing as the Lion Dance practices have been axed lately until my Sifu thinks our legs are up to par, itâ€™s been a while since Iâ€™ve even thought about this stuff.

Kung Lek,

I liked your Sifu's article in this month's Kungfu/Qigong on the Lion Dance!

Respects,
TF

" I'll play it first, then tell you what it is later..."
- Miles Davis

Kung Lek

02-22-2001, 12:25 AM

Thanks TF :)

I'll let him know.

peace

Kung Lek

hasayfu

02-22-2001, 01:44 AM

I've never heard of a strict rule against weapons and lion dance in fact there is precedent to have weapons around during lion dance. In the Hung Gar tradition of hong kong, we would hang butterfly knives on the drum to show that it was a fighting school. You could be asked at any time during a show to take the knives and perform a set to show martial skill.
As mentioned, there are changs that contain weapons. Those changs, traditionally, require the lion dancer to do a form with those weapons to show martial skill. There are also routines that involve fighting the lion with weapons but those come from the Opera roots and are not part of the southern tradition.
Finally, in the old days, when a lion dance was marching through town, there would be two people with long poles to clear a path for the lions. They would also be used to "corral" the lions when another team was approaching so the Sifu's could talk first.
That said, a traditional procession would always have the lion dance first (after the pole guys), the band next, flags and banners, and the "school." Members who could be holding weapons, doing hand forms, etc. Usually, they are just marching.
While on a stage, I would find it distracting to do both at the same time. For our kwoon, we usually do a lion dance show with a beginning and ending then start the kung fu demo immediately after that. It's all the same people and the band drums the music for the demo but I consider it a seperate thing.

hasayfu

02-22-2001, 01:56 AM

Thanks to Kung Lek for all the chang info. South East Asia still performs alot of the traditional changs since their Chinese communities were established long ago and they retain alot of the traditions and superstitions.
Unfortunately, these traditional changs are boring to the uneducated viewer and there is a lot of room for interpretation which can lead to offending the requestor. Thus less and less teams are keeping this tradition.
I was told that some businesses used to invite several teams to do a chang and if they did it incorrectly, they wouldn't get the money.
Our kwoon does the drunken routine and it's much like kung lek described. We used to do the crab routine but instead of a person in a suit, a live crab is used.
I've seen water changs and was told that we used to do one but it didn't involve not spilling water. The skill was in mounting the the bucket and spraying the water to the crowd.
There are many other changs, Fruit, Coconut, Daikon as well as puzzles where you have to unlock the code which is sometimes based on the I-ching.

bean curd

02-24-2001, 08:24 AM

my understanding of the crab is different to that of kung leks.
the obsticle of the crab was/is a favourite of fish mongers and restaurant owners (they also love drunken lion).
the body of the crab is represented by a wicker basket/cane basket, the eyes two manderines and claws usually two sugar cane.
the red money and lettuce are usually placed infront of the crab.
this obsticle is not hard to accomplish.

a more difficult addition to this obsticle, is
called "crab within a crab".

the traditional way is to destroy the basket and the outside crab, which is described above. the danger is that there is a live crab inside the wicker basket, and the player must not injure/hurt/de-claw/kill this live crab.

a live crab represents "a thriving business".
in cantonese the word for "live crab" rhymes with the word for "business".

therefore to de-claw or kill the live crab is tantamount to destroying the business of your host.

to return it intact and alive is seen as a good sign that the hosts business will continue to thrive and prosper

Paul Skrypichayko

02-24-2001, 09:52 AM

I've heard/seen the crab done both ways, basket, and live crab. There are a lot of different changs shown in those world lion dance championships that are hosted in Singapore and Malaysia. I recommend checking those out.

Kung Lek

02-25-2001, 06:59 PM

I'll say.

If you can get your hands on the Genting VCD's or even videos from taiwan, malaysia or singapore to see all the different varieties of traditional and non-traditional lion dance you will be surprised to see all the varieties and to boot you get to see some realy good skills and acts from these competition teams.

A lot of the "new" lion dance routines involve poles and moving along very high poles.
This was developed from traditional routines where they would use a pole to lift the head and the dancer in the head up along side a building to get the greens.

Many times, the player from the tale would not go up with the head, but instead would steady the post with other team members while the head went up to get the greens.

In the modern dances, both members in the lion make their way along a series of poles and sometimes on double cable wires to get to the end of the series where the chang is. Then they return back along the poles and wires to dismount.

I had not heard of the "crab within a crab" version before, that is interesting.
the point about the sounds of the words business and crab rhyming is worthy of note also!

peace

Kung Lek

illusionfist

02-26-2001, 12:07 AM

Hey kung lek, do youknow where you can get those VCD's? I saw some clips on the net and those are some insane moves those guys are doing. Very entertaining.

Peace :D

fiercest tiger

02-26-2001, 12:32 AM

in sydney in the early eights most kung fu schools carried weapons and the changs where sharpened for fighting.

the drum had a mini weapons rack withe a tiger folk , daggers, poles, spears, broadswords. what ever they could fight on the **** thing. dont see much of that anymore. :D

peace

bakmeimonk@hotmail.com

Paul Skrypichayko

02-26-2001, 08:28 AM

I think you can get some of the VCDs through Sifu H.P. Siow. He is one of the coaches for Kun Seng Keng; the world champion lion dance team numerous times in the last ten years. If you do a search, you can find their website (sorry, I can't find the URL right now).

There is also lots of information on the liondance mailing list, and some of Master Siow's students on there as well.

In HK, I have heard that you might be able to get them from Yue Hwa department store, and through one student of Chan Hon Chung (sorry, can't remember his name either. He was lion dance champ in 1986 or something.

Kung Lek

02-26-2001, 06:09 PM

Hi-
Illusionfist- go to this site to find out where you can get the vcds or videos of the genting competitions as well as other Lion Dance material.

It's a really good site, and if ya like, join the mailing list. Lots of great information disemminated daily through the folks here.

http://www.geocities.com/lionscave1/Main.html (http://www.geocities.com/lionscave1/)

and here is another one!

peace

Kung LekGenting.com (http://www.genting.com.my/en/live_ent/2000/liondance/video.htm)

wushu chik

11-27-2001, 08:57 AM

I just wanted to tell everyone that Daniel Leung and his lion dance team came up and did a BEAUTIFUL lion dance in Medford, Oregon today. It was AWESOME!!!! How many of the kwoons that everyone goes to do lion dancing (competition or traditional)?? I am wondering because it's beginning to be a big thing now.

I am ALWAYS Kung Fu Fighting.....what about you?

SaekSan

11-27-2001, 04:52 PM

It's really great to see the surge in interest on this artform. Anyone other lion dancers around?

Jaguar Wong

11-27-2001, 06:45 PM

I used to do it (I did come out of "retirement" this past September for a one time deal, though). Our school did traditional Lion Dance. When I started at the school, it wasn't being taught, becuase my Sifu was always told that even though he was learning the traditional stuff the lion dancing was still for the Chinese students (sucks, huh? :)). Anwyay after about a year or two, we were hooked up with a Lion Dance teacher that used to have a big school in San Franicsco (and later moved to LA). He was more than happy to teach us, but the day we were going to make the road trip out, he found out we weren't Chinese. We kind of freaked because we thought he already knew, but he still decided to meet with us anyway, which was cool.

He had some great stuff in his house (a great Lion Dance photo album from the late 60's through the late 70's). He quit teaching the Lion Dancing because his students didn't appreciate what he was showing them, so he just stuck to teaching Choy Lay Fut. But when he saw how excited and eager we were to learn it, he decided to give us a shot. Man those were some wicked training sessions. But the strenght that I built from Lion Dancing is more than worth it. Your Kung Fu has to be good to pull that crap off :)

My shoulders, forearms, and legs got a lot stronger (even though the Lion head is paper mache' -sp?- the body/tail adds some weight, plus all the sharp movements that you've got to pull off for long periods of time). It didn't improve my kicking or punching power or anything, but it did wonders for my trips/sweeps and takedowns. I only learned the head, beacuse of time constraints (we had to travel to LA for 3-4 hour "Lion Dancing" seminars basically, but he would come down to our school every once and a while too). He was basically choosing one person to teach them one part, and we were supposed to teach each other the rest. My bro did the tail, and we had some guys in a band learn the music. In fact our drummer was so amazing, we basically read each other, and pretty much knew what the other was going for. We did a demo once where the school we were at did the Lion Dance (the learned it from the same guy as us, but we also helped them out), but our guy did the drums. During the whole performance, the other Sifus kept looking over to see who was drumming, instead of watching the Lion. One of Tat Mau Wong's students came up and started talking with our drummer, but I didn't hear too much of what they were saying, but the guy was impressed.

Anyway, I know the head pretty well, and I can sub in for the tail, and the sybmols and gong, but I can't for the life of me play the drum. I was always too busy teaching the head to learn it, and it has caught up with me on more than one occaision. :(

Jaguar Wong
The 6th Deadly Venom!

Jaguar's Wife (To "Judo" Gene Lebell): "Excuse me, my friend (Tigerstyle) wants to know if we can take a picture of you choking him."
Gene LeBell (in a gravely voice): "If he don't mind, I don't mind."
- actual event from DragonFest 1999

EARTH DRAGON

11-27-2001, 07:22 PM

I wonder if it is the same man I met when I lived in san Fran? he was very nice and balding with thick glasses. anyway he taught us lion dancing in exchange for his daughter to learn from our master privatly and we did many dances to open up businesses in the bay area, I was the drummer in many of them. And I enjoyed it very much. It seems to be a lost artin the US except in San Fran where it is everywhere.

http://www.kungfuUSA.net

wushu chik

11-27-2001, 08:49 PM

I asked because it seems to be stuck in San Francisco, and New York. Our school does Lion Dancing, and they are getting pretty good at it. We have been learning from various Lion Dance Teams on the West Coast. It's fun! And there are so many people interested in it it's amazing. I believe that if more schools would do it publicly, it would promote that area of Chinese Culture dramatically, and because it's such a "new" thing to most, it's amazing to see the different reactions!!

I am ALWAYS Kung Fu Fighting.....what about you?

wu_de36

11-27-2001, 09:13 PM

there is a school in Columbus, Ohio that does Lion Dance... Wing Lam school Sifu Jeff Nayers I think.

I don't know much about it, but I was impressed with their dance.

Robinf

11-27-2001, 09:29 PM

We also teach/learn the lion dance. Unfortunately, there are only three of us who show up to those classes consistently--makes it very tiring.

Robin

Surrender yourself to nature and be all that you are.

SaekSan

11-27-2001, 09:42 PM

WC: That has been the main drive for our Lion Dance Troupe, Chinese cultural promotion. There's some talk of even having a Dragon Boat Festival held here, after the stirr we gave the community in the past few years. Our school was the first to perform a lion dance in our city (some 6 years ago) and every year we get more and more requests for our troupe (we already have 21 dances booked up for the New Years). But with this comes the people that weren't properly taught... in the past couple of years we have seen many people who never had formal training (and see this as an opportunity to make $ and self-promotion) so they do not understand the cultural significance of what they are doing, essentially they do a dance that has no meaning, very sad.

WD: Jeff Naayers is a Wah Lum teacher under Chan Pui. Wing Lam's representative in Ohio is John Ervin.

:)

wushu chik

11-28-2001, 12:55 AM

I agree very much with you on the fact that people that don't know what they are doing, makes it look as if has no substance and looks rediculous. We are trying very hard to learn the correct ways to Lion Dance. Our school is relatively new, and the guys are trying their hardest to make the best of what we have!! We have done a few lion dances for various businesses, events, etc, and have gotten nothing but the highest compliments from Asian Americans that have seen lion dancing before, and then seen us! So, I guess we are doing something right!!! But, again, I agree that it makes it hard when you see people just out for money trying to make a quick buck with something so special!!

I am ALWAYS Kung Fu Fighting.....what about you?

fiercest tiger

11-28-2001, 01:06 AM

all i can say is yau kung moon in the u.s and ykm in the world are one of the best lion dancers!

i think every traditional school should have it, if they dont i dont think its a complete system.

:)

come & visit us!
http://home.iprimus.com.au/ykm
yaukungmun@hotmail.com

SaekSan

11-28-2001, 01:24 AM

Your school is procuring other schools to learn from, that is an excellent way to learn your stuff. My only problem is with people who only learned from a video or saw a dance once and is immitating it now for their own profit.

I'm sure you are learning with your heart in the right place and being guided properly. If the Asian community supports you that is even better, keep up the hard work, the entire community (not just the Asian) appreciates and gains by schools like yours.

:)

wushu chik

11-28-2001, 06:28 AM

We are DEFINETLY trying our hardest to keep it "real". We have seen people who have not, and it's sad and kinda degrading. We are busting tail to try to do our best to be sure that we have nothing but the highest respect for the CULTURE and art itself.

I am ALWAYS Kung Fu Fighting.....what about you?

brassmonkey

11-28-2001, 11:02 AM

"i think every traditional school should have it, if they dont i dont think its a complete system"

FT out of curiousity maybe you can elaborate on this. Perhaps since I've never done liondancing my opinion is off but it seems to me that the more time you practice dancing the less time you have for practicing.

Tainan Mantis

11-28-2001, 12:16 PM

His Wah Lum school students have been giving world class performances at Disney's Epcot on a daily basis for years. Not sure about now though.

The lion dancing that you refer to is a characteristic of southern China, so traditional schools from the North don't have it.
The exception being MArtists of Northern schools who passed on their knowledge in the south, such as Hong Kong. In this case some southern traditions have been incorporated into traditional northern Chinese schools.

wu_de36

11-28-2001, 04:24 PM

Saeksan... you are, of course, correct:) I knew I shoulda checked that before I posted. But I was drunk. oops.

SaekSan

11-28-2001, 05:41 PM

TM: yes, for the most part you could say that. My teacher was from Taiwan (actually from Shanxi but went there with the "migration" of '49), he learned "kai ko shih" (open mouth lion), "bi ko shih" (closed mouth lion) and southern lion dancing in Taipei. Although the open and closed mouth lions are the more popular for performances in TW (it's easy to teach kids and they look so cute!), my teacher enjoyed the southern style more because of its rigorous demands on the performer and saw it as a great way to supplement the students training in gong fu. He was also a big beleiver in the concept that kuoshu meant more than just fighting, it should be a balance of "wu" (martial) and "wen" (civil), educated students on both concepts made "strong bodies, strong minds, strong country". So, even though he was a teacher of northern gong fu only, he liked the southern lion for it's beauty and expression.

WD: LOL!

:cool:

Jaguar Wong

11-28-2001, 06:50 PM

brassmonkey,
LOL, I also disagree with the statement. You don't need traditional Lion Dancing to be a "complete system". But I think you're really looking at Lion Dancing much differently. You're not wasting time learning how to dance, the Lion Dance is basically made of of several little sequences (bowing, seven star, getting the lettuce and all that crap), almost like forms inside a larger performance. While you're not doing the sequences, you're moving in a number of different stances (sort of a stepping drill), while remaining aware of the way you're manipulating the head or tail (using upper and lower body to work together, rather than separately). The stances, body movement, and especially the appearance of power and strength are stressed. Lion Dancing was used by kung fu schools to basically show how strong their kung fu was without having to start a big school vs school brawl.

The training is just as tough as stances, punching drills, or many other basic kung fu drills, only using a little bit of weight (the lion's not that heavy, but it's different).

EARTHDRAGON,
Nope, sounds like a different guy. I'm sure there are plenty of Lion Dance teachers in the San Fran area ;). Our Lion Dance Sifu was Eugene Lau, he had been living in LA for quite some time, and he was coming out of a 15 year Lion Dance retirement to teach our school, which I really thought was cool. I respect the man a lot, and his kung fu (Choy Lay Fut) is also strong. The funny thing was that he had some good power, but he always stressed the pride, and the performance aspect when talking about Lion Dancing. I mean he wanted our kung fu to show, but he always wanted us to look good as well, because we were representing his lineage. He was always chewing our Sifu out for our poor performances, but we found out that was basically the old school kung fu way. Never say they're doing something right, just keep pushing them to see if they work harder. :)

Jaguar Wong
The 6th Deadly Venom!

Jaguar's Wife (To "Judo" Gene Lebell): "Excuse me, my friend (Tigerstyle) wants to know if we can take a picture of you choking him."
Gene LeBell (in a gravely voice): "If he don't mind, I don't mind."
- actual event from DragonFest 1999

Jaguar Wong

11-28-2001, 06:57 PM

Also, slowly but surely, our school built a reputation in Las Vegas. At first we were just hitting the China town Mall, during the Chinese New year, but we were starting to get more and more of the big casinos booking us. It's a very busy time of year now, and during the new year our school was making enough money to buy new lion heads (2-3 a year), instruments, and other little things, as well as paying the rent for a while instead of relying so heavily on monthly dues.

Vegas is a great place to have a Lion Dance team. :)

I'm not really part of it anymore, and two of the guys that I've taught the head to are running the team now, and for some reason I like it that way. The whole time I was lion dancing I was always saying that once I passed the buck I was going to stop because it was hard work. Just kidding of course, but when real life caught up to me, I was glad to see that our team was good enough to continue without the original members.

Robin,
I know how you feel, there were only 3-4 guys showing up regularly when my brother and I were running the team, but during the "performance season" people started coming out of the woodwork, so we made them work harder because the short amount of time they had to learn the stuff ;)

Jaguar Wong
The 6th Deadly Venom!

Jaguar's Wife (To "Judo" Gene Lebell): "Excuse me, my friend (Tigerstyle) wants to know if we can take a picture of you choking him."
Gene LeBell (in a gravely voice): "If he don't mind, I don't mind."
- actual event from DragonFest 1999

triskellin

11-28-2001, 08:16 PM

i am really curious as to the other styles of 'lion' dancing, such as the kei lun and pei yao. to my understanding, the pei yao is the fu dog common in feng shui... those little guardian doggies u see at the entrances of temples. anyone know anything about it? like what region in china it orginated from, and if there really is a dance for it...

also, does anyone know the chinese name for the green masked lion that looks like a monster? it's really hideous looking! :eek: i think it's called the fukien lion, but i'm not sure...

thanks!

To see what you want to see is worse than being blind.

triskellin

11-28-2001, 08:32 PM

ok i actually found a website on it, though it didn't have the info i was after...
http://www.visitsarawak.com/wushu/greenlion.html
the 2nd picture, isn't it hideous!!?!! :eek: lol

To see what you want to see is worse than being blind.

hasayfu

11-29-2001, 02:12 PM

For those interested in Lion Dancing, go to http://www.geocities.com/lionscave1/Main.html

My Si-Sook from Hong Kong once told me, that to be a complete Hung Gar person you needed Forms, Medicine, and Lion Dance. He later explained that Lion Dance represents the total culture and history of the style.

In addition, as Jaguar Wong stated, Lion Dance is a great way to train and apply your kung fu. Especially in the southern traditions. Traditional lion dance uses the exact same body motions as your forms. Punch, throw, sweep, kick, etc. Good Lion dance will originate from the waist/dan tian. The movements must be rooted and smooth. In Hung Gar, there is a almost a one to one map. I know a chow gar sifu and his lion dance emphasizes his style more. This is traditional.

So is a style complete without lion dance. Yes and no. If all you want is fighting, then you don't need it. IF you want the "art" it is a big part of the southern tradition. Not true of the north and of internal. There is no Tai Chi lion dance :-)

wushu chik

12-05-2001, 04:42 PM

Our school has been asked to do a Lion Dance with the Beijing Opera troupe that's coming to Jacksonville, OR. in March. Looks like we better start practicing huh?? :D

bamboo_ leaf

12-05-2001, 05:01 PM

Jaguar Wong,

Was wondering if you could e-mail me.
I have a friend that recently moved to Las Vegas.

Into lion dancing as well as 7* mantis. Wanted to put him in touch with the team you mentioned.

Thanks

fei

12-05-2001, 05:27 PM

Just as a reply about the main topic, up in Vancouver, Canada we have a lot of kwoons that participate in lion dancing. Although the kwoon that I go to is mainly Tai Chi Praying Mantis, my sifu also learned Hung Gar. That's how we are able to have lion dancing up here. There are also several different styles/kwoons such as Choi Lay Fut, Lama, and some others that I can't remember. The last tournament that we held in Vancouver (Dec 1st) we had at least 6+ clubs with lions there doing a lion dance accompanying a dragon before finishing off with the grand championships. I have also seen dragon dancing but not very often. Many of the kwoons up here including the one I attend do many dances for Chinese New Years especially in malls and of course China Town. But we do get requests year round, for either grand openings of stores or other occassions. Just a word of elaboration that there is lion dancing up in Canada as well.

SaekSan

12-06-2001, 08:47 AM

The Canadian LD teams I have seen are really good, I imagine you would have quite the demand considering the large Chinese population in B.C.

In 2000, I saw a lion dance from a Canadian team at the USCKF International Campionships in Maryland, I gotta tell you, those guys rocked!

:)

vixie

12-18-2001, 01:00 PM

Hi!
I'm hoping that there are some other women out there practicing lion dance thay may have some tips for me and carrying that BIG LION head on my small shoulders. I'm also interested in playing the roll of tail.

Let me know if you have any good training ideas!

Thanks!!!
:D Vixie

SaMantis

12-18-2001, 05:20 PM

Hi, vixie!

I began learning some lion dance moves a few months ago -- I practiced with the lion head back in May/June and right now I'm learning the tail for New Year.

With the lion head especially, my si hing told me that arm strength and stamina are the two biggest elements -- he said I should do lots of pushups and some running to build up both.

On the opening set of the lion dance -- you'll be holding the lion head high for quite awhile. When you bring it down and when you're stepping side to side (lady horse/riding horse), rest the back of the lion head on your shoulders. This will take a little stress off your arms. Other than that, he said the best way to get stronger is to practice the set over and over and over and over ...
:D

On the tail, stamina and back strength are important -- do running, situps/crunches and work the back flexor muscles. Also, a quote from Sifu Mimi: "Watch where your hands are! I don't wanna see any fingertips poking out from under the tail!" And just stay low. Real low. :)

Peace,
Sam

P.S. -- don't let the discussion on the other Wah lum thread get you down. People always have comments/questions about other systems, and everyone thinks their system is the best. That's not a bad thing. I don't know if you followed a certain thread several months ago, but that was serious Wah Lum bashing. The current discussion is just that -- discussion. Please don't leave the board over that.

joedoe

12-18-2001, 05:47 PM

Track down Triskellin (sp?). She does lion dance I think.

vixie

12-19-2001, 08:10 AM

I really appreciate the tips! I do a lot of running (4 miles 3x/wk and 6'ish on Sundays)...I think my shoulders and arms are my week point so, I'll start working a little harder on that. Oh...and practicing the set over and over and over...*giggles*

Thanks again!
:D Vixie

p.s.
I know that some of it is genuine information sharing, but a lot of it is just plain bitterness, so..I won't leave the board entirely, I'll just disregard those names that seem to have the biggest axe to grind. You've been most helpful and informative...THANK YOU!!! :D

Robinf

12-19-2001, 12:03 PM

I practice the lion dance, too.

You'll also want to improve your grip so you can work the facial features and the mouth. I use those chinese exercise balls--economical and easy to do.

Also, improve the stregnth in the trapezius muscle. It'll help you hold up the head as your hands are manipulating the face. One thing to do for this is to lift a barbell or dumbells straight up your body, hold, then back down. The weights should glide up close to your body and your elbows will bend up and out.

There are other exercises, but that one should help out a bit. I don't know how much you want to get into resistance training.

Robin

GGL

02-14-2002, 08:35 AM

Over last weekend there was a big politicl gathering for Chinese New Year with the Asian consolate... my school was invited to open the festvities with a Dragon.. and another school was then going to do a lion dance.. it ended up that they lost one of their dancers... My instructor decided to volunteer me for the other half of the lion.. me not having practiced with a lion EVER.. he said just follow the guy in front of you... hmmm OK:)

We did it and the dance took bout 5 min to do.. but afterward I was soaking wet with sweat and my legs felt like I practiced for a couple of hours..

So now I siked about this and want to learn it.. I tried to do some research on the net about it.. but there isn't a whole lot of info out there (or i may just be looking in the wrong places)

Can any of y'all give me any resources to look at.. like where to get the costumes.. differences between northern and southern lion dancing.. etc.

I'm sure anything will be helpful

Thanks
Greg

jon

02-14-2002, 09:09 AM

Hey Greg
I cant help you in your search but i would like the same information as well.
I did my first lion dance in Sydney the other night and i had approximately 3 hours of practice before being tasked with the head:eek: :( :confused:
Just jump around in stance to the drumb he says, here watch me he says, BAH!

Still i ended up doing well enough to keep my sifu happy and the crowd happy and had an absolute blast whilst doing it. Plus i found out girls like lions:)

It would have been REALLY nice if my sifu had mentioned a few SMALL details to me BEFORE we started.
Like...
It goes for 10 minutes not 2 and i will be expected to parade around a popular Sydney night spot with a roof thats so low i have to sit in parralel horse to not hit the head on the roof and that there are stairs EVERYWHERE.
That and the whole heavy lion, low stance, sweating like a german sausage part.
Having said all that ive got several more to do over the next comming days including tommorow night and even looking forward to it:D

ji way lung

02-14-2002, 09:23 AM

there's plenty of information on the net about lion dancing. take a look at this website, it's got very good resources. and you can join the lion dance mailing list (which i'm on) as well: http://www.geocities.com/lionscave1/

and check this site out if you think you're good at lion dancing, it'll shatter all your hopes and dreams, haha! these guys are AMAZING: http://www.genting.com.my/en/videoclips/2001/liondance2001/index.htm

happy lion dancing, it's very easy with alot of practice! ;) though maybe not half as good as the genting participants!!

GGL

02-14-2002, 01:50 PM

Thanks for the good info..:D

fiercest tiger

02-14-2002, 02:34 PM

Did you see my schools lion dance in chinatown at all last weekend? we also did the dragon on sunday, i was all over the news with the lord mayor and in most news papers holding the head of the dragon etc.

ykm is the only school here that does the mui fa jong flowery poles with the lion. it was off the hook, chinatown has never been so packed to watch a lion dance.

Hows your new style going? didnt hung gar do the lion dance?:(

jon

02-14-2002, 06:47 PM

Hi F.T
Sounds like your lion dance went off with a bang in more ways than one;) Im afraid i missed your schools as i spent the morning in Bagua and the afternoon practicing lion for our school.
Are you guys doing any more, if so ill come down? We have one tommorow in Parramatta and another on Monday in Newcastle.

Bagua has been great ive been training solidly everyday with Ho sifu. Its different to what i expected and is much more easily addapted to other arts than i thought. Its actualy an excerlent coupling with my Hung and i would have to say that doing an internal and external art at once is very eye opening. My Hung is starting to round out and be more fluent which is a help.
Next i wanna get a few Xing Yi lessons just for a little spice:)

My Hung sifu is not into lion dance and im actualy not sure if he even knows it himself, he has never spoken of it. This is at odds with many Hung schools as its kinda part of Hungs culture but never the less i respect his judgement. I think the main issue would be finding the time to train it. He has enough hassles getting everyone to train stance outside of class so we dont have to take up hours every lesson doing that. I cant imagine trying to get us all doing lion when we only have a few hours together a week. Not to mention the costs in getting all the stuff in the first place.

Anyway i hope your school and yourself are doing well and enjoying Chinese new years.
All the best
Jon

GOLDEN ARMOR

02-15-2002, 06:24 AM

Are any of u sydney peeps going to be at the parade in chinatown tomorrow doing lion dance. My CLF school is doing lion dancing there with 2 lions & kung fu demos at the end of the day on dixon st. I was at glebe temple on monday night with my school, there was kung fu demos & lion dance, it was done on the benches too. The gwoon has been real busy with lion dance, theres a photo of my sihing doing lion dance on the plum blossom poles on our website in the gallery. (cool) :cool:

No_Know

02-26-2002, 10:02 AM

There's a difference between traditional and competition?

Ray Pina

02-26-2002, 11:23 AM

I used to. We peformed for the Dali Lama when he came to NY a few years ago and used to hit restuarants all along NYC and another sifu of mine had me lion dance with Norman and MIlton's schools in Chinatown a few times last year.

It has always been a love/hate relationship for me. Its cool but tiresome and its always the same students who have to do it. The so so students are never around to do the practice, so seniors have to do it, and then we spend our training time getting routines down. Its fun. I'm kind of over it though and glad Master Bond Chan does not do it.

DrunkenMunky

06-11-2002, 07:52 PM

Hey I was wondering if there was a web site or something that has the lion dance drum beat on it. Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks

NorthernMantis

01-31-2003, 09:46 PM

Ouch the pain! I'm no where near in the same condition I was last year when it came to lion dance and only managed to practice once wich was tonight. Work has kept me from being able to come to class and I have to do a coule of shows over the weekend!:eek: :eek: :eek:

I know I'm not in good enough shape to do multiple shows but I have to go through it. Ugghh It's gonna be long one tomorrow:

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

My shoulders are tight and burning
My insides are really churning
When lion dance season comes arounnddd.

Even though I'm really faking
In the inside I'm just really shaking
This body just yells

The pain!
The pain!

Well anyways anyone else gonna liond dance?

yu shan

01-31-2003, 11:28 PM

What part of the team are you? We can spend lots of time on the front member or the back member. Totally two seperate energy`s. Try over 30 show`s in one day, with smart ass hung baos hung very high. This is part of your KF training, suck it up! Hopefully you will bleed...

NorthernMantis

02-01-2003, 09:13 AM

lol thanks for the pep talk !

I really needed that. 30 shows is brutal man:! :eek Oh and I always bleed. There a loose piece of bamboo or something inside the lion head that always cuts my first knuckle and I have various scars from previous shows.

I'll be doing both. Most people say the tail is the worst but I always felt the head was harder, but since I'm small anyway I never really have to support anyone. :D

Nice to hear form you again keep it touch.

Hey kung lek I know you like to lion dance are you going or have done any shows yet?

WinterPalm

02-01-2003, 03:23 PM

Our kwoon had one this morning at Marigold, and we have two this evening in which I will be playing the head. Oh boy, it's gonna be fun!!
My teammates that performed this morning were amazing and pulled off an excellent show that brought happiness to the patrons of Marigold.

Good luck to all Lion Dancers and...

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!!!!

David Jamieson

02-02-2003, 12:14 AM

The streets were filled with lions and drums today.

Got out of my car in Chinatown and walked right into a double lion dance, went to the restaurant for dim sum, again , another team on the ground floor of the mall the restaurant was in and then another team upstairs while 2 more teams danced outside.

It was crazY! :D

Lions were everywhere, Drums everywhere. Kids running around in their new years red outfits. Lion dance clubs and Kungfu clubs all getting the greens...

Man, it get's pretty lively in Toronto's chinatown at new year.
Hope you all had fun and ate a lot of dim sum and bar-b-q.
Mooncakes too! :)

cheers

Phisker

02-02-2003, 12:15 AM

That would be cool my kwoon has lion dancing, but I never get invited cause im not that good.

SevenStar

02-02-2003, 01:59 AM

hop gar master ku chi wai says:

"if you understand kung fu, you understand Lion...no understand kung fu, no understand Lion"

shaolin kungfu

02-08-2003, 02:38 AM

What exactly is lion dancing? What does it do in terms of martial arts training?

Gold Horse Dragon

02-08-2003, 07:25 AM

Lion Dance uses all the stances that kung fu uses...so everytime you lion dance you are training your kung fu. As in the forms, lion dance also requires stamina and strength. And as in sparring, lion dance requires good timing and ingenuity.
Southern systems of kung fu have always had a strong connection to lion dance and many Sifu would not consider their Kwoon complete without doing the Lion Dance.
Never saw a lion dance you say!
Just go to our site, click on videos and you can see a number of the performances we have done. Also under the articles section you can read about it and in the published articles section is a article that was published in KQ for 2001 new year.

Shaolin West Kung Fu Kwoon (http://www.mts.net/~sillum/Index.htm)

GHD

NorthernMantis

02-08-2003, 03:26 PM

Mines went well, including the fact that some lady grabbed my butt , I think:D

i didn't touch the lion much since a lot of people went. Near the end in the kitchen I got stabbed in the face with a rib that someone was trying to hand to me and I choked on the honey chicken that the owner passed to me while I was the head.

Then after wards we stayed in the restaurant and ate to our hearts content.

Oh and also the lion helps you practice your footwork since you just can't stay in one place plus you really have to put on a show and play wtih the audience. Hope every one had fun:D

bodhitree

08-25-2003, 06:45 AM

Anyone have any experiance with?
My sifu attended a lion dance class and said their forms look just like Shaolin ones. Are these people always thinking about martial applications when doing this? Do they do qigong?
I dont know
Thanks in advance!

Ray Pina

08-25-2003, 06:59 AM

There is a lot of martial carry over in lion dancing. It is hard work! I used to bust my ass for Chinese New years. It was a great experience but one that I am glad is behind me.

Da, da ,da, da .... ta, tatta, ta, ta (cymbal crash!)

No_Know

08-25-2003, 06:25 PM

New radio Keystroke (stereotype), Northern lion dance acrobatics.

Southern Lion dance thinks martial~ in their moves.

Fu-Pow

08-26-2003, 11:11 AM

In cantonese the Lion Dance is known as Mo Si or Martial Lion.

As far as I know the Lion has always been associated with martial arts.

My Sifu should have a tape coming out soon on beginning lion dance.

He's known as the King of the Lion in Hong Kong.

I'll keep you updated as to when it's going to come out.

www.makskungfu.com

jameswu

10-21-2003, 03:30 PM

Anyone know a good site where i can get lion dance stuff like lion heads, good ones?
thx!

firepalm

10-22-2003, 02:06 AM

Here's a list to start with;

www.geocities.com/lionscave1/
www.royallions.com/
www.jonieuniforms.com/
www.globalliondancer.com

Good luck!:cool:

jameswu

10-22-2003, 06:32 AM

thx for the info. any 1st hand experience or recommendations on any of these places?

Shaolinlueb

10-22-2003, 08:24 AM

man I so want to learn a lion dance. :D

LionDancer

10-23-2003, 07:16 PM

Thks for the referal FirePalm! James... let me know if you would like me to walk you thru the site and products... more than happy to do so. We've just updated the site with all new inventory and products.... now have 19 different styles to choose from as well as new items. Thks again.

________________________________
www.GlobalLionDancer.com

jameswu

10-25-2003, 01:25 AM

thx, liondance. great lionheads. sure hard to choose from with so many types.
n i can order online with no waiting too. thx 4 the great customer service.

firepalm

10-25-2003, 03:12 AM

I don't have any experience with any of these companies have just been doing some research as of late...

Good luck!

firepalm

10-25-2003, 03:14 AM

It appears you are with Global Lion Dancer, question do you get your lions from China or Malaysia? In particular from Master Siow if from Malaysia?

LionDancer

10-25-2003, 08:22 PM

Hello FirePalm,

We have our own facilities & master craftsmen located in southern China. We also provide some lionheads to Malaysia.

LionDancer

10-25-2003, 08:24 PM

No problem James. Holler if you have any questions on the products....

yu shan

11-07-2003, 10:18 PM

LionDancer

Interested in a new lion. Been using Jonie`s San Francisco. I`ll go to your site, need of course a good luck color. I`m down now to just a gold lion, gave my red lion to my Shrfu. Thinking about going green, what do you think?

ripdogmantis@worldnet.att.net

Yu Shan

LionDancer

11-07-2003, 10:33 PM

Hello Yu Shan,

Question: you only have a gold one left, what color is the fur and beard? and is it a sequin or lacquer painted one? Also, do you usually bring out both lion heads? If so, I would think you may want to select a color scheme to compliment your gold one. There is a very nice green w/white fur & beard sequin styled one on the site... but feel free to look at the others also and let me know what your thoughts are.

______________________
www.GlobalLionDancer.com

yu shan

11-07-2003, 11:18 PM

fur and beard is white. I like to compliment two lions.

LionDancer

11-10-2003, 10:31 PM

apologies for the delay... but there are a few options available....
picture the following:

1. another gold lion with white fur and beard
2. silver lion with white fur and beard
3. red lion with white fur and beard
4. gold lion with red fur and beard
5. silver lion with gold fur and beard

OR

1. two black lions with black fur and beard
2. two silver lions with white fur and beard
3. two green lions with white fur and beard

how's that?

by the way, the existing lion that you have, is it of sequin material?

______________________
www.GlobalLionDancer.com

firepalm

11-11-2003, 02:33 AM

Quick question, is your company able to put the Chinese characters (school name & such) on the back of the head & the neck drape?

Cheers! ;)

LionDancer

11-11-2003, 10:03 PM

Do you mean have the name of the troupe on the lion head collar, on the lion head itself or both?

______________________
www.GlobalLionDancer.com

firepalm

11-12-2003, 01:22 AM

Both yes, I have a friend who is looking for lions for his CMA club. I directed him to your website his question was how could he have his club name / lion team's name placed on the rear of the head & on the neck drape / collar.

jameswu

11-12-2003, 04:43 PM

just a tip in case ur interested. take advanage of their 15% off . i got 2 n sold the other one locally easily for 800 n pocketed over $200 :)

LionDancer

11-12-2003, 07:32 PM

Hello Firepalm,

We would have the team's name placed on the lion head itself by attaching the characters directly and the collar also for our clients if they chose to. Depending on the number of characters, we can work something out either for free or a small fee since you would not be able to just 'paint' them on the lion heads themselves if its the sequin lions. For the traditional painted lions, we would paint the name on. Hope this helps.... if your friend is interested, pls have him/her contact me. Thks for the reference! You know, you should join our associate program.

_______________________
www.GlobalLionDancer.com

LionDancer

11-12-2003, 07:37 PM

Hi James,

thanks again for your business.... hope our products exceeded your expectations. BTW, did the lion pants fit your team members? Those were the largest adult (longest) ones we have. Thanks again and let me know how things go......

______________________
www.GlobalLionDancer.com

hasayfu

03-03-2004, 06:03 PM

This off topic from the attn:Frank thread so I'm starting a new one.

I do recommend people get the DVD and support these guys. TigerClaw was abig sponser too.

In regards to tradtional vs. Modern liondance. Each has their own aspects. Most of the winning schools that win international competions have traditional teams. Even the "Jong" competitions are emphasizing more animation.

I've been to Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong and seen the teams there. Traditional is alive and well but has evolved.

I was also a judge at the West Coast competion. The DVD is out. I highly recommend it. http://www.lion-dancing.com/product.asp?itemid=9

Take a look at the trailer on the home page http://www.lion-dancing.com/nfldc/home.html I'd like to see traditional lion dance head this direction. BTW, Yau Kung Moon won this comp.

CLF Noble, is your si-sook doing the traditional fat san lion dance and keeping the "old" drumming? Just curious. I see too many teams now opting for the Hok San style of lion and drum. Great if that's your roots but these are traditional Fat San based systems like Hung Gar and CLF. The worse are the teams that opt the HS drum but use a FS head.

Je Lei Sifu

03-03-2004, 06:20 PM

HaSayFu,

Wassup brotha? When I get things together on my end, I have to try to hook up with you and Subitai. It will be two years soon since we last met.

The DVD sounds very interesting, and I make sure I put it at the top of my wish list.

Peace

Jerry Battle

CLFNole

03-03-2004, 07:34 PM

HaSayFu:

They use a traditional style drum beat but a bit more up tempo than the real old style which is quite slow. As far as the head goes its more of an older style head. It doesn't look like the malaysian heads that resemble a duck.

So to answer your question I think it would be considered Fut San style.

Peace.

Pork Chop

03-03-2004, 09:23 PM

I just wonder if in the freestyle competitions, do the teams compete one at a time?
Or do we get to see some real team vs team lion dancing?
*evil grin*

CLFNole

03-03-2004, 09:43 PM

The one's I have seen its one at a time. It is difficult enough as it is if it were team vs. team on poles 15' in the air there would be people breaking all kinds of bones and possibly worse.

If you ever get one of the VCDs from Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong they usually show the falls at the end and man do they look painful.

Peace.

Pork Chop

03-04-2004, 07:24 AM

CLFNole

We're talking about the freestyle competition with no props.
That includes no poles (stationary or otherwise), no balls, no platforms, and not even benches if my understanding of the rules is correct.

The freestyle competition is supposed to be traditional style.

I've seen more than enough videos of the modern style.
I've gotta wonder about the traditional lion you've seen if the modern looks more alive.

I mean, they prance around a bit and have some live play, but when they start doing tricks, half of the teams seem so focused on the jumps that they stop playing the lion altogether.

Of course there were exceptions on the tapes I saw- some teams were much better than others; and the tapes I saw were not a definitive collection, but it'd take some real good footage on their part to convince me different.

I know I'm probably just biased.

brothernumber9

03-04-2004, 09:02 AM

This may eventually boil down to what was on another thread in that "Traditional" lion dance is not clearly defined. The "Traditions" vary from school to school, style to style and in many cases in origination from region to region. There are still more commonalities than differences when refering to say what most would consider traditional fut san style. But minor differences could be totally opposite between groups.
For example group A lion head plays dai goo (big drum/triumphant walk) by turning the head side to side making the lion looke from side to side but keeping the head and chin on a level plane, group B lion head plays dai goo by tilting the head side ways, one side, then the other, and not really turning it side to side. Both heads learned from teachers who learned from thier teachers who learned from their teachers. Both are old enough to be "Traditional" but which is the right way and which is wrong? are both right or are both wrong? who is to say?

Then who is to say who is the best? It seems every southern style has someone who is a "King of Lions" from Hong Kong, Hung Ga has theirs, Choy Lay Fut has theirs, Jow Ga has theirs, Hung Fut has theirs, Bak Mei has theirs, etc. Then there are those teams that compete and claim world championships that could make claims to being the best, Kun Seng Keng, kuan Loke, Yau kung Mun, Bak Hok, etc.

I was distracted and have no idea what my point is anymore.
so.....the end.

hasayfu

03-05-2004, 01:07 AM

Je Lei Sifu, word. I got to make out east again and we all need to get together. I enjoyed our little HG Lion Dance jam session we had.

Bmore Banga, "half of the teams seem so focused on the jumps that they stop playing the lion altogether."

It's the other half you gotta look at [;)] Seriously, I used to think the way you do till I spent time with Master Siow, who is arguably the originator of the modern style. He's at least the most active promoter of it. He has very traditional roots. He teaches his team some really tight facial animation.

Looking at the videos to make a generalization would be like me looking at the Xtreme MA folks and call that real Kung Fu.

The Traditional Competion did allow for props. This is traditional in the sense that the lion should make use of all the things around. Even that clip from the 1920s show a full bridge setup, so that isn't new. What is new is spending a majority of the time on Jongs and basing the routine around acrobatics on the Jongs. It also allows for a standardization of judging. This is what defines the modern competition lion dance.

For the Tradtional competion, animation, story, energy and spirit played a bigger part. One of the best animation I saw was one team (YKM A?) that sniffed the chang that was hanging in a tree. You could see/feel the Lion savoring the scent.

On the Team vs. Team tip, I've heard some stories. Think OUATIC 3 but real life. The yearly island festival in HK was a big example.
You won't see that in the US anytime soon.

CLFNoble, glad to hear you keep the Fut San style. Yeah, Hok San looks like a duck (or supposedly a crane (Hok))

Brothernumber9, you said it. Seem like everyone was King of Lion Dance. Guess it's how you define your kingdom. Of course we all know that Wong Fei Hong (HG) was the best of the best. I saw it on several movies. LOL

As for comparing traditions, you are right about the diffs. On the otherhand, there are basic things that are the same and that's what we can go off of.

Thanks for the discussion everyone. Fu-Pow, drop some stories of your team or Sifu.

brothernumber9

03-05-2004, 06:07 AM

B'more Banga you took note when Fu-Pow backed his school's lion as best. What are some of the strong teams you have been on or witnessed in the U.S.? Are you or were you a member of Yau Kung Mun or Bak Hok or maybe Gee Yung?

Pork Chop

03-05-2004, 08:41 AM

HSF

I've seen that kinda competition on the east coast in the 2 years I've been out here, let alone the number of times I've heard it occuring over the past decade or two. ;)
Just coz it ain't on the west coast doesn't mean it ain't in the US.
:p

My bad about the freestyle competition, it's been a while since I saw the rules for that one.
People from the east coast were thinking about flying out for that one but wanted to check out the video first.

I've seen online clips of Siow's stuff, some west coast stuff, and some stuff from Houston. Saw Jimmy Wong's crew in Plano in person a few times.
You see from my wording that not everyone stopped playing lion when they did the tricks.

When it comes to animation, I've seen good stuff from both sides.
I personally prefer traditional footwork and routines to the modern style. But to say one has a clear dominance over the other in animation doesn't make sense when there are equally bad examples from both camps. :p j/k There are some players from both sides that'll make your jaw drop.

bro#9

I was on a team a lot closer to your home. Think of a 4 letter word for kung fu in DC and i was one of them. hehe

Teams I think are good?
This list could get long.

On the east coast, heard you guys are good, JeLeiSifu's stuff's good, DF can get down with a lion, yah if I keep goin I'm gonna leave someone out on accident and it's going to look like a slam on that team.

Let's just say I've seen a lot of good ones on the east coast.

On the east coast it's more about festivals, parades, and freestyle shows than preset jong competitions; a lot more traditional than modern.

I take issue with someone claiming they're the best, just like I'd take issue with someone claiming they were the best fighter without having seen them do much more than light sparring.
Or someone who claims to be the best cook, without having tasted more than a pb&j sandwich from them.
In traditional lion dance if you say you're the best, expect to back it up, and there are ways to back it up.
Rules of the game, yah know?

hasayfu

03-08-2004, 01:44 AM

BMore Banga, you are right about you east coast guys. My bad for not thinking about that. Now I know why you need police escorts at CNY :)

I should reword my statement to a "sanctioned" team vs. team tournament of the HK type. I think breaking out the butterfly knives and long poles would attract a little attention. I don't even want to think about the fool carrying the kwan do. LOL

brothernumber9

03-08-2004, 11:41 AM

When I first joined our lion team we didn't do very much of tricks in the way of jongs or stacks, everything was based on different chang presentations, postures, footwork, power and expression of the lion. The tails were really long. We used only 3 colors of lions. Red, black, and white(or yellow). We still use primarily those colors but we also have a few different ones now including a gold laser fabric skin one and another that is a bit more collorful and includes white, red, yellow, and blue on it.

Now we still focus primarily on footwork, power, and expression of the lion but have included all kinds of tricks and stacks and a few routines on benches as well as impromptu jongs or setups by a couple particular restaurant owners that have background in lion dance. We havent been involved in any greetings between lions of different schools since 95 and haven't been involved in any altercations since the last time we were in DC Chinatown in '90. (which really was nothing and we all have a good respect for each other now). Next year my Sifu is throwing a 25 year anniversary grand opening of his school, he's gonna invite loads of schools and hopes to get as many as 30 lions in attendance. There may probably be more Jow Ga lions than anything else but I'm quite sure there may also be some Choy Lay Fut, Hung Gar, SPM, Wah Lum, and maybe Fu-Jow Pai, 7* Mantis, and who knows who else there, maybe some of you reading this.

Fen

03-08-2004, 01:34 PM

You know peeps we do have a Lion Dance Forum (http://www.team-fu.com/forums/)

brothernumber9
hope to see you there we have a thread going on what is your fave lion...

~Jason

Pork Chop

03-08-2004, 01:44 PM

I guess that stuff do happen on the left coast :D
Nice little thread (http://www.team-fu.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=11&t=372)

Fen

03-08-2004, 02:22 PM

Thanks Bmore...
Come and post (http://www.team-fu.com/forums/index.php?act=Reg&CODE=00) and tell what you have seen on the right coast....hehehehehe

~Jason:)

Pork Chop

03-08-2004, 02:54 PM

Yah that's my problem...

Talked way too much on this thread already.

No longer part of a team; so while I have a little more freedom to speak, I have no grounds to speak from.

Besides, results are strictly confidential, even describing the situation (omitting names) could stir up bad blood with respective parties.

Plus, if quitting didn't make me unloved before, talking like that would downright make me a marked man. :)

I'll read the threads down there tho.
Pretty entertaining so far.

David Jamieson

10-19-2005, 06:08 AM

Hey just got an email from one of the guys on the lions cave newslist and apparently W.C.Hu has given permission to have his book 'Chinese Lion Dance Explained made available, for free, online.

This is a pretty big book on the subject and covers facets of lion dance that you just might not find elsewhere.

You can get it at:

http://www.cpafoundation.org/

enjoy.

MasterKiller

10-19-2005, 06:33 AM

A) I get a stupid Windows login screen everytime a click a page.

B) The book is broken into 5 page sections??? I'm not interested enough to download 100 files and re-assemble them later.

David Jamieson

10-19-2005, 06:39 AM

lol, yeah, they have the folder secured, but no user name or password.

Just click through it. I'm sure someone with a bit of net savvy will help them out with that eventually.

You can download it if you know how to root through your temp files for the correct flash files, but otherwise, it is still a good resource simply for the fact that you cannot get a printed version of this book anymore.

I'm not gonna go into the details about soThink SWF decompiler to take apart and recompile the book, because it's a condition of access to it at this time that we please don't do that sort of thing.:p

In the meantime, Half a loaf is better than no loaf in my books.

hskwarrior

09-03-2006, 11:23 AM

I have no footage of our past lion dances but plenty of pictures......

so what did i do? of course,.......made up a slideshow for one.

hope you like.......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz6WgjCZHfM

jmd161

09-03-2006, 12:30 PM

Frank,

Did you recently learn video editing?

Nice slide show, I just noticed you seem to be hooked on the video editing bug.:D I got bit by the bug once before, but I was too lazy to stick with it.:o

It's alot of work, but it's fun when it come together.

jeff:)

David Jamieson

09-03-2006, 08:35 PM

That was cool. Thanks!

hskwarrior

09-04-2006, 07:57 AM

jmd.

I have taken on learning video editing all by myself. Yeah it's fun becaue i've never done it before, and look at the turn out?!?!?

It started with the websites, then the slideshows, and now video editing.

I do plan on doing my own line of dvd's and this is a good experience and practice at getting better.

it's all done in fun.....

hsk

secretgecko

06-08-2007, 02:20 PM

What up?

I would like to get a new thread going regarding southern lion dancing.

If you know of some information about lion dancing that may be interesting or if you have some great stories to tell and would like to share...

Also, there are many obstacles or puzzles that a lion dance troup may encounter and should come to know.

Each puzzle usually has a certain etiquette or code which should be followed in a particular order or fashion to demonstrate the knowledge, experience and/or skill level of the troup and in order to provide the most luck to whomever the performance is for.

If you know of some obstacles or puzzles or routines and would like to share those...please do so.

David Jamieson

06-09-2007, 05:46 AM

I like watching a good lion dance team. Used to do it, we were never that great at it, but it was fun.

hskwarrior

06-09-2007, 01:01 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFlKmQcegGk

hskwarrior

06-09-2007, 01:03 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbuWzzl93T8

SleepingDragon

06-28-2007, 02:38 PM

There is a book at this new liondance website called Shuo Shih/Lion Talk. It is written by a liondancer from Hong Kong. Only one problem is that it is in traditional Chinese print. It is in paperback form like a magazine, but with 256 pages. eight chapters with one dedicated to different qings/chengs.

This is the only book written other than Dr. William Hu's book "Chinese Lion Dance Explained" which is out of print. However you can go to a library I have been told to get it from another library as part of a loaner program. Although sometime in the future Master Lim Meng Kok is supposed to write a book, but he needs a ghost writer that can write his thoughts properly in Chinese as well as translate to english some of the terms and topics that is associated in english which can be very unique.

It is also cheaper to get it in HK (USD $20 I think), but you have to know where to look. Other wise if you got the cash go to this website.

http://www.ofcourselionsource.com

They are new and I don't how the quality of it is. The lion's are all custom made in the US, althought they can import ones from asia if you like. They make theirs the old way so the lion heads I imagine are going to be heavier than those from asia nowadays.

I have written what little I know at one of the lion dance group's that I help website. If you have something to add that I can verify about lion dancing that I I have not written about I'd loved to hear about it.

http://www.hawaiiliondanceassociation.com

Aloha

William aka. SleepingDragon

hasayfu

06-29-2007, 11:21 AM

I know the guys at ofcourselionsource personally. Very stand up guys with a strong passion for lion dancing. They’ve been lion dancing for a VERY long time. They searched out some of the older Hong Kong lion makers and learned the craft. They are also highly creative so bring their own flavor to the lions.
See: http://www.ofcourselionsource.com/index.php?page=gallery/index&content=gallery/customizations&section=gallery

If anyone wants a lion that stands out from the crowd, these are the people to see.

monkeyking168

07-03-2007, 08:36 AM

the book shuo shi that of course lion source is offering is singed by the author & there are only 10 copies that they aquired. the last i heard from them there are only 2 copies left in stock.

as the previous poster stated they have been lion dancing for quite along time & they traveled back to china to learn the craft of lion dancing to maintain & pass on tradition. the lion dance group is kei lun martial arts. http://www.kei-lun.com/

i know that our troupe has purchased equipment from them. they offer high quality work & craftsmanship. they also offer alot of items for repair & restoration. some more difficult items that they carry is cinnabar which is used for blessing the lions. our troupe is in the process of purchasing a new custom traditional fut san head as we are also going back to the old traditional way of lion dancing to maintain tradition before it gets lost so we can pass it along to the new generation.

cheers,
mk

SleepingDragon

10-28-2010, 02:42 PM

Not sure if this is where it should be posted, but I have created a website on the Southern Cantonese Lion Dance and more. Hope you are entertained by it and enlightened.

http://chineseliondancers.webs.com/

SleepingDragon

11-04-2010, 02:10 AM

Have added another article on Choy Cheng with a handful of chengs. It is a work in progress. Hope you find it enlightening and enjoyable to read.

lance

04-06-2011, 03:42 PM

Sleeping Dragon ,

Hello . what lion dance club are you with ? Anyway , I went to the Honolulu Choy Chang night . It was good but I ' ve noticed myself that 2 clubs were miising , they were Lung Kong Physical Culture Club and the Kuo Min Tang Physical Culture Assn .
I only stayed for half hour because I had other places to go to , anyway I also noticed that they also had other clubs involved too , like asian lion dance group ,
wah ghai .

If I ' m not mistaken this is the first year they ' ve participated in the choy chang night . Although it's the same thing as every year it's also good to watch . I was once doing lion dancing myself too , I was active in certain clubs too , like Chinese Lion Dance Assn . Chinese Physical Culture Assn . And Gee Yung International Lion & Dragon Dance Assn . But today , I don ' t to any club at all , I just watch lion dance performance where ever I see it performing .

These clubs before they use to order their lion heads from either Hong Kong or China . But today they have alot of companies in the mainland like San Francisco that sells lion dance equipments . Some people learned the traditional way of making lion heads from workshops being sponsored by lion head makers who no longer makes lion heads already , but are willing to teach and spread their expertise of making lion heads .

Getting back to the Honolulu Choy chang night it probably finished about !0 or
11 pm , according to my friend whose in the gee yung club . Either these kung fu clubs all got together at a certain spot in chinatown bowed to eachother 3 times and ended their traditional performances . Or after they finished their last store
they bowed 3 times to their drum set and ended the performance . There are times when traditions change and different things take place . It's the nice to see the lions from different clubs bow to eachother 3 times and end the show .

They also have the fut san and the Hok San style of lion dancing too . But I rather have the fut san lion dance over the hok san lion dance , but I like to watch the hok san lion dance too . But today the hok san lion dance can be performed for performances like weddings , birthday parties , or any kind of special occasions .
Besides the Championship lion dance which the hok san lion dance is known for , where the music and bowing is different from the fut san verions of lion dacing .

Lance

Lau

11-28-2011, 06:52 AM

brothernumber9

11-28-2011, 12:24 PM

were they hung in a straight line or a circle? were there any characters written on them, or on envelopes? Was there a bowl of water at the foot of the door under the chang?
My first guess is that it is a variation of the seven star puzzle, but it wouldn't surprise me if the shop keeper just heard someone mention something about it and just set it up in hopes to make it seem like they were in the know.

Lau

11-29-2011, 12:31 AM

Hi Brothernumber9,

Thank you for your interest. I just got the picture and there were 9 lettuces hanging in a straight horizontal line. The middle one slightly higher. I can email you the picture if you like. All of them had a tangerine and a red envelope as well. My guess it that it is something traditional since someone we met there said that he knew how to play it. But there was no time for him to explain.

Regards, Lau

Paul T England

12-01-2011, 09:30 AM

David Jamieson

12-01-2011, 09:43 AM

I have started teaching some of my young students (age 6-10) lion dancing. Just been doing the basics such as cleaning and walking but would like to get them jumping and rolling etc.

Any tips on teaching kids lion dance skills?

Paul

side table jump up from static.
chair jump up from static.
standard table jump up from static.

repeat while wearing the puppet.

basically there are traditional moves.

Crane dots water, one leg crane stance, horse stance walking, cross stepping, retreat jumping with cross step, bearded hook sweep, kick step, bowing step, tail chasing, rolling, investigating, chewing and expelling the choi chang, and emotional expressions especially in context to the type of lion.

Gold Lion is an old man and behaves calm and slow.
Red Lion is a middle aged man and proceeds with austere motions crisp and firm.
Black Lion is young and feisty, combative and aggressive and moves thusly.

If you do not know how to properly lion dance, I would suggest you hire or contract someone to teach you how so that you can understand a few of the puzzles and you will absolutely need to understand etiquette with the lion as well.

people will be shocked if you do this spiritual and cultural ritual incorrectly and may feel you will bring bad luck down on them for messing up.

If you get a new lion, you must perform the hoi gung ceremony with it in public.
When you enter a store to bless it's altar, you should lick the door frames with the lion before entering and when leaving, back out, once out, bow.

Once you have all the basics, time to start working on solutions to the chang puzzles you will find at ceremonies.

Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is that there is a lot to it and it is a LOT more than just jumping around in a giant puppet.

EarthDragon

12-01-2011, 10:20 AM

Goof point DJ, Paul, with as much repsect as you recive aroind here from your knowledge and years in the arts, it is proper to have the proper cutlture and knoweldge of such a sacred thing.

brothernumber9

12-01-2011, 01:57 PM

teach them without the lion first.

Some excercises I use: (without the lion)
have the tail lifr the head a set number of times (3,5,10,12, whatever0. Just jump straight up in the air and back down. The tail would lift at the height of the jump to push the head player to full arm extension (of the tail player), then just back down to the head player's feet on the gournd. Simply just an assisted jump, up and down. There are differrent ways to lift the head player, most involve grabbing the sash or sides (sash, clothing, anything the tail can grab). Grips from the side and also the back (if wearing a sash). Explore different ways that both the head and tail feel most comfortable with.

In addition the tail should help control the head player's landing to soften it a bit so they don't take too much brunt on thier feet, or the head player upon landing can bounce back up for a smaller, unassisted jump/bounce to help dissapate the energy.

Once comfortable with that, then move right to horse stance stack without the lion. If well enough with a regular up and down jump, the horse stance stack should not be too difficult. When efficient enough there, have them do it with the lion. Hope this helps.

Paul T England

12-02-2011, 03:48 AM

thanks for the advice guys. I have been doing lion dancing for a while but find it difficult to get
the kids jumping etc...they are like sacks of potatos :)

brothernumber9

12-02-2011, 08:37 AM

I have never seen an array of 9 vegetables, so I can only guess. I can only think of two references I could try to draw from if I came upon that kind of cheng unexpectedly.
The first one, but that may not make too much sense, is that cantonese nine is gao, and the green is ching/chang/cheng. There is a layered dessert called jiu cheng gao, a nine layered cake, but I think that is mandarin. One way to eat it is to peel away one layer at a time.
The other is that in farming, an old practice is to section the farming area into 9 parts. The area in the middle is used to pay respect to heaven, ancestors, etc, sometimes referred to as heaven's acre.

Either way, I would start from the first green on the left ****hest from the center, then do the one on the right ****hest from center, and alternate, til you get to the middle green.

brothernumber9

12-02-2011, 08:41 AM

if you have a couple saw horses, we use them to help them with their "ups" and also makes it kinda fun for them. We have them jump any way thay can onto the first saw horse, and then get to a second saw horse a space away anyway they can (step, jump) then jump on the ground (a floor mat first). Then, get them to jump both feet at the same time onto the first one, then also from the first one to the second one, then onto the ground.

David Jamieson

12-02-2011, 10:59 AM

have you considered rewards?

put the reward up at the top of where you want them to jump. :p

Syn7

12-02-2011, 06:08 PM

was there money in the envelopes? where were the envelopes and the fruit in relation to the lettuce? you say the lettuce was hanging???

GeneChing

12-06-2011, 03:43 PM

That would be extremely unlucky.

Syn7

12-06-2011, 07:14 PM

i love getting red envelopes before shows!!! sifu is generous!!!

is there nothing else they stick in envelopes.??? ever???

lance

12-30-2011, 12:57 AM

Hi all,

I have a question on lion dance. Last year during Chinese new year a shop hung 7 lettuces in front of their shop. I have never seen it before. Does anybody know the meaning and the way it needs to be played? Thanks !

Regards, Lau The store owner is probably trying to test you out as a lion dancer , and yes , it is a puzzle , if you do it the wrong way that ' s bad luck , and a great way of offending the store owner . Every kung fu club or school goes through this test , so that ' s why you really need to learn it good from your sifu .
I ' ve done lion dancing myself too , the tricky part is what you ' re dealing with now getting the greens .

I would do 3 bows first to the doorway , and if one red envelope is there then , I would approach it and step back 3 times , and on the 4 th time eat the greens .
This is the reason why , the first time you approach it , your sniffing it to see if
it ' s safe to eat or not , you step back , the second time you approach it your seeing how it ' s attach , and you step back , the third time you really making sure if you can get it or not and step back , then the fourth time you get the li see and eat it . The 7 lettuce are probably just decorations to lure the lion . This is the way I learned it in Hawaii . Learning how to play the head and tail is easy with practice , but learning the puzzle you got to get together with your sifu .

Usually chinese temples will usually hang more than 1 lisee , depending on which clubs they selected to bless their temples , so the sifu of the kung fu club really needs to talk with the person in charge of the establishment themselves .

Howard

12-30-2011, 01:57 PM

After all the usual eat no eat, celebrate and eat no eat routines ( of which is good to stylize the eating, e.g pu bu, kneel, step back, split etc) then for arrangements -
If in no order then give it an order (7 = 7 stars shape, 9 = 9 palaces etc)
If in order then migrate to a new order (7 star to a 5 element as example)
If multi items (different fruits and greens ) then arrange with emphasis on least available or by size in necessary shape.

Secondary approaches are required if the stores are community/ Mun members which requires knowledge of old codes, further cases for arranging by characters also possible....

Just some usual practices passed by my teachers.

TenTigers

12-30-2011, 04:03 PM

anyone know how to properly eat a pomelo? (I know you need to open it up like a flower)If it has oranges and choi along with it, what order to go?

GeneChing

01-19-2012, 09:42 AM

YEAR OF THE DRAGON 2012: She Takes Her Fan and Throws it in the Lion's Den (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1023)

brothernumber9

01-19-2012, 11:49 AM

Great article Gene. It invoked some memories for me of when I first started. People really don't knows how hard it is until they do it, and because of that, I think it helps those of us who have done it to some degree, to look at other things in life that appear simple but are truly arduous and appreciate them.

I still do lion dance for my Sifu and the school. This will be my 21st CNY. Because of participating in lion dance I've gotten to see and experience things I never would have otherwise. I assume that experience is shared by most that do it.
There are so many cultural influences tied to lion dance and the lion itself that it becomes increasingly head scratching. (hopefully not to the point like how yours bled). But I still love learning more.

If other folks on the forum have the opportunity to learn and perform lion dance, I hope they give it a taste. It's something I'll always have pride for, and holds threads to times, stories, truths, legends, and cultures long before us.

GeneChing

01-20-2012, 12:08 PM

That's awesome, brothernumber9. Old enough to drink now! :D

Lion Dance is so unique to CMA. It is one of our most colorful treasures.

I'll have part two up next week.

GeneChing

01-23-2012, 06:16 PM

Does this work for you all? :rolleyes:

The Tiger Chinese New Year Shuffle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=053S4B5J0is)

Featherstone

01-24-2012, 07:39 AM

Nice work!

GeneChing

01-25-2012, 10:10 AM

But I shouldn't be critical as I used to lion dance for the Grateful Dead. Check out part 2 of my Chinese New Year offering: YEAR OF THE DRAGON 2012: The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Head (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1025)

yu shan

01-26-2012, 09:47 AM

GeneChing

01-26-2012, 10:40 AM

The first thing that you have to understand about Lion Dance is that it is a folk tradition, which means that while it may be codified with specific lineages or clans, this is not universal. There's significant variations, even in the type of lion heads. For a good overview of the dominant Southern Chinese traditions, see Lion Dance: A Guide to History, Culture and Technique By Wes Cameron (2001 March/April (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=259)). That article provides the short answer to your question: Lion colors represent the three heroes of from Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Yellow head/white beard = Liu Bei, Red head/black beard = Guan Gong, Black or Green head/black beard - Chang Fei. For a taste of the variations, see Behind the Big Door Part II - Taiwan Secret of Hung Men Salutes, Tribunal Halls and the Rituals of Exotic Lion Dance By Gigi Oh and me (2003 July/August (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=351)). In that article, we show several of the unique variations on lion motifs.

Modern day lion dance has fused several elements from different traditions (such as the LMFAO dance and my Grateful Dead lion dancing mentioned above). This has also affected lion head colors. The introduction of mylar reflective tape changed everything, so nowadays, it's hard to find a lion head without it. I've seen pink and purple heads and don't really know what that means, although I've only seen pink lions for all-female teams. Gold heads are considered propitious for bringing luck for money, which is rather obvious symbolism. That's usually considered lucky for business openings. I've also seen white lions, which are very rare and only used for funerals as white is a death color in Chinese feng shui. Red is a wedding color but my wedding lions were black and yellow (there were two). As for Chinese New Years, if you really want to get into the feng shui of it (and this gets cumbersome) there's often discussion of lucky colors specific to that year (our horoscopes this year (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/info/horoscope/Dragon2012.php) didn't mention any, but it has in past years). Once you open that feng shui box, things get really complicated, but inevitably, you have no choice, as lion dance is intimately tied to feng shui.

SleepingDragon

01-26-2012, 05:19 PM

what your lion does has to be taken into context of what you are trying to communicate. The martial artist wielding the trident before the lion is reminiscent of the story of the martial artists hunting the nien or lion.

The weapons are used in chengs because of two things, the host is testing the groups Kung Fu if they are a matial lion. so in the case of the snake impeding the path they will any weapons for the body and fangs. If the group is a civil lion they will use things like a stalk of sugarcane for the body. There are no rules what to use for the body-staff, spear, three sectional staff, whip (7 and 9) etc.

Also, the most important thing about greens are the theme of the cheng. It is irrelevent if the cheng has no theme. The theme tells you all about the puzzle provided you are learned in chinese culture. Many are based on literature or change of luck like the snake. However, not all greens featuring a snake of some sort is bad and so you do not attack the eyes or snake.

SleepingDragon

01-26-2012, 05:27 PM

Here is a link to my webpage

I wrote some information, some of you may already may know these things, others may find it useful. The first is the home page. Another is about lion dance and its hidden meanings. The third is about some of the different cheng formations. I think I have 150 listed so far. Just remember, there are many ways to set up and play. As I have learned, the most important thing to know is the theme, of course you have to know Chinese culture too. Hope you find it interesting and entertaining.

http://chineseliondancers.webs.com/

http://chineseliondancers.webs.com/Chinese_Art_of_Lion_Dancing.htm

http://chineseliondancers.webs.com/picking_the_greens.htm

SleepingDragon

01-26-2012, 05:30 PM

I also created a facebook page for those interested under "Chinese Lion Dancers"

SleepingDragon

01-26-2012, 05:44 PM

SleepingDragon

01-26-2012, 05:49 PM

TenTigers

01-27-2012, 02:32 PM

I have seen this array:
A chair with a pomelo, some oranges, choi, and a bowl of water/wine? How is this played?

David Jamieson

01-29-2012, 07:01 PM

I have seen this array:
A chair with a pomelo, some oranges, choi, and a bowl of water/wine? How is this played?

Drink the wine, sit on the chair, peel all the fruit and eat it drunkenly, then take the money and leave.

Wait... that's how to be a bad house guest, lemme rethink this...

Lau

01-30-2012, 08:08 AM

jdhowland

01-30-2012, 08:17 AM

Lau

01-30-2012, 08:19 AM

Indeed it sounded very logical once we heard it. Standing in front of the shop and looking at it the lowest was on the left side. Highest on the right side above the shop entrance.

jdhowland

01-30-2012, 08:32 AM

Indeed it sounded very logical once we heard it. Standing in front of the shop and looking at it the lowest was on the left side. Highest on the right side above the shop entrance.

Ah! That sounds good. Even though the "steps" are hung parallel to the front wall they still bring the wealth into the door.

Thanks for the info.

Lau

01-30-2012, 08:59 AM

Hadn't thought about that yet. Thank you for sharing !
Lau

GeneChing

01-30-2012, 11:07 AM

SleepingDragon

01-30-2012, 03:45 PM

Hi,
This year we got the 9 hanging lettuces/oranges again, but we learned it's meaning. They were hanging in a row, parallel to the shop. but the height increased with each one. So the meaning was a stairway to luck. We started with the lowest one and then step by step we took the higher ones, thus climbing the stairs towards the luck for the shop owner.
Regards, Lau

This green array is called Step by Step Rise Higher "Bu Bu Gao Sheng" (mandarin). there is no set way or props. that is why the theme is the most important thing to know. Know that and the Chinese Culture and you will know how to play it. Technically there are greens that are played for certain situations. If the business has stairs, you will see pair of mandarin oranges or tangerines on each step. Maybe the use of a ladder with tangerines on each step. Maybe the use of table and chairs to create ascending height or steps. They chose nine because it means forever or long time and lettuce is a metaphor for business and wealth, oranges is good fortune. So they want good fortune and wealth to grow step by step...to rise higher. I guess this is acceptable...but originally is meant for person that is being promoted or similar.

Did anyone take picutres? Can post here or share a link?

SleepingDragon

01-30-2012, 03:57 PM

I remember once being instructed on an eight orange array that evoked the bagua. It was eight oranges on a small table arranged around a hongbao/chan in the center. According to my teacher, there were different reactions to this pattern depending on the day and the fengshui of it all. It was horribly complicated, and I was never quite sure if he was just BSing us about it all. But he did know his bagua. The order of taking the oranges was based on what gua each orange symbolized and that related to the cardinal directions of the layout. In the end, he just gave us one of the patterns and said that no one would know the rest anyway. If anyone did, we were too weak of a team to raise expectations of the proper solution.

The standard way to play doesn't involve calculations just a basic understanding. Like if it is later, or preheaven configuration. Later heaven the death door is the earth/mother trigram. In pre, they are balanced heaven across earth etc. Nobody will speak of this because each have there own. Like how you circle the array, clockwise and counter clockwise. Meaing kind of like back from the future, since you know what happened you can avoid calamity. However, like your teacher talking about knowing the gua of the person or business, thus the death door is different for everyone. For someone to set something like that up, they either consulted with or know Fung seui.

SleepingDragon

01-30-2012, 04:12 PM

I have seen this array:
A chair with a pomelo, some oranges, choi, and a bowl of water/wine? How is this played?

Picture is needed or better description. How many oranges? Bowl in front of pomelo or pomelo is in water. How is oranges arranged.

Water represents wealth in fung seui-things cannot grow or survive without water. Some will spray the water (you seen in the movies involving water greens. Some will lap the water with the beard so that the splashing water washes the doorway. Almost like most religions with take blessed water and sprinkle it, samething, coming from the lion the water has been blessed

Pomelo is a metaphor for "To Have"

Flowering the pomelo and oranges by some means fruition.

SleepingDragon

01-30-2012, 04:18 PM

Hi Gene, really enjoyed that article on your personal reflection on lion dance, good read. I have a question for you folks. Can someone break down the significance of the various colors of the lions. Gold, geen, red, black, purple etc. I have been told certain things but would like to hear what you guys have to say. And what color is best for openings of stores, weddings and New Years Celebrations. Thank you in advance and this is a fascinating topic.

Not many follow the coloring now days. Some have dull colored lions, the lion face base color is half this and the other half that. Old timers might say this is not good, like lion got split personality. Also, back in the days there were only so many colors. Why? finding a stable source for color pigments was not easy. romans and chinese used cinnabar for color red-we all know now that cinnabar has mercury.

However the initial color was based on the three kingdoms and chinese opera.

TenTigers

02-01-2012, 10:29 AM

Picture is needed or better description. How many oranges? Bowl in front of pomelo or pomelo is in water. How is oranges arranged.

Water represents wealth in fung seui-things cannot grow or survive without water. Some will spray the water (you seen in the movies involving water greens. Some will lap the water with the beard so that the splashing water washes the doorway. Almost like most religions with take blessed water and sprinkle it, samething, coming from the lion the water has been blessed

Pomelo is a metaphor for "To Have"

Flowering the pomelo and oranges by some means fruition.
ok, I'm trying to recall from memory...
Pomelo in front, then I believe four oranges in a row across, then choi-parallel (it was a long sprig, about 8 inches,not a head of lettuce), then bowl.

GeneChing

02-01-2012, 11:35 AM

I forget that pattern now. It was fairly complex.

I think he was just BSing us about all the alternative patterns.

The standard way to play doesn't involve calculations just a basic understanding. Like if it is later, or preheaven configuration. Later heaven the death door is the earth/mother trigram. In pre, they are balanced heaven across earth etc. Nobody will speak of this because each have there own. Like how you circle the array, clockwise and counter clockwise. Meaing kind of like back from the future, since you know what happened you can avoid calamity. However, like your teacher talking about knowing the gua of the person or business, thus the death door is different for everyone. For someone to set something like that up, they either consulted with or know Fung seui.

SleepingDragon

02-01-2012, 02:48 PM

ok, I'm trying to recall from memory...
Pomelo in front, then I believe four oranges in a row across, then choi-parallel (it was a long sprig, about 8 inches,not a head of lettuce), then bowl.
Like this?

Store Front

bowl
sprig
o
o
o
o
O

lion

TenTigers

02-01-2012, 03:44 PM

no, like this:

Bowl
lettuce
oooo
..O
on a chair, as it was indoors, but the chair was basically in front of the Guan Gung altar.

SleepingDragon

02-03-2012, 03:39 PM

no, like this:

Bowl
lettuce
oooo
..O
on a chair, as it was indoors, but the chair was basically in front of the Guan Gung altar.

So evrything was on the chair? Hmmm....honestly couldn't tell you. If I was given the theme of the green, then I may tell you about it, sorry:(

Vajramusti

02-04-2012, 08:15 AM

lance

02-09-2012, 10:26 PM

One of the best lion dances that I have seen was in the late 70s- done by my wing chun sifu Augustine Fong. While dancing he jumped up on a high table which had a large bowl on it.
After some dancing on the table he jumped and balanced himself on the edge of the bowl and kept on dancing on the edge of the bowl. Then with one coordinated movement he jumped on the table with one leg and with the other leg picked up the bowl and kicked it to the round faced buddha below... who caught it.

When a student did the lion dance- sifu would do the drumming.

The lion is an important symbol in Buddhism.

I also once saw a great snow lion dance done by a Tibetan group in exile.

joy chaudhuriJoy , I saw your sifu augustine fong doing the drums for the lion dance , he ' s awesome . But lion dance like the way you described him do , hard to believe , but true . Infact I still can ' t believe he can dance the lion dance like the way you described . Do you have a video clippings on his performance ?

It seems that Sifu Fong does have hidden talents for lion dance , usually I see him doing wing chun techniques or chi sao with his assistants . But I did ' nt see him play lion head yet , but I know he ' s a pretty good drummer though , in Hawaii . We do have students who had many years of experience in lion drumming and can maranade the drum beats with the music , and it sounds like very traditional lion dance music , the way the drumming experts do it .

Some people who are good drummers and instrument players really can ' t play the lion head and the tail good , but everybody ' s different , as for the students who are good in playing lion head and the tail , can ' t play the drums and instruments good either . While some people can play the lion head and tail good , and can also play the drums and instruments really good too .

Sifu Fong I believe can play both lion head and drumming , instruments well too .
So he ' s talented . Sifu fong not only knows wing chun , but he practices Hung Gar and Choy Li Fut too . The last time I saw him play drum for a performance , in a book store it sounded awesome , and had to watch the video clippings over again , because to me it was good . So joy , do you have chinese lion dance in your kwoon too ?

SleepingDragon

03-05-2012, 10:57 PM

Hello All,
I posted 6 videos from Chinese New Year this year (2012) at my youtube account.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MuSiGee?feature=mhee

Would love to see other's videos

crazyfistmonk

03-05-2012, 11:05 PM

Weapons are often used in Lion dance demos. Nothing that I'm aware of as far as restrictions here.

once ronin

03-09-2012, 10:25 AM

Most props used in the past for lion dancing had meaning.

Lion dancing as a play always had stories or themes that go along with ideal the lion is trying to portray.

There wouldnt be restrictions more just the meanings.

Thru time things were added because of the enviroment.

Like weapons for street fights.

Back 50 years in Hong Kong, if you want to see a good fight,watch 2 lion groups meet in the Hong Kong steeets.

GeneChing

01-20-2014, 10:00 AM

Rick "Bucky" Wing wrote a piece in our NOV+DEC 2013 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1125), Kuo Yu Chang's Deadly Palm Strikes, and he has another one coming up very soon. ;)

Lunar New Year lion dancers in S.F. share trade secrets (http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Lunar-New-Year-lion-dancers-in-S-F-share-trade-5156029.php)
Nanette Asimov
Updated 1:10 pm, Sunday, January 19, 2014

http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/25/71/74/5742381/3/628x471.jpg
Liliana Yee and sister Adriana Yee launch candy into the air while performing a lion dance at the Ortega branch library as the Year of the Horse nears. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/25/71/77/5742558/6/628x471.jpg
Liliana Yee (left) and her sister Adriana Yee (tail) remove their costume after performing a lion dance at the Ortega branch library in San Francisco. Photo: Deborah Svoboda, The Chronicle

The question isn't as classic as "what do Scotsmen wear under the kilt?" But now that Lunar New Year is nearly upon us, it makes sense to ask: "What do dancers do inside the lion suit?"

Make no mistake. The fiery-eyed gold and purple creature that dances to the left and feints to the right, roaring and bobbing throughout the season is, in fact, a lion.

"It's not a dragon," said Rick Wing, instructor of lion dancers at the Jing Mo Athletic Association in San Francisco.

And because it is a lion, not a long serpent, it has just two dancers within its glittery confines: a head and a tail.

On Saturday, both head and tail showed up at the Ortega branch library in the city's Sunset District, where, to the urgent sound of drums and cymbals, the lion cleared the grounds of evil and conferred good luck as it has done for thousands of years.

Library-goers bore witness in the sunshine. As drummers set the beat, the lion lifted and shook its vast purple head, batted its eyes and danced forward and back while wagging its stubby tail. It crouched and rose, aiming a silver dome on its head in all directions so that evil would see itself in the mirror and flee in fright.

Suddenly, the lion collapsed and appeared to sleep. Children laughed, then stared as the lion woke and approached the crowd, blinking flirtatiously. A small boy proffered a head of lettuce. The lion took it in its jaws and bowed.

After ripping the lettuce to shreds, the lion spewed the lucky leaves over the cheering crowd. Someone tossed it a bag of candy, which the lion caught in its mouth. Soon candy was flying, too, to the delight of the children who seemed to like it better than lettuce.

Back and forth the lion danced - and then it was over. The lion's dazzling skin was thrown off to reveal sisters Liliana Yee, 23, the head, and Adriana Yee, 24, the tail. After lion-dancing together for 18 years, they make it look easy.

It isn't.

"It's hard to be the tail because you're in a squatting position the whole time," said Wing, spreading his legs and bending forward so that his back and head were parallel to the ground.

"You can't lift your head because it would lift the cape and the lion's back wouldn't look flat," he said. Meanwhile, one hand has to move a stick that wags the tail.

The person in front has to bob the 10-pound head up and down, while pulling a string to blink the eyes and move the ears. Another hand opens and closes the mouth. "Ideally, they would each have three hands," Wing laughed.

And air conditioning. "You're in this little heat bubble," Adriana said.

The sisters did share one lion-dancers' secret: They can switch places mid-dance if they get uncomfortable. To prove it, they moved deftly and suddenly were in opposite places. No one watching the lion would be the wiser.

And outside the lion suit?

Liliana teaches at a San Francisco preschool. Adriana works at a biotech company in Redwood City.

And, she said, "We're best friends."
Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year, which begins Friday, heralds the Year of the Horse. Festivities culminate with the Chinese New Year Parade on Feb. 15 in San Francisco's Chinatown.

GeneChing

06-01-2016, 02:23 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkcxVWowwHI

GeneChing

03-16-2018, 10:04 AM

Lion dancing: history, traditions and its special place in Hong Kong culture explained (http://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2136591/lion-dancing-history-traditions-and-its-special-place)
Once there was a lion dance troupe in every walled village in what became Hong Kong’s New Territories, and more than 100 still perform their dazzling routines; but as teens swap sport for studying, recruiting dancers gets harder

https://cdn2.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2018/03/11/43e6a228-21dc-11e8-b079-e65f92ed111a_1280x720_183206.JPG?itok=4y4O3ih8

PUBLISHED : Monday, 12 March, 2018, 7:48am
UPDATED : Monday, 12 March, 2018, 8:56pm
Laurie Chen

A golden lion leaps from one high pole to another, shaking its bright, tasselled mane while the clash of drums and cymbals drowns out the gasps of onlookers at Pacific Place, an upmarket shopping mall in the heart of Hong Kong’s financial district.

The show is a frenzy of colour, sound and movement. The teenage performers, from Kwok’s Kung Fu and Dragon Lion Dance Team, demonstrate their agility and expert co-ordination at every turn, pulling off somersaults and backflips in mid-air. All the while, eyes, ears and mouths blink and twitch on the magnificent lion costumes, mimicking the mannerisms of real lions.

The lion dance is a familiar sight during the recently ended Lunar New Year festivities in China, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world in which diaspora Chinese communities have settled. Along with the equally recognisable dragon dance, the lion dance is traditionally performed to bring good luck for the coming lunar year and scare away evil spirits – a custom stretching back more than 1,000 years.

Hong Kong is home to more than 100 lion dance troupes, according to Kwok’s head coach, Andy Kwok Man-lung, who inherited the role from his father, Kwok Wing-cheong. Kwok Snr founded the troupe in 1969, and instilled a deep love of the traditional art form in his son, who started learning lion dancing as soon as he could walk.

“When my mum was pregnant with me, she always went to see lion dance performances,” recalls Andy Kwok, 44. “I may have learned something from the womb.”

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/03/11/9b2ba426-21db-11e8-b079-e65f92ed111a_1320x770_183206.JPG
Kwok Wing-cheong, founder of Kwok's Lion Dance Team, and son Andy Kwok, the team’s head coach, after a performance at Pacific Place in Admiralty. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

He became the team’s head coach in 2000, and now trains more than 100 youngsters in two styles of lion dancing, as well as other Chinese martial arts.

Many people in southern China fled to Hong Kong during the second world war and the Cultural Revolution, allowing Hong Kong to play a special role in the development of lion dancing ANDY KWOK
Hong Kong boasts the world record for the largest lion and dragon dance display, with a performance of 1,111 creatures in 2011. Lion dancing is such a recognised cultural tradition in the city that troupes are booked to perform at luxury boutique and car showroom openings.

Lion dances are also staged on other occasions in the lunar calendar such as the Mid-Autumn Festival. A local festival dedicated to the art form – a hybrid of dance and martial arts – is held yearly on January 1.

Nevertheless, Chinese New Year still tends to be the busiest period for Hong Kong’s many lion dance teams. Kwok’s troupe performs 20 to 30 times over the festival period alone, although their biggest show of the year takes place at the Tai Kok Tsui Temple Festival in West Kowloon every March.

“We would perform with golden dragon dance teams, and have 18 lions in a procession and 20 golden dragons dancing on raised poles,” says Kwok. “The show is massive.”

Lion dance troupes have existed in what is now Hong Kong since the late Qing dynasty (1644-1912), when every walled village in the New Territories would have their own group, according to lion dance master Lee Yun-fook, who founded the Yun Fook Tong Chinese Martial Arts Association in 1983.

Lee, who is also vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Lion and Dragon Dance Association, teaches lion dancing in schools and universities several times a week to supplement the running costs of his own lion dance school, which caters to adult learners and professional performers.

“I normally find students at schools and in the community. If they are interested in lion dancing, disciplined and have a good character, I will allow them to come to my school for further lessons,” he says. A lot of his students are also enrolled on the recommendation of relatives.

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/03/11/67c10308-2364-11e8-b079-e65f92ed111a_1320x770_183206.JPG
Lion and dragon dancers perform outside Hong Kong Cultural Centre on January 1 this year. Photo: David Wong

Lions are not native to China, and some scholars believe that the animals were brought into the country along the ancient Silk Road from Central Asia. People soon began to mimic the magnificent creatures in ceremonial performances. Historical records of the lion dance predate the Tang dynasty (AD618-907), when it was performed for emperors.

As the art form spread from the imperial court to the masses, variations of the dance developed in different parts of China thanks to the influence of local folk culture. The version most commonly performed today in Hong Kong and overseas Chinese communities is the southern lion dance, which originated in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

“Many people in southern China fled to Hong Kong during the second world war and the Cultural Revolution, allowing Hong Kong to play a special role in the development of lion dancing,” says Kwok. continued next post

GeneChing

03-16-2018, 10:04 AM

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/03/11/af2da2c8-2364-11e8-b079-e65f92ed111a_972x_183206.JPG
Lions in northern lion dance look more brave and fierce, while the facial expressions of southern lions are more delicate. Photo: Stanley Shin

The city became a haven for lion dance troupes which were forced to disband in China when the Communist Party branded the art form feudal and backward. From Hong Kong the lion dance spread to other parts of the world through migration to Singapore, Europe, the United States and Canada.

Lion dancing has not always been welcome in Hong Kong, however. “In the 1970s and 1980s, lion dancing was often perceived to be have triad connections,” says Kwok.

Fierce rivalry between different troupes got so violent that the colonial British government banned the practice for a few years during that period, as performers often hid weapons in their lion costumes to attack rival teams.

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/03/11/b08edc66-21db-11e8-b079-e65f92ed111a_1320x770_183206.JPG
Kwok's Lion Dance Team performs at Pacific Place in Admiralty. While the southern Chinese style of lion dancing has traditionally been performed in Hong Kong, elements of the more acrobatic northern style, such as dancing on poles, have been incorporated in some troupes’ routines. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

In both the northern and southern dance styles, the lion costume is worn by two performers who dance in tandem. The southern style is more comic and mimics the natural behaviour of the lion, while the northern style is more acrobatic and influenced by martial arts.

“Lions in northern lion dance look more brave and fierce, while the facial expressions of southern lions are more delicate,” says Kwok.

He says that, in recent years, the southern style has evolved into two distinct forms: a more acrobatic, northern-influenced style, in which the lions perform tricks on high poles; and the traditional performance that involves cai qing, or “plucking the greens”.

This auspicious ceremony sees the lion approach and “pluck” a green lettuce hung on a pole outside a shop front or doorway, in which is hidden a lucky red envelope containing money. The lion will then “spit” out the greens and keep the envelope as a reward.

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/03/11/df00a9a8-21db-11e8-b079-e65f92ed111a_1320x770_183206.JPG
Spectators watch a Chinese New Year lion dance in Times Square, Hong Kong. Photo: James Wendlinger

The lucky element comes from the symbolism of the word cai, which is a ****phone for the words meaning “pluck”, “vegetable” and “fortune” in Chinese.

Nowadays, to encourage more young people to take up lion dancing, troupes in Hong Kong are trying to bring innovations to the art form.

“On the one hand, we are working with some modern dance troupes and hip-hop dancers. On the other hand, we are developing LED-based choreography,” says Kwok, who shows a short video of a sleek, hip-hop-inspired performance with dancers clad in glow-in-the-dark UV costumes.

In other words, they are trying to make ancient martial arts cool and modern. Kwok adds that the troupe has been experimenting by adding smoke effects and magic tricks.

“We want to keep trying new things, while working hard to preserve tradition,” he says.

The changes have been introduced in part because teenagers are more drawn to cramming classes than lion dance practice in their spare time because of the demands of Hong Kong’s high-pressure education system, according to Kwok.

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/03/11/ce2fa124-21db-11e8-b079-e65f92ed111a_1320x770_183206.JPG
Traditional dragon and lion dancers at a dragon and lion eye-dotting ceremony at Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

He sees a lot of interest in the activity among primary school students, who find the lions cute, but few stick with it. “Sport is not as popular with young people today as when I was young,” he says. “Fewer young people take up sport as a hobby, and even fewer take up lion and dragon dancing.”

Lee agrees that it is hard to retain students once they face school or work pressures. “Most students have lost interest in it and have no time to do lion dancing again after they leave school and begin working,” he says.

So what is the best way to preserve the art? “Although the Leisure and Cultural Services Department provides funding for associations to develop lion and dragon dances, their focus is on putting more resources into competitions,” says Kwok. “The government needs to do a lot more promotion, but I have not spotted any clear direction so far.”

We want to keep trying new things, while working hard to preserve tradition ANDY KWOK
He says the lack of space for lion and dragon dance groups to train is also a major problem – especially since the performances are noisy. “There is no government training ground for lion dances, so we can only train in factory buildings and open spaces in walled villages,” says Kwok.

Ultimately, the promotion of lion dancing is in the hands not just of the young people who take part, but their parents too, Kwok says. However, most parents prefer to see their children studying in their spare time.

As his troupe shows, a new generation of lion dancers is keeping the tradition alive, while also shaking off the shady reputation it had back when it was dominated by triad gangs.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Bored of the dance I think the southern lions look more fierce than the northern lions.

GeneChing

01-30-2019, 01:54 PM

This is weirdly impressive.

Underwater lion dance in Malaysia before Chinese New Year (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/underwater-lion-dance-in-malaysia-before-chinese-new-year-11184840)

https://cna-sg-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/image/11184856/16x9/670/377/4ea8cc4d18f8b5cfdfa55824d14417ce/TH/lion-dances-are-traditionally-performed-to-mark-the-lunar-new-year-but-usually-not-underwater-1548840273394-3.jpg
Lion dances are traditionally performed to mark the Chinese New Year, but usually not underwater. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)

30 Jan 2019 05:44PM (Updated: 30 Jan 2019 05:50PM)

KUALA LUMPUR: Divers performed an underwater lion dance in a Malaysian aquarium on Wednesday (Jan 30) as fish and sharks swam around them, putting a new twist on the traditional Chinese New Year performance.

Two people put on the multi-coloured lion suit and performed in one of the tanks at Aquaria in Kuala Lumpur, as musicians played cymbals and drums outside.

The lion lumbered around in front of a rock formation, while a shark and some colourful fish glided past.

https://cna-sg-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/image/11184854/16x9/670/377/7c9a798d4df710c205842df3322415fe/iK/the-divers-performed-a-traditional-lion-dance-inside-an-aquarium-at-the-aquaria-klcc-in-kuala-lumpur-1548840273394-4.jpg
The divers performed a traditional lion dance inside an aquarium at the Aquaria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)

Aquarium manager Daryl Foong said it was no easy task performing a lion dance underwater.

"One of the most important things for them is their buoyancy control and to still perform the movements underwater without knocking themselves off balance, hitting any of the exhibits or any of the animals," he said.

Lion dances are traditionally performed in China and among ethnic Chinese communities all over the world to mark the Chinese New Year.

In the traditional art form, two or more performers put on a colourful head and cloak, and try to mimic a lion's movements, accompanied by music - although not usually underwater.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/image/11184858/0x0/768/516/e0ff40ed8d0effa7217ae8f0c3d2e48c/AX/chinese-people-believe-that-the-lion-dance-can-help-ward-off-evil-spirits-and-bring-good-luck-1548840273394-2.jpg
Chinese people believe that the lion dance can help ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)

Chinese people believe that the dance can help ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. Aquaria has put on the underwater dance several times over the past 10 years.

About a quarter of Malaysia's 32 million inhabitants are ethnic Chinese, while the majority are Muslim Malays.

Source: AFP/zl

THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chinese Lion Dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)

GeneChing

02-05-2019, 09:14 AM

Year of the Pig
The lopsided fortunes of China’s ancient lion dance: thriving in the south but struggling in the north (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2185021/lopsided-fortunes-chinas-ancient-lion-dance-thriving-south)
Public’s interest in the ancient art spiked when video of two performers working on routines went viral on social media
A focus on family and heritage is driving its preservation in southern China
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 05 February, 2019, 11:18am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 05 February, 2019, 10:26pm
Phoebe Zhang
https://twitter.com/dustguest

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2019/02/05/8d7cb59c-2886-11e9-8864-9e8ab15a22ca_image_hires_222452.JPG?itok=ZQlMyioL

When the sounds of a drum, cymbals and gongs pierce the air in Foshan, a city in southeast China, local children know the lion dancers are performing.

Excitedly, they flood into the streets to catch a glimpse of the performers in the lion costume wagging the lion’s head and tail and climbing up and down poles as high as 20 metres (60 feet).

Li Zhihao was one of these children some 20 years ago. For as long as he could remember, the lion dance had been a part of life in the city in Guangdong province.

“Whenever people celebrated holidays, or when new businesses opened, lion dancing troupes were hired to perform on the streets,” said Li, a coach and performer with the Wong Fei-hung Lion Dance team in Foshan.

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/05/6182445c-2886-11e9-8864-9e8ab15a22ca_1320x770_222452.JPG
Lion dances have long been part of Lunar New Year celebrations. Photo: Reuters

But while performances of this traditional art can be viewed during Lunar New Year and other Chinese cultural and religious festivals, the exuberance it inspires in Foshan and other southern cities is not shared to the north. The tradition tends to be better preserved in southern China because of the region’s strong focus on family and heritage.

Local governments and grass roots groups have launched efforts to revive the tradition in recent years.

The public’s interest in the lion dance suddenly spiked last week, when a video of two performers practicing their routines went viral on Chinese social media.

In the video, the person who would have played the lion’s hind legs – who, like his colleague, was not in costume – lifted up the person in front by the waist, to help him stand on a pole. The rear-end player then leapt up onto the pole – a graceful move that created the impression he was flying.

Internet users posted that they were astounded at the dancers’ skills and began to talk about whether succeeding generations would carry on the tradition.

It is unclear how the lion dance began, many years ago. Historians generally believe it is rooted in the late Han dynasty (206BC-AD220), when lions from Central Asia were brought to China’s emperor as gifts. By the Tang dynasty (618-907), lion dancing was regularly performed at the imperial court.

Although the tradition goes back hundreds of years, it has evolved. The north’s version of the dance uses a mascot that resembles a real lion, an element based on those imperial court performances of years ago.

In the south, including in Foshan, where the dance is believed to have originated, the lions are more cartoonish and have exaggerated facial and body expressions.

Li Zhihao’s Wong Fei-hung troupe performs the dance three times a day in Foshan at the institution from which it takes its name – the Wong Fei-hung Lion Dance Martial Arts Museum, which celebrates the life and times of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) martial artist, doctor and folk hero, Wong Fei-hung.

Li explained the mythology behind the dance’s emergence in southern China.

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A viral video showing two artists working on their lion dance routines has put the ancient art back in the spotlight. Photo: Weibo

“Once, a vast epidemic took place in one of Foshan’s towns, affecting many villagers,” Li said. “Then all of a sudden, a magical beast like a unicorn appeared, driving the epidemic away and saved the people. Ever since, people have been making lion-like figures and using them in dances.”

There is no doubt the lion dance tradition is flourishing in Foshan. The dancers perform during holidays, especially around Lunar New Year, and can be hired to perform at celebrations such as the grand openings of businesses.

On a recent Saturday morning, Li and his teammates put on a performance at the Wong Fei-hung museum.

Spectators – including families with both their eldest and youngest members in tow – circled the courtyard where the dance took place. People clapped and cheered as the lions moved around the performance area and interacted with the crowd.

As the performers made the lions blink and shake their heads by manipulating poles that were positioned along the lions’ length, children shrieked with joy. The bolder ones reached out to stroke the fur of the yellow and gold beasts.

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Ditan Park in Beijing prepares its 34th Lunar New Year Temple Fair for the coming Year of Pig. Photo: Simon Song

Some adults put 20-yuan bills (worth about US$3 each) into the lions’ mouths. The money was taken to a director standing in the centre of the circle who in turn gave the donor back a red sachet for good luck in the year to come.

Then, as the drums suddenly started rolling, the show picked up its pace. A lion circled back to the centre and clambered up a pole.

It looked around warily, as if it were frightened by the height, then stepped forward, hesitantly. The crowd gasped as the lion appeared to miss the pole and started to tumble to the ground.

But it saved itself just in time, grabbing the pole with its front paws, while its hind legs dangled in mid-air. The crowd heartily applauded the entertaining show.

Up north, the lion dance enjoys a less robust popularity. Some practitioners fear no one will continue the tradition, according to media reports.

Wang Xin, who directs a local dance troupe in Xushui, a district in Hebei province, told China News Service that many people have decided against learning the lion dance because of the time it takes to practice and master the routines, the poor pay and the dangers in performing it.

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Red lanterns at Beijing’s Ditan Park bring a festive touch to Lunar New Year celebrations. Photo: Simon Song

Although the Ministry of Culture named the northern-style lion dance a national cultural heritage item in 2006, just 70 people in the area know how to perform it and they are getting older, Wang was quoted.

“If nobody learns this traditional art, we are about to go extinct,” he said.

Finding people who want to keep the tradition going – and believe in its viability – is less of an issue in the south, especially in the Guangdong area.

Li took up lion dancing in college, where it was classified as a major “traditional sport”. He never worried about finding a job.

“Lion and dragon dances are in the performance industry, and that industry will never fall, as long as someone still wants to watch,” he said.

His teams include young children who have been sent by area villages to learn the dance on weekends or during their winter break, so they can perform it at home over the holidays.

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A youngster has a timely moment with a pig statue ahead of the Year of Pig in Beijing’s Ditan Park. Photo: Simon Song

Ge Guozheng, a physical education professor at Nanjing University of Science and Technology and founder of the school’s dragon and lion dance club, said the differing issues reflect the lion dance’s “regional culture”.

“More people in Guangdong immigrate abroad,” he said. “In a foreign environment, they needed a connection, a group to stay in to make sure they are not bullied.”

The dragon dance is similar to lion dancing in that dancers manipulate a figure of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon.

With the local government’s support, more emphasis has been placed in recent years on preserving dragon and lion dances in China, Ge said. He started the club in 2000 while he was in university, recruiting other students to learn the dances in their spare time, and compete in national contests.

He said he hoped to see the art revived so that its popularity between the regions would once again be balanced.

“There are hundreds of clubs around the country right now,” Ge said. “Universities, clubs, grass-roots organisations – we are all pouring our resources in together to develop this tradition in our own regions.”

THREADS
Chinese Lion Dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

GeneChing

02-14-2019, 10:15 AM

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LUNAR NEW YEAR
GOING, GOING, GONG: WHY IS LION DANCE DYING IN SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG, BUT ROARING BACK TO LIFE IN CHINA? (https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/2185286/going-going-gong-why-lion-dance-dying-singapore-and-hong)
The lion dance has a storied history of more than 1,000 years and is a regular feature of Lunar New Year celebrations by the Chinese diaspora
But troupes are struggling to attract young talent, due in part to tough training regimes and parents who prioritise education over arts and sport
BY DEWEY SIM
10 FEB 2019

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With small, steady steps, Samuel Sim sauntered towards the stage in downtown Singapore, just as he had in his first lion dance competition two years ago. But unlike his previous attempts, in which he fell from the high poles multiple times, Sim was not prepared to fail.

Clad in the same fur-lined pants illuminated by hundreds of gold sequins, Sim thrust himself into the air as his partner, Ang Junming, tugged tightly at his waist. With each beat of the drum and sound of the gong, the 19-year-old performers executed their well-rehearsed hoists, drawing a roar of appreciation from the home crowd.

The young lion dancers were one of seven teams that took part in an annual international lion dance competition held at Kreta Ayer Square last month, in the city state’s bustling Chinatown.

Sim and Ang are part of an increasingly rare group of people in Singapore, where a growing lack of interest for the traditional Chinese performance, especially among young people, has led to a recruitment crisis.

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Members of Singapore’s Nam Sieng Lion Dance Troupe cheer on Samuel Sim and Ang Junming, both 19, who were representing Singapore at the 12th International Lion Dance Festival. The duo were runners-up. Photo: Dewey Sim

The number of troupes had fallen from 323 in 2016 to 265 by late last year, according to the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation.

Sim, who trains at the Nam Sieng Dragon and Lion Dance Activity Centre, picked up lion dancing after watching a competition.

But he said many of his peers were “not interested in traditional dances like these”.

Calvin Loke, who coaches Nam Sieng’s 60-member troupe, said there were only five new members last year in what was the smallest enrolment since its formation in 1990.

“We used to have about 20 to 30 new members every year in the past,” he said.

A REGIONAL PROBLEM

The lion dance has a storied history of more than 1,000 years, and is performed at auspicious occasions to usher in good fortune and wealth, and ward off evil spirits. It is a regular feature of Lunar New Year celebrations in Singapore – as well on the mainland, in Hong Kong, and regions where Chinese communities have settled – and is also performed at the launch of new businesses or at housewarming events.

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Lion dance performances in Singapore often draw a middle-aged crowd. Photo: Dewey Sim

Lion dance groups like the Sheng Hong Lion Dance Athletes Troupe said they tend to be busiest during the Lunar New Year, with performances lined up back to back.

Co-founder Threuno Goh said the troupe books an average of 60 performances over the two-week festive period every year. They can earn anywhere from S$688 (US$500) to S$2,888 for each show, depending on factors such as the number of performers and the difficulty of the stunts involved.

Performances range from basic acts with only four dancers to those involving high poles and flags, Goh said. But he admitted he has found it a challenge to recruit youth. “Not a lot of young people like traditional things such as lion dance.”

Singaporean troupes are not alone in their struggles to recruit young people. Declining interest is a regional phenomenon, said Philemon Loh, who is part of Chinatown Festivals, a government-backed body that organises events to promote Chinese culture in Singapore.

“It is worrying to see how youths around the world are not participating as much in the traditional dance as they were in the past,” Loh said. “As more and more younger people turn away from the dance, it is going to be a challenge passing the culture down.”

In Hong Kong, lion dance can be hard to promote because it is seen as an art form rather than a sport, said Ivan Wong, founder and coach of Team-A Sports Association. He added that Hongkongers’ focus on education was also a factor limiting its popularity.

“Education and school [are] the priority for many parents here in Hong Kong, with sports and the arts taking a back seat,” Wong said. His association, once 160 members strong, now has just 80 members.

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Lion dance troupes in Singapore are holding annual competitions to engage and attract young dancers from as young as eight. Photo: Dewey Sim

Joseph Low, secretary general of the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation, said the gruelling training regime causes many young people to lose interest because they see it as tedious and strenuous.

Dancers train four days a week on average, and sometimes as often as six days a week if there is a competition, said 20-year-old lion dancer Jarrell Tock, whose father is the founder and coach of Yiwei Athletic Association.

“Training can be extremely tiring, but if you treat you as a hobby, you will get used to it and will make time for it,” he said.

Funding challenges also stymie attempts to grow troupes.

Lau Ming Fung, founder of an eponymous lion dance association in Hong Kong, wants the government to do more to support it.

“There is also a lack of venue and spaces for troupes to train at and troupes face a lot of restrictions,” Lau said.

Low, of the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation, said its lion dance arm has not received funding from Sport Singapore, an agency under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth tasked with developing a national sports culture. Sport Singapore did not respond to questions on funding.

In the absence of top-down support, the federation is trying to actively engage children from as young as eight through activities such as holding annual lion dance competitions for different age groups.

The initial stages of these competitions are typically held in residential areas, Low said. “By doing so, we are bringing lion dance to the heartlands for residents to watch.”

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Divers perform an underwater Lion Dance to celebrate Lunar New Year in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AP

continued next post

GeneChing

02-14-2019, 10:15 AM

C’MON KIDS

China has managed to overcome the youth problem with a combination of government and community initiatives. Guo Qian Rong, who heads Nam Sieng’s China arm, said: “Compared to a decade ago, the lion dance scene in China is more vibrant, robust and professional now, with more troupes joining the trade.”

Exposing children to lion dance and cultivating interest from a young age is key to promoting it, said Guo, who is based in Guangdong Province, where the lion dance originated.

What the mainland has done, as part of a broader push to promote tradition to the masses, Guo said, is to incorporate lion dance as part of the curriculum in primary and secondary schools, with some kindergartens also introducing it to children through targeted activities.

In Hong Kong, some troupes have introduced new, creative elements to modernise the ancient tradition.

Tiffany Au Yeung, the founder of Ha Kwok Cheung Dragon and Lion Dance Troupe, said her troupe worked with Swarovski to put together a lion made of crystal.

“We also tried to introduce different music genres such as hip-hop to the dance,” she said, adding that about half of the troupe’s 300 members were recruited in the past few years.

In Singapore, the Wenyang Sports Association has incorporated sports such as football and other team-building activities as part of its training programme, while the Yiwei Athletic Association has planned occasional overseas welfare trips, chalet stays and bowling sessions.

Other Singaporean troupes are bringing in non-Chinese dancers to preserve the tradition in the multicultural nation.

WE CAN TRY AS HARD AS WE CAN TO ATTRACT YOUTHS, BUT IF THEY ARE NOT PASSIONATE ABOUT LION DANCE, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TIE THEM DOWN FOREVER
Kiefer Teo, Yiwei Athletic Association
The Teng Yang Lion Dance Troupe has attracted youths from the Indian community, while the Kuo Chuan Arts Cultural group has more than 40 members ranging from the ages of eight to 38, all of whom are Malay.

“I started this troupe because I wanted my friends from the Malay community to learn something new and benefit ... even though the dance is a Chinese custom,” said Jamsairi Kamaruddin, Kuo Chuan’s founder.

“During the Chinese New Year period, members of the troupe can also earn some extra cash and use the money purposefully such as paying off their school fees,” he said, adding that the troupe has more than 150 performances lined up during the two-week festive period this year.

“We follow the traditional way of lion dance, but we try to be creative by adding in a bit of freestyle.”

There is little promotion, and recruitment is mostly done through word of mouth.

The troupe gets one or two new members every month, Jamsairi said. He isn’t bothered by concerns whether groups such as Kuo Chuan are seen to be wrestling for business with its traditional Chinese counterparts amid a dying trade.

“Singapore places a strong emphasis on our multiracial society,” said Jamsairi. “The art of lion dancing is a passion to us.”

For new recruits, sustaining the passion is the challenge, said veteran Singaporean lion dance coach Hiew Yun Cheong. Few can endure the hours of training. Many drop out within their first year.

“Most of them join out of initial curiosity, which can die down very quickly,” he said.

Kiefer Teo, an assistant leader at Yiwei Athletic Association, said: “We can try as hard as we can to attract youths, but if they are not passionate about lion dance, we will not be able to tie them down forever.”

Sim, the 19-year-old performer, admits his passion for the tradition has been tested many times.

He has sustained injuries such as a sprained ankle, a bruised tailbone, and a chipped tooth during training.

But the teenager is now flying the Singapore flag high – his team came second in the lion dance competition, and he will head to Thailand later this year for another international competition.

“I hope that by winning such competitions, it will inspire younger Singaporeans to take up lion dancing,” Sim said. “And hopefully we will be able to revive this dying tradition and proudly pass it on.” ■

THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chinese Lion Dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)

GeneChing

02-21-2019, 08:35 AM

INSPIRING
The Sorrow and Sacrifices of Lion Dance Performers That Most People Don’t Know (https://www.worldofbuzz.com/the-sorrow-and-sacrifices-of-lion-dance-performers-that-most-people-dont-know/)
Published 6 days ago on February 15, 2019 By Ling Kwan

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Source: Facebook

Chinese New Year wouldn’t be the same without the ear-deafening drumming and gong-playing that happen during the lion dance performances. However, did you know that behind those colourful lion dance costumes, there are a bunch of exhausted youngsters who don’t get enough recognition and appreciation?

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Source: The Star

On 15 February, a netizen who’s a lion dance performer in Negeri Sembilan shared a heartfelt confession on Facebook about how their community has always been associated with many negative stereotypes. Here’s the brief translation of what he wrote.

“Due to various reasons, many lion dance performers are often perceived negatively by the society and are often labelled as trouble-makers who smoke, fight or have tattoos. But what you don’t see is that these ‘trouble-makers’ are the ones who sacrificed their reunion time with their family on Chinese New Year to perform at your house.
“They perform under the hot sun while sweating profusely. Their hands are blistered from moving the heavy lion head around; their legs are tired and sore from too much dancing. Some get injured by the firecrackers while others are left gasping for air after inhaling the smoke from the firecrackers.

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Source: Facebook

“On the first day of CNY, when you are playing cards and eating cookies in the air-conditioned room, they are working under the hot sun with empty bellies. You scold them when they didn’t arrive on time, but do you know how little ang pau they get?
“You can dress up in your new clothes and take a family portrait with your loved ones, but lion dance performers will miss this opportunity as they are going from house to house to perform. They won’t even have the chance to visit their friends and relatives.”

The netizen added that the only reason why these performers stay committed to this back-breaking role is that they want to preserve this precious culture that has been around for 1,000 years so that the next generation will have the chance to see it in real life. “If you come across any of these performers, please don’t be stingy. Buy them some drinks or cheer for them. Be more understanding when they’re running a little late because nobody likes to be shouted at during CNY,” he added.

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Source: Facebook

These are the unsung heroes during CNY as they sacrifice their precious time with their family to give us a cheerful celebration. Honestly, without lion dance performances, the atmosphere will never be the same. Don’t you guys think so? #Respect!

I wrote a little about my Lion Dancing sacrifices in Chinese New Year 2012 YEAR OF THE DRAGON: She Takes Her Fan and Throws it in the Lion's Den (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1023)

THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chinese Lion Dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)

Pk_StyLeZ

03-08-2019, 12:28 PM

Help promote Dragon & Lion Dance Arts in America by becoming a member of the United States Dragon & Lion Dance Federation

Mission Statement
“To preserve and promote the arts of dragon and lion dance as a cultural tradition and sport throughout the United States and abroad”

Vision
“To create opportunities for all styles of dragon and lion dance teams to express and develop themselves, through friendly regional, national, and international training & exchanges, enrichment programs, and quality tournaments with the highest standards.”

We are hosting the 2nd USDLDF National Dragon & Lion Dance Championships this June in Madison, WI. Come bring a team and compete, it is open to all styles and school in the USA. Or come and see some excitement! Last year it was held in Boston and we had 21 teams competing in the Traditional Lion Dance Category!!!

https://usdldf.org/ for more info

Please like and follow our facebook page as well.

https://www.facebook.com/usdldf/

GeneChing

10-07-2019, 07:45 AM

The lion dancing women reinventing a Chinese tradition, showing it’s not just a ‘sport for boys’ (https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3031443/lion-dancing-women-reinventing-chinese-tradition-showing-its?fbclid=IwAR2BItAtBmhV-kTeOHOPiy0niGLyUCxpIM-LsTKyNhMTc4xU4PAUbovipCU)
At a Southern California lion dancing troupe, women from diverse backgrounds are taking the lead and hoping many more will follow
Challenges come from both inside and outside the costume, with audience members not unknown to say things like: ‘Little girl, what are you doing?’
Charley Lanyon
Published: 5:15am, 7 Oct, 2019

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Cassandra Liu (left) looks on during a lion dancing rehearsal by the Shaolin Entertainment Lion Dance Troupe, owned by Shaolin kung fu master Bruce Wen, in California, United States. Photo: Jon Delouz

Growing up in Philadelphia, Cassandra Liu was entranced by the stories her parents told of the lion dances they watched when they were children in Taiwan. But the versions Liu saw at her school’s Chinese New Year celebrations left something to be desired: performed with good intentions but a limited budget, the “dancers” would parade around draped in a blanket with cardboard boxes over their heads.
When she did finally see a proper lion dance, in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, it was “amazing”, she says. An athletic child, she was eager to join the team. But her mother’s response was a fast and inflexible: no.
“She said it was too far and too dangerous,” Liu says. Her mother’s other big concern was that lion dancing was “a sport made for boys”.
Today, the 26-year-old is living in Southern California. Not only is she a lion dancer, but she is also the captain of her troupe and is using her position to make sure that no aspiring lion dancer is ever discouraged like she was. She insists that no matter what your background or gender, you too can be a lion dancer – if you are willing to sweat.
The proof of her vision is in her team: the Shaolin Entertainment Lion Dance Troupe, owned by Shaolin kung fu master Bruce Wen. The group is as diverse as Southern California itself: 22 dancers of many races and, unheard of for a lion dance team, half of the members are women.
Yukari Koseki is one of them. She was born in Japan but works as a professional dancer in California, and started lion dancing in January this year. Then there’s Ariana Zhang, a Chinese Texan from Dallas who is both a primary schoolteacher and a stuntwoman; and Acela Peña Anaya, a pyrotechnical engineer whose parents immigrated to California from Mexico.

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Yukari Koseki, a professional dancer born in Japan, started lion dancing this year. Photo: Jon Delouz

Lion dancing is a traditional Chinese art form in which participants wear a long lion costume, dance and perform acrobatic feats, most commonly during religious festivals and Chinese New Year.
Professional lion dancers make it look easy, but it is intensely physical and extraordinarily difficult.
“Lion dancing takes a lot more strength and endurance than any other physical activity I’ve ever participated in,” says Liu, who trained as an Olympic-level figure skater and a professional stuntwoman, and is no stranger to demanding athletics. Still, she says, nothing prepared her for the rigours of lion dancing.
“In terms of strength and endurance, I would compare Chinese lion dancing to competitive cheer squad plus weightlifting. It’s very challenging because … you [have to] push through sometimes hour-long performances.”

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Troupe member Acela Peña Anaya, a pyrotechnical engineer whose parents moved to California from Mexico. Photo: Jon Delouz

Unlike dragon dancing, lion dancing is performed by just two troupe members at a time: the head and the back. Both positions have their challenges.
For the head, Liu says, “You’re lifting a heavy lion head, while operating the eyes, ears, and mouth.” And if you’re the back end? “You have to stay bent over the entire time and lift both the lion head and your partner multiple times throughout the performance.”
Not one to be daunted by a physical challenge, Liu says she loves that “lion dancing is basically a daring, giant puppet performance”.
As captain she wants to imbue the other dancers with her fearlessness. She is always pushing her dancers, especially the women, even if they are inexperienced, to take on both the head and back roles at performances.
continued next post

GeneChing

10-07-2019, 07:46 AM

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Liu is determined that women can enjoy taking part in the traditional Chinese art form. Photo: Jon Delouz

The challenges of lion dancing are hard enough from within the costume but, especially for women, challenges often come from the outside as well.
“Most audiences are very surprised when some of our dancers lift up the lion head revealing who is inside,” Liu says. “We often hear, ‘Wow! It’s a girl in there! I can’t believe it.’
“I’ve had male audience members call out to me saying ‘Little girl, what are you doing?’ ‘Are you really strong enough to lift that heavy lion head?’ ‘Do your parents know you’re doing this?’ ‘You better be careful with that lion head, girls get hurt!’” she says. “Some have even gone as far as to reach out and grab my arms to feel for muscle, saying ‘Wow, is there any muscle in there? Ha ha!’”

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Women in the Shaolin Entertainment Lion Dance Troupe rehearsing in California. Photo: Jon Delouz

Anaya says she had not realised that women traditionally do not take part in lion dancing until she heard comments from audiences, such as: “There’s a girl under there.”
“Our team leader explained [why they were surprised], and I felt grateful for the opportunity to do this, and that I had a responsibility to take this discipline seriously. Knowing that someone out there thinks that I shouldn’t perform because of my gender makes me feel like I need to work harder to earn my place here,” Anaya says.

We’re exploring non-traditional lion dance routines, such as hip-hop choreography and possibly incorporating other circus arts into our performances
Cassandra Liu
As in all facets of a woman’s life, female lion dancers’ bodies are constantly under scrutiny.
“I personally get a lot of critique and scepticism regarding my body and what I look like,” Zhang says.
“People doubt my abilities when they haven’t even seen me do anything, simply based on a snap judgment of my physical appearance. Coaches and sifus [masters] I’ve met have told me that I’m too ‘big’ – though they don’t always use words as kind – to be a head, before they even see me perform with my tail partners. And similarly, because I’m not a guy, many have doubted that I’m able to perform as a tail, because they assume I’m not strong enough to lift people.
“If folks don’t think I can be a head and they don’t think I can be a tail, they’re essentially saying I don’t have a place to be lion dancing. And that’s simply untrue.”

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Troupe members during a rehearsal. Photo: Jon Delouz

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Liu believes that women, especially in Asian cultures, are taught to be self-limiting and helpless. Photo: Jon Delouz

For members of Liu’s team, being a woman is not a handicap but a source of strength and empowerment. The troupe’s women dancers are referred to as “lionesses”. They are encouraged to take on roles as intensive as those of the men, and are pushed just as hard in their gruelling training regimens.
The team has become a beacon for inclusivity in the sport and a bastion of progressive values in what is by definition an extremely traditional art form. Liu could not be more proud, but she isn’t stopping there.
“I would like … our team to become even more progressive and open-minded in comparison to past, more traditional teams, welcoming team members of all genders, races and backgrounds, and tearing down that hierarchy where only the so-called best dancers get to perform,” she says.
The women also change the way the dance is performed by making it more modern and more representative of their own life experiences.
“We’re exploring non-traditional lion dance routines, such as hip-hop choreography and possibly incorporating other circus arts into our performances,” Liu says.
Ultimately, she dreams of taking her team to compete at the United States Dragon and Lion Dancing Federation’s annual competition, where her non-traditional team can show the whole country what they can do, and use the national stage to inspire more aspiring lion dancers, especially young girls around the world.

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Lion dancers from the troupe experimenting with new moves. Photo: Jon Delouz

“Not only are our dancers physically strong, but they’re also mentally strong enough to persevere and lead a team of so many people to success.”
From cultural prop to circus freak: the first Chinese woman in US
So are they afraid of the blowback they could get from traditionalists as their team finds greater success? Zhang, for one, is not.
“I have a place in this community and on my team,” she says proudly, “and I will not let anyone tell me otherwise.”

Not to detract too much from this spotlight, but we always had women on our lion dance team, as long as I can remember and I think I started lion dancing back in the early 80s, long before Ms. Liu was born.

GeneChing

01-17-2020, 11:47 AM

Friday, January 17, 2020
Highlights of 13th International Lion Dance Competition in Singapore's Chinatown (http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/12/c_138697959.htm)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-12 09:55:22|Editor: Xiaoxia
SINGAPORE-LION DANCE COMPETITION-CHINESE NEW YEAR

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/12/138697959_15787940140731n.jpg
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/12/138697959_15787940141221n.jpg
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Lion dance performers compete in the 13th International Lion Dance Competition as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations held in Singapore's Chinatown, on Jan. 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)

At least they could tell us who won...:rolleyes:

THREADS
Chinese Lion Dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)
2020 Year of the Rat (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71622-2020-Year-of-the-Rat)

GeneChing

05-09-2022, 09:49 AM

Kung Food (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?19274-Kung-Food&p=1309853#post1309853) is in my queue...

May 6, 2022 3:58pm PT
‘I Am What I Am’ Review: Ready-for-Export Chinese Toon Elevates a Low-Class Reject Into a Lion Dance Champ (https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/i-am-what-i-am-review-xiong-shi-shao-nian-1235260042/)
This delightful indie export opens the door to a whole new realm of Chinese animation, showing that the country can compete with Pixar and company.

By Peter Debruge
https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/I-Am-What-i-Am.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Courtesy of

A ridiculously satisfying underdog sports story set in the highly specialized arena of Chinese lion dancing, “I Am What I Am” features a plot familiar enough that it could have been generated by computer, peppered with specifics unique enough that the experience consistently manages to surprise. The result is an inspired mix of engineering and ingenuity, distinguished by some of the most human character animation this side of the uncanny valley — not realistic, mind you, but relatable, and a welcome departure from the cutesy cartoony-ness of Pixar and its American ilk, produced at a mere fraction of the budget.

World premiering as a work in progress at Los Angeles’ Animation Is Film Festival, this “Karate Kid”-like crowd-pleaser from “Kung Food” creator Haipeng Sun represents another breakthrough for China’s fast-growing animation scene. Packed with culturally specific humor, the toon is clearly intended to serve local audiences (on the Douban and Maoyan platforms, it proved to be 2021’s highest-rated domestic release after opening in China on Dec. 8), though foreigners should also appreciate such a relatable glimpse behind the mask of the colorful custom, in which teams of trained dancers steer the two-person costume across tall pedestals and other challenging obstacles.

A sheepish, scrawny boy with a girl’s name, teased by others for looking like a “sick cat,” Juan lives alone in a rural town in Guangdong province while his parents work in the big city. His self-esteem is nearly nonexistent until one day he witnesses a mystery contestant outmaneuver the local bullies in a lion dance competition — a thrilling “capture the flag”-style game set on an elaborate bamboo scaffolding, which the virtual camera observes with all the dynamism of a wuxia movie. The winner turns out to be a girl his age, also named Juan, who gifts the kid her lion mask and gives him the motivation he needs to give the sport a try.

The next half-hour will seem fairly familiar, as Juan (the boy) enlists fellow-reject friends Cat and Dog to form a team, then seeks out former champion Huang Feihong, now a salted-fish seller, to coach them to victory. The movie stacks one montage after another, alternating between obvious and unexpected jokes along the way, to compress the kind of physical training that would normally take a decade or more. After Juan wins an early local competition, the plot takes an unexpected turn, as Juan does the honorable thing in order to help his parents, bowing out of the next level and instead moving to Shanghai to earn money for the family.

In moments like this, the film walks the line of feel-good propaganda, reinforcing how honorable and obedient citizens are expected to behave, instead of celebrating the kind of personal glory to which American audiences are more accustomed (although rest assured that U.S. toons feel like a kind of behavioral brainwashing to foreign auds). Screenwriter Zelin Li gives these gangly kids memorable personalities, which prove all the more lively through the endearingly exaggerated way they’ve been rendered — to say nothing of the elegant, accelerated lion dance moves.

In China, the film drew criticism for its character designs, which include small, squinted eyes (reportedly done to differentiate the style from Japanese animation) and unflattering proportions (one of Juan’s pals is a Fat Albert-style stereotype). But the truth is, the faces here are so expressive, they raise the experience above its relatively formulaic plot, reminding that animation is a bit like lion dancing, as artists hide behind elaborate avatars and try to convey behavior and emotions the general public can recognize. The backgrounds are especially impressive, including a golden-hued forest with its crepe-paper canopy of saffron red leaves, demonstrating just how far computer animation has come.

While “I Am What I Am” clearly speaks to various national-identity issues, the feelings represented are universal. There’s something to be said for how it celebrates characters from the bottom of society, like working-class Juan. It’s still quite uncommon to encounter a Chinese film that centers ordinary people, as opposed to mythical and magical heroes (like “Ne Zha”), but easy to understand why that would resonate with audiences.

Of course, the movie wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying if Juan didn’t have a last-minute change of heart, showing up to compete in the big Shanghai competition. Kudos to the team for conceiving a surprising way for that to play out, where winning isn’t nearly as important as Juan proving his own value to himself.

‘I Am What I Am’ Review: Ready-for-Export Chinese Toon Elevates a Low-Class Reject Into a Lion Dance Champ

Reviewed at Animation Is Film Festival, Los Angeles, Oct. 24, 2021. Running time: 104 MIN. (Original title: “Xiong shi shao nian”)

Production: (Animated – China) A Beijing Cheering Times Culture & Entertainment,YI Animation Inc. presentation of a YI Animation Inc., Beijing Cheering Times Culture & Entertainment production. Producer: Miao Zhang.
Crew: Director: Haipeng Sun. Screenplay: Zelin Li.
With: (Mandarin dialogue)

threads
I-Am-What-I-Am (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72211-I-Am-What-I-Am)
Chinese-Lion-Dance (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)

GeneChing

11-17-2022, 11:41 AM

Criminal records checks of lion dance performers necessary, Hong Kong security chief says (https://hongkongfp.com/2022/11/17/criminal-records-checks-of-lion-dance-performers-necessary-hong-kong-security-chief-says/)
Regulations on public lion dance, dance or unicorn dances were necessary to ensure such performances were not used as a cover-up for unlawful activities, Secretary for Security Chris Tang told the Legislative Council on Wednesday.
by KELLY HO
19 HOURS AGO

The Hong Kong government did not intend to “impede” the development of traditional Chinese lion dance activities with rules requiring police checks of performers’ and organisers’ criminal records, the city’s security chief has said.

Regulations on public lion dance, dance or unicorn dances were necessary to ensure such performances were not used as a cover-up for unlawful activities, Secretary for Security Chris Tang told the Legislative Council on Wednesday.

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Lion dance in Hong Kong. File photo: GovHK.
The minister’s remarks were made in response to a question raised by lawmaker and Lingnan University history professor Lau Chi-pang, who said some people saw the government regulations as having “created a negative impact” on the development of the dragon and lion dances.

Under the Summary Offences Ordinance, it is illegal to organise or participate in a lion dance, dragon dance or unicorn dance, or attend any such performance in a public place, unless a general or special permit has been obtained from the police commissioner. The provision does not cover performances held in private venues.

The purpose of the regulation was to prevent “lawbreakers” from being involved in the performance, as well as making sure the activities would not cause public disorder such as traffic congestion and noise nuisance, Tang said in a written reply to the legislature.

When considering permit applications, the police would take into account the venue, the organiser’s background and past record, the nature of the activity, the impact on traffic and residents, and other factors, the official said. Applicants were required to submit copies of their identity documents and authorise checks of their criminal conviction records, which Tang described as “useful references” for officers to consider the legitimacy of the activities.

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Tai Hang’s fire dragon dance. File photo: GovHK.
“Given the unique nature of lion dance activities and attendant martial arts displays, it is necessary for the Government to ensure that public order is not disturbed and that public safety is not affected when such sport activities are conducted in public places,” he said.

As of last month, the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Dragon and Lion Dance Association had around 190 organisation members. In the year of 2018-2019, the association organised five dragon and lion dance competitions with funding from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The competition saw more than 200 participating teams and more than 2,100 participants in total.

Some of these competitions were cancelled in the following year owing to the extradition bill protests, while the association did not organise any competitions in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Police issued 2,421 permits in 2018, while 2,364 permits were granted in the following year. The number of permit applications dropped below 2,000 in 2020 and marked the first time applications were rejected since 2018. Application number dropped further to 133 last year, and 21 were rejected.

The police did not have figures on breaches of the permit terms, Tang said, adding that the police would “take appropriate enforcement action” in case of any violation, subject to the circumstances of each case.

Tang on Wednesday said the current permit system had operated effectively over the years and the authorities did not intend to hinder the development of lion dances. Police would conduct reviews of the application procedures to see seek improvements, the minster said, adding the police launched an online platform for lion dance organisers to submit the required documents through the website instead of in person.

“We would like to stress that there is no intention on the part of the Government to impede the proper development of lion dance activities and attendant martial arts displays,” Tang said.

In August, Hong Kong’s iconic Tai Hang dragon dance was called off for the third consecutive year, after the authorities refused to grant them an exemption to hold the performance amid rising Covid-19 infections in the city at the time. The century-old custom traditionally involves around 300 current or former residents of Tai Hang, a neighbourhood near Hong Kong’s commercial district of Causeway Bay.

KELLY HO

Kelly Ho has an interest in local politics, education and sports. She formerly worked at South China Morning Post Young Post, where she specialised in reporting on issues related to Hong Kong youth. She has a bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Hong Kong, with a second major in Politics and Public Administration.

The Number of applications for lion dance permits between 2018 and 2021 graph is interesting but I'd have to screenshot and upload it and I'm not going to bother. If you're interested, follow the link.

GeneChing

01-31-2023, 08:03 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PyOmRnaKLQ

2023-Year-of-the-Rabbit (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72390-2023-Year-of-the-Rabbit)
Chinese-Lion-Dance (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)

GeneChing

03-29-2024, 10:54 AM

Meet Henry Ng, possibly the last lion head maker in Singapore (https://cnaluxury.channelnewsasia.com/remarkable-living/lion-head-maker-henry-ng-singapore-244021)

Henry Ng has spent a lifetime dedicated to the craft of making lion dance lion heads by hand.

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A self-taught artisan, Henry Ng has spent the last 50 years honing his craft and making lion heads the traditional way – by hand. (Photo: Freestate Productions)

6 min
by KAREN TEE
28 Mar 2024 04:51AM (Updated: 28 Mar 2024 05:09AM)

In Singapore, the rousing sound of drums and cymbals indicates that a lion dance performance is about to begin in the vicinity. While this athletic performance is still familiar here (especially during Chinese New Year), what is lesser known is that the lion dance costumes are increasingly hard to find.

For troupes seeking good quality, attractive and lightweight lion heads for their performances, there is only one man they would trust – Henry Ng, who is believed to be the last remaining lion head maker in Singapore.

A self-taught artisan, Ng has spent the last 50 years honing his craft and making lion heads the traditional way – by hand, a rarity in this ultra-modern country. In Singapore, it is not difficult to find a lion dance master, but it is near impossible to find a lion head master craftsman, he said.

His creations are so distinct that regular performing troupes can easily recognise his work; many Singaporeans who grew up watching lion dance performances would have seen his creations, even if they do not realise it.

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Ng's signature lions have perky and lifted features, and the lips open up. (Photo: Freestate Productions)

“The ‘Fohe Lion’ that is made in Singapore is my trademark,” said Ng. “My lions must have perky and lifted features, and the lips must open up. These are the two elements that many people have tried to plagiarise, but they can never copy exactly how I do it.”

What began as a hobby for Ng as a teenager evolved into a lifelong pursuit of perfection. He had always loved lion dances and as a child, whenever he heard the drums, he would follow the sound to watch the performances. When he joined the school’s lion dance club, he recalls being obsessed with thinking of ways to make his own lion heads.

When he was in secondary three, an idea came to him. “I went to a paper shop and bought some bamboo strips to make my own lion head in the kitchen. I experimented and slowly, step by step, figured out the process of making a lion head,” he said.

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It takes Ng an entire day to trim some 100 bamboo strips to the ideal thickness and length to create the structure of the lion head. (Photo: Freestate Productions)
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(Photo: Freestate Productions)
However, lion head making remained a hobby for years. When he grew up, he worked as an aerospace technician. It was only in 1995, when his wife got pregnant and his request to take a month’s leave from work was declined, that he decided to quit his job and pursue lion head making as a full-time job.

“At that time, my friend told me that if I can make a lion head well, I would definitely have some orders,” he said.

When word got out in the lion dance community that Ng was making lion heads, orders started streaming in. The frequent lion dance competitions during the 1990s also kept his business going.

“After all these years, people have come to know me as the lion head artisan of Ang Mo Kio,” he said.

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Adrian Chia, the founder of the Xinyang Athletic Association lion dance troupe, is one of Ng's most loyal collectors. Of the 100 lion heads he owns, half are Ng’s creations. (Photo: Freestate Productions)
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Through years of experimentation, Ng’s lion heads are now lighter and easier to manoeuvre, an achievement that lion dance troupes performing stunts during competitions greatly appreciate. (Photo: Freestate Productions)

Making the lion’s head is a painstaking effort. For instance, it takes an entire day for Ng to trim some 100 bamboo strips to the ideal thickness and length to create the structure of the lion head.

“The structure and composition of the lion's head is the most important as it influences the gaze of the lion, making it look fierce or gentle. The workmanship is important in accentuating the expression and gaze,” said Ng.

Once the structure is complete, he works on the design of the lion’s features. “Every time I make a lion head, I put in a lot of effort in the design; I want to make each one unique. However, this is also the moment when you struggle the most because once you apply the colour, you cannot change it. One needs experience in blending colours and some artistic skills, to achieve an attractive combination of colours,” he said.

Through years of experimentation, Ng’s lion heads are now lighter and easier to manoeuvre, an achievement that lion dance troupes performing stunts during competitions greatly appreciate.

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Ng quit his job in 1995 to pursue lion head making full-time when his request to take a month’s leave from work during his wife's pregnancy was declined. (Photo: Freestate Productions)
Adrian Chia, the founder of the Xinyang Athletic Association lion dance troupe, is one of his most loyal collectors and has been acquiring Ng’s lion heads over the last 20 years. Of the 100 lion heads he owns, half are Ng’s creations.

Chia said: “Master Ng's lions are really pieces of art. They are handmade with his heart and soul, and his works are very intricate. He was a lion dancer himself, so he knows all these little details on what makes a good lion head.”

Ng’s creativity is not limited to making lion heads. In collaboration with Italian-Singaporean design duo Lanzavecchia + Wai, he has crafted modern lampshades inspired by the shape of lion heads.

“Even though I am a lion head artisan, I want to remain open-minded. If some good ideas come along, I will love to collaborate,” said Ng.

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Ng collaborated with Italian-Singaporean design duo Lanzavecchia + Wai to create Series 1 - Handcrafted Lighting Objects, a series of lampshades that blend this traditional craft with a modern utility. (Photo: Lanzavecchia + Wai) …see more

“The design of the lampshade evolved from the lion head. After I saw the design draft, I had to use my own ideas and creativity to complete the task. I weaved the shape of the lampshade using the traditional method, first tying the bamboo strips together, then glueing the paper on before painting the colours.”

This fusion of tradition and innovation resulted in the Leone Series 1 - Handcrafted Lighting Objects, a series of lampshades that blend this traditional craft with a modern utility.

As perhaps the sole remaining lion head artisan in Singapore, Ng recognises the weight of traditional craftmanship resting upon his shoulders. Fuelled by an unwavering passion to uphold this ancient craft, he persists, undeterred by the laborious and time-consuming nature of his work.

He also channels his creativity into dreaming up fresh ideas and innovative designs for his lion heads, always striving to push the boundaries of tradition.

“If I were to conceive a brand-new style of lion heads, I would elevate the forehead to exude a sense of grandeur and beauty,” he mused. “I firmly believe that true growth stems from embracing difficulties without fear.

Adapted from the series Remarkable Living (Season 6). Watch full episodes on CNA, every Sunday at 8.30pm. Cool embedded video behind the link.