Lion Dance

I believe that life is a celebration despite the hardship it can be. All of us are born to dance in one way or another. There is no fixed form of dancing but cultures dictate a certain way to dance so different nationalities around the world dance according to their ways but all dances are interesting, is a good form of exercise and a sight to behold. I see jumping on a golf green and a soccer goal celebration as a form of dancing too.

There are Hip Hop, Ballet, Ballroom, Disco, Folk, Break Dance, Flamenco, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Puerto Rican, Salsa, Belly, Line, Can-Can, Cha Cha, Hustle, House, Jazz, Latino, Macarena, Para Para, Pole, Puppet, Rock and Roll, Samba, Shuffle, Step, Swing, Foxtrot, Tango, Lap, Tap, Twist, Waltz, Dragon and Lion Dance. All and nice and unique. Argentina gave us the Tango and Spain gave us the Flamenco which are lovely but to me one of the greatest dances of all is the Lion Dance.

I have the good fortune of being at a cousin's place during the Lunar New Year when the lion dance and dragon dance troop came.

The troop leader as you can see here, is another cousin, Edwin.

Lion dance attracted me when I was a kid. Somethings never change. Children today still love it.

The lions' eyelids and ears can be manipulated to resemble real live lions.

They even have ladies in the troop these days.

Which is harder? To steer the lion head or to be the body at the back?

These lions don't just dance, they jump and.....

Prance!

They could peel oranges as if they were devouring them.

Spit out the orange peels and formed beautiful Chinese words on prosperity and happiness, etc.

They even left behind lucky numbers with at least a couple of "8s" in them.

I think the drumming is very important. The drummer needs this special skill much like that of the drummer of a dragon boat. The beat and rhythm are everything. The lions dance to the tune and beat.



I do like it that it has turned multi-racial. You'll see Malay and Indian boys in these troops. At least the local boys are picking up the dance and the beat or else we may also have to outsource to foreign workers.

When the lions were done, the dragon came.


I am always impressed by the dragon's co-ordinated and rapid turning and twisting. All you need is a few blur blobs to turn wrongly and twist the dragon by half.

It has to chase a dragon ball.

I still love the lion dance more.

Even the lion dance beat is more awesome. Lion dance will always hit a scale of grandeur on all occasions including those celebrations at the national level. 

When I grow up, I want to join a lion dance troop. Watch this new lion dance steps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDRidQ6qfsc

Oppa cai sheng dao （才 神 到）。

If you need lions to dance, let me know so that Edwin and his troop can dance for you. 

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