Dragon and lion dances have been passe on for hundreds of years. The dragons and lions are shiney, bright, and colourful making them really beautiful. The origin of the dragon dances comes from the ancient chinese "Dance of the Sraw Dragon," in 960 A.D. in the Sung dynasty. The lion dance goes back to 618 A.D., the tang dynasty. Chinese people believe that they are the, "Decendandts of the Dragon." The style of clothing of the lion dancers depends on wether it comes from the north or the south of China. The northern style is less beautiful and colorful whele the southern is beautiful and colorful but, none of them is better than the cantonese style.
Kuring special holidays youn can see these dances in the streets. When watching the dancers performing, the audience would catch on with the cheerful mood, and cheer and would cheer and clap. The dragbon is made of segments that are each supported by a pole held up by a man. The head and tail are the two heaviest parts of the dragon. The lion es controlled by two men, working closely together. They will climb up on a long ople about ten feet high. As the dragon moves about, another man would throw some powder into the air in front of th ehead and a flame would blaze up from a torch and catch the powdert on fire.
Usually, the man that holds up the head and tail would be very strong. There are always men who would change positions at different times. The men that priforme the lion dance are especially trained to do some Kung-fu strodes while dancing. The Dragon and the Lion dance is something very special in the chinese custom.
(Quoted from http://www.unb.ca/web/bruns/9900/issue17/entertainment/dragon.html)
全站熱搜
留言列表
