Music & Rituals

 The Chinese lion dance is a traditional dance that is usually performed at religious festivals, especially during the Chinese new year, wedding ceremonies, and special celebrations. This is a dance which is like a martial arts form performed in China and other Asian countries to bring good luck. Lead performers wear large, impressionistic lion masks with moving mouths, eyes and ears. It takes at least 2 dancers to perform the lion part of The Chinese lion dance. One manages the mask and the front legs, the other the rear legs. The back performer must be able to lift the front as part of the performance. Footwork includes quick cross steps, lifted knees, and side-to-side steps. The performer in front is the head and front limbs, the one behind is the back and hind legs. Performers' legs are dressed the same color as the lion's body, and sometimes the costume extends to shoes the shape and color of the lion's paws. The lions' head is huge and very much oversized. The lion is very similar to the stone lions which are in China. 

There are also different lion dance types in China one is the southern lion dance. The southern lion dance originated in Guangdong, and it is the style popular in Hong Kong, Macau, and the hometowns of overseas Chinese. The southern lion dance is a performance based on the study of a lion's behavior, with an emphasis on actions like scratching, shaking of the body, and licking of fur. Performances are vivid and entertaining, even comical. There are also skillful performances, such as playing with a ball, which includes swallowing it. The best place to see a southern Chinese lion dance is the Hong Kong Chinese New Year Performance Night. 

The other style I will talk about is the Northern lion dance. The northern lion dance has close similarities/relations to Kung-fu. If you don't know is a martial arts in china. They have a young lion which is performed by a single person and an adult lion which is performed by two people together one in the front and the other in the back. These costumes are more robust, and less decorative, to allow for easier movement and quicker movements. In the adult lion dance, the performer in front holding the lion's head is often lifted by the other to make the lion stand up. Northern lion dances are more gymnastic, involving rolling, wrestling, leaping, jumping, climbing, or kowtowing.The best places to see northern Chinese lion dances are China's martial arts theaters, like the Red Theater in Beijing, or even at the Shaolin Temple.