People don't recognize the subtle eye and mouth movement. But the work that goes into manipulating the eyes, the mouth, and synchronizing the footwork without falling off is amazing.
I love chinese culture... I remember seeing these chinese dragon dances at carnevals in my home country Chile as a kid. Always made left a big impression on me.
I came across a video of two people practicing this dance without costume and it was fascinating. Of course, I had to see what it’s like full out with costume and it’s even more insanely amazing than I imagined. Beautiful 👏🏾
fck ... i dont think i can jump between those pillars without losing my balance at least once, and these guys have to carry that heavy looking head. and the guy at the back, how does he jump with his head down all the time?
the head is very light but since the head is made for the poles, it is meant to be made lightly, and the lion dancing takes months of practice before performance LOL.
Those rhythms act like the heart beat of the lion. So the lion’s activity matches the rhythm like how the pace of our heart beat would match the activities we do. When the lion jumps around the music gets loud and fast like how when we run, our heart pumps faster and vice versa. Hope that clears up some things about the beat.
If you know the origins of this tradition, you know the noises you hear are the village people beating their pots and pans to drive out the monster that has taken up residence in their town and is eating all of their crops. The lion you see actually represents the makeshift paper machete monster made by the village people to scare away the real monster (combined with the loud noises). This comes from the Ming dynasty era.
That's the point; the loud noise is meant to ward off the evil spirits for the Lunar New Year. Also yeah it's deafening to be near, haha. At least it isn't the fireworks/dynamite line they set alight.
Using their pots and pans to make LOUD noises and the paper machete monster/lion the village people made, they are attempting to drive away the real monster eating all their crops that has taken up residence in their village. (Ming dynasty era).
it's a cultural thing for new years tradition and for other big occasions that stems back many MANY years. It represents good luck and some other things
The music is supposed to represent the village people loudly beating pots and pans to drive away the monster that has taken up residence in their village and is eating all their crops. The lion you see was the towns people's own monster they made to intimidate and drive away the real monster. This is a Chinese tradition (Ming dynasty era).
Well not really, it’s a culture thing in China for many years. The lion with different color represents the age. If the lion has black fur, it means that the lion is young. If the lion has other fur colors like red, yellow, orange or other, it means the lion is a grown adult. If the lion has white fur, it means the lion is very elderly. But Chinese lions have different species all over Asia. Like the Barong lion, The Shishimai ,the Northern Lion, the Southern lion (but there are two types of Southern lions like Hok san and Fut San or called it Fo Shan), The Tibet lion, The Hakka lion, the Green Lion, and many more. Mostly the types of lion have different dance moves. But sometimes there is a Tiger dance around Asia. Chinese lions eats lettuce and spits lettuce at you for good luck, but there are many ways to get luck by a Chinese lion, like touching the lion or the lion bites your head for good luck. You can give them money by putting the money in the red envelope, but do not give the lion a white envelope. Because white envelope is the meaning of kill. Hope you understand it. ;)
I still like traditional better. Especially futsan traditional. Far more expressions and emotions. The acrobatics are amazing but the lion kinda feels lifeless in a way. I think they are too used to accomodating the expressions of hoksan costumes.
I love these traditions. This is what keep the world rich. When leftists talk about diversity, inclusion and other bullshit they do not refer to art, beliefs and traditions, they only refer about physical diversity. Me, as racist as I might be, I would be honored to have such a festival in Italy. Chinese culture is somethimg chinese people should be proud
