The Lion Dance

Have you ever wondered what those people were doing dressed up in a huge, dragon-like costume, swinging their heads and stomping their feet rhythmically? Well, although the dragon is commonly associated with Chinese culture, this dance is actually called the Lion Dance (舞狮 – wǔ shī)!

The Lion Dance is commonly performed during the Chinese New Year, as well as other cultural and religious festivals. Although a Dragon Dance (舞龙 – wǔ lóng) does exist in Chinese culture, the Lion Dance and Dragon Dance are quite different! Whereas the Dragon is typically controlled by many people, the Lion Dance requires just two highly skilled performers; one operates the head of the costume, and the other holds the head performer’s waist and coordinates his/her leg movements with those of the head performer.

We actually performed the Lion Dance in our school in order to spread cultural awareness around the time of the 2015 Chinese New Year! It was a huge success; many students thoroughly enjoyed our performance. The picture above was taken just after one of our performance. Cole is seen on my right, while I’m wearing the head of the lion costume!

Here is a modern example of the Lion Dance. How cool!