I was walking through the IFC mall this past Friday when I came across a large crowd, expectantly facing a central stage. By incredible luck, I was just in time to catch the New Year lion and dragon dances! I was decidedly not lucky, however, to be without my camera. So all these pictures were taken with my iPhone. I hope you can make out the details.A band standing along the back of the stage opened the show with a terrific clang of cymbals and drums. Then the dragon, held aloft on poles high above the heads of the crowd, wound its way onto the stage. He was followed by three lions moving in an astonishingly lifelike way, blinking their huge eyelids, wagging their tails, and scampering about like puppies. It was really hard not to think of them as guys wearing a lion costume.
The first act was the "eye dotting ceremony." (Running commentary on this ceremony was helpfully described to the crowd by a pair of emcees, one speaking English and the other Cantonese.) Various dignitaries were given a traditional brush dipped in red ink, and to the sound of a drumroll, they painted a dot in the middle of each eye. Then they tied a ribbon on the top of each head (an ear? a horn? I wasn't sure what it was.) Now the dragon and lions were officially brought to life, and the show could begin.
And I've got to say, for free mall entertainment, these guys really put on a fantastic show. The actors' t-shirts identified them as members of a martial arts school, and as the show unfolded, I could see why. You definitely need seriously athletic, gymnastic training to pull this off! It's definitely something one shouldn't try at home.In the photo below, the lion on the left has shimmied up a pole two stories high, perched himself at the top, and was moving to the music as gracefully as a cat, looking like he was balancing on one leg, then the other. His colleagues, in the foreground, are leaping through the air from one set of tiny platforms to the other. One misstep, and someone was going to be in a lot of pain.
Note that the leaping lions are working in teams of two each, so each dancer has to be perfectly coordinated with his partner. And when the lion rears up on its hind legs, as in the middle of photo, one dancer is supporting the other on his knees, stomach, or even shoulders.At the climax of the dance, each lion unfurled a scroll from his mouth and launched an explosion of confetti, to loud applause and banging gongs:
I thought that was the end of the show, but the lions, each accompanied by a few band members, left the stage and started roaming the halls. Much of the crowd followed close behind.
Where were they off to? It's the subject of my next post.
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