Chinese Lion Dance | Sleeping Lion | Japanese Lion

Lion Dance

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The Lion Dance is an Asian traditional Folk Dance from China but also performed in other Asian cultures. People are doing this dance for thousand of years and I think they still be doing this for thousand of years to come. Two people are inside this lion costume and are trying to imitate his movements. You see this Lion Dancing mostly performed on special days. When people get married, when someone opens a new store, when someone is celebrating his birthday or at big events or festivals. But the most important day is when the Chinese are saying “Happy New Year” to each other. They say it brings them luck and happiness and others are saying its brings them fortune and wealth. Most of the people think the Chine Lion Dance is the same as the Dragon Dance but theirs a huge difference. I will explain the difference. The lion performance is done by two people while the dragon need many more. Lion dancers are also done by Martial Artists what I’m going to explain later. There are two different styles of the Lion Dance. You have the Northern and Southern Lion. The southern lion is more historical and is for that reason more important. There are many legend and myths about this lion. For example: More than thousand years ago an Chinese emperor used this Lion Dance strategically. Most of the time the enemy used elephants for transport and these Lions were frighten them. What kind of Lion Dance Music are they using? Most of the time they are playing with drums, cymbals and gongs.

 

Lion Dance Performance

Sleeping Lion Dance

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Have you ever seen a sleeping lion? Well if you do! I can advise you not to waken him up and just stay away. The person who is wearing a Chinese lion dance costume wants to show the public how a “Sleeping Lion” behaves. The sleeping lion dance routine is also called Suai Si in Chinese. It imitates a lion when its sleepy, when the lion falls asleep and when the lion is trying to wake up. Supposedly a annoying flea jumps on his back and starts to irritate the Sleeping lion. His back starts to get itchy and for this reason the lion scratching his back. The lion falls back asleep. The annoying flea cant stop so keeps on doing the same thing. The lion starts to wake up and can not fall asleep. He growls. He obviously has not slept well. He let the public notice hes irritated. Eventually he finds out that it was not the itchiness but because he was hungry. The “ Lion eating” dance routine (Choi Chiang) is the next step in this lion ritual. In China Lions usual go from store to store. The employments feed the lion with obstacles filled with cash. The Lion have to show his skills in order to get this this. They think it will bring luck and prosperity for years to come.

Sleeping Lion Video

 

Wushu | Wu Shu Kung Fu

Most of the time there are two martial artists inside this lion. They use their feet like no one else can. They mostly have a background in Wushu or Kung Fu and are doing this proffesionaly. In Chinese Wushu meansmartial by the way. Their are two differnt styles within Wu Shu. One is more focused on using feet techniques, Jumping smoothly and quick movements and the other is more powerful fist techniques and are using more explosive body movements. Most of the time these artists are freestyling because its difficult to mimic the lions movements and stay in ballance like a Kun Fu monk would have done. Its all about concentration, high skill techniques and commitment. Their are a lot of Martial Art schools in Asia who are practicing Wushu & Kung Fu, Lion or Dragon Dancing. Some brought it to europe and America and are performing thiswith a lotof enthusiasm. You can see a lot of differcity, It’s all depending on wich Wu Shu or Kung Fu school these dancers took their lessons from. An important aspect of the training is to make these dancers mentally and physically resilient so they can cross borders. These are the standards to prevail in Wushu & Kung Fu.

 

Laughing Buddha

Most of the time the lion Dancers are dancing next to Laughing Buddhas. They painted a big smile on their masks and are wearing a Buddha costume. They look thick but thats because they hide a pillow underneath their clothes. These Buddhas are comedians and acrobatic skilled. They are guiding the lion, play and do tricks with them. The laughing Buddha is also teasing the lion with leaves from a banana to let him jump.

Northern Lion Dance

These dancers are more like acrobatics and are trying to balance on obstacles like a japanese sea lion would do.

Lion Dance Singapore

 

Lion Dance Video

Costume of Lion Dance

Head of Lion Dance

The Lion has a body and a head. It made out of mache, bamboo and wires. Some Lions are made of stronger materials such as fiberglass so they can use it more than once. Inside his head one person controls the lions eyes, ears and mouth with small cables to make the lion more realistic. On his head there are mirrors so that evil demons can not interfere.

Japanese Lion

Lion in Japanese

Chinese Lion Dance | Sleeping Lion | Japanese Lion