Chinese lion dancing has two traditions: the northern lion and the older
southern lion. Anta’s Fitness and Self Defense Lion Dance Team
dances the Southern Tradition which is more colorful and faster then the
Northern lion. Wong Fei Hung Chinese folk hero and the most famous Hung Gar
Master was know as the greatest Lion Dancer in China at the turn of the last
century. Kung Fu action stars Jackie Chang and Jet Li have both portraits Wong
Fai Hung in movies. Anta’s Fitness and Self Defense is a Hung Gar school and
teaches lion dancing as part of the Kung Fu tradition. The dance in an extension
of Chinese martial arts and incorporates various skills and techniques
and is always performed by kung fu practitioners. Lion Dancing gives you
an incredible aerobic work out. To perform a Lion Dance a performer must be
physically fit with extremely strong legs.
In
Chinese, Kung Fu means hard work and the dance is a display of the strength,
coordination, and agility. Kung Fu was devised by Shaolin monks who studied
animal movements and incorporated them into the fighting movements. There are
styles based upon the movements of the tiger, crane, snake, leopard and dragon.
The lion dance is an
important tradition in China. Usually the dance is part of
festivities like Chinese New Year, the openings of restaurants and weddings. If
well-performed, the lion dance is believed to bring luck and happiness. As
Christians we do not believe or do it for luck. We do it for the Kung Fu
tradition and for the physical training.
The lion is enacted by
two dancers. One handles the head, made out of strong paper-mache and bamboo,
the other plays the body and the tail under a cloth that is attached to the
head. The 'animal' is accompanied by three musicians, playing a large drum,
cymbals and a gong. The head dancer can move the lion's eyes, mouth and ears for
expression of moods. The lion dance combines art, history and kung fu moves.
Normally the performers are kung fu practitioners. Every kind of move has a
specific musical rhythm. The music follows the moves of the lion: the drum
follows the lion; the cymbals and the gong follow the drum
player.
Quite often people observing the dances think that they are looking at dragons. The main difference between lion dance and dragon dance is that the latter is performed with more people than two. The 'Lion' which popularly exists in the Chinese culture and custom is seemingly incredible because China does not have lions and the description of lions by the Chinese nobles derived from their imaginations. Chinese temples all over China and overseas had these imaginative lion sculptures placed in the frontages. These lions were far from the true likeness of a real lion because the real ones have no horns.
The traditions of the lion dance had a
long history in China. These were recorded over thousands of
years ago. Legends of the origins of
lion dancing can be found in ancient Chinese literature. Although there are many
accounts, most are familiar with the following version. It relates to three
hundred years ago in a small Chinese village terrorized by an unusual creature
that always appeared on New Year’s Eve. Frightened of the beast, villagers would
be confined to their homes while the beast foraged for vegetation in their
fields. One year, the villagers retaliated by making their own version of a
beast, made up to look like a brightly colored lion. As New Year’s Eve
approached, two men would maneuver the man-made lion while other villagers
followed, beating on metal pots and pans to scare away the beast. This commotion
caused the beast to retreat back to the mountains, never to be seen again. The
scene would be recreated by the villagers every New Year’s Eve in
commemoration.
Martial artists have their own account of the origins of lion dancing, also dating back to the mid 18th century. Their version takes place in the southern Guangdong (Kwangtung) province of China, where a fierce lion would appear out of the mountains, terrorizing the villagers and causing great destruction. The villagers sought the help of experts from many martial arts systems throughout the neighboring villages. Expeditions into the mountains were organized to fight off this enemy lion. As with all accounts, good eventually overcomes evil, and they gained victory. In celebration, they constructed a lion costume.
The
experts wore the costume and incorporated their martial arts skills into a
victory dance. This account supports the close association of lion dancing and
martial arts.
Another saying was that 'the emperor of China of the Ching Dynasty had seen a lion dance in one of his dreams and he ordered the guards of the palace to dance in accordance with what he had seen after he woke up.
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