People and Performers at the Chinese Year of the Dragon Liverpool City centre Parade and Festival 22nd January, 2012_ Chinatown
"Celebrations take place in the Liverpool Chinatown area including Nelson Street, Berry Street, Great George Street and Great George Square. China's cultural heritage is alive and well all year round in Liverpool, which is home to one of the oldest Chinese communities in Europe." In Chinese New Year’s celebration, we have Dragon Dance performance on the street or in public places. It is a special and delicate performance of arts which also symbolizes the bringing of good luck and prosperity in the year to come for all the human beings on earth. In the dance, a group of people whirl the dragon on poles. The dragon model is constructed of wood or plastic, with bamboo or aluminum hoops on the inside and covered with a rich fabric. The lead dancer is responsible for lifting, dipping, thrusting, and sweeping the head, while others are moving the dragon’s body and tail. Sometimes in the dragon’s head, there is a device controlled by a dancer and is rigged to belch smoke, and that makes the dragon look like breathing fire! The colors of dragons in dragon dance convey different messages. For example, green is sometimes selected as a main color of the dragon, which symbolizes a great harvest for the year to come. Other colors include: yellow symbolizing the empire, golden or silver colors representing prosperity, and red color representing excitement while its scales and tail are mostly beautiful silver colors and glittering which creates the joyous atmosphere for Chinese New year celebration. But the origin of Dragon dance didn’t start from Chinese New Year. In the past, Chinese dragons were believed to be the gods in charge of rain, cloud and wind. So when there were droughts, the witches would imitate the dragon movement and dance to pray for rain. Then dragon dance is widely used in the Chinese New Year celebration because if dragons, the gods of Rain, can bring rain at the beginning of the year, there will be a good year of great harvest.
Size: 2400px × 3600px
Location: Liverpool, UK
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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