Close up of the head of a Chinese Lion Dance lion head
Lion dance (simplified Chinese: 舞狮; traditional Chinese: 舞獅; pinyin: wǔshī) is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume The lion costume is operated by a pair of dancers. The dancers combine forming the back and fore legs of the beast, mimicing the motions of a single animal by operating the eyes and moving the headpiece. The dance is traditionally accompanied by cymbals, a singular gong, drums and firecrackers. The instruments play beats which the lion responds too and wards off bad luck. The lion dance originated in China close to a thousand years ago. The lion is traditionally regarded as a guardian creature. It is featured in Buddhist lore, being the mount of Manjusri. There are different variations of the lion dance in other Asian cultures including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore,with each region possessing their own styles. Chinese lion dances can be broadly categorised into two styles, Northern (北獅) and Southern (南獅). Northern dance was used as entertainment for the imperial court. The northern lion is usually red, orange, and yellow (sometimes with green fur for the female lion), shaggy in appearance, with a golden head. The northern dance is acrobatic and is mainly performed as entertainment. Southern dance is more symbolic. It is usually performed as a ceremony to exorcise evil spirits and to summon luck and fortune. The southern lion exhibits a wide variety of colour and has a distinctive head with large eyes, a mirror on the forehead, and a single horn at center of the head. The lion dance also sybolises the myth of the Chinese new year The Lion dance is often confused with the Chinese Dragon Dance, which features a team of around ten or more dancers. The Lion Dance usually consists of two people.
Size: 5200px × 3467px
Location: Tong Fuk, Lantau, Hong Kong
Photo credit: © Tony Kwan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: cantonese, ceremonial, ceremony, chinese, close, costume, dance, eyes, gold, golden, head, hong, kong, lion, traditional, village, yellow
