Lion dance
The lion dance (traditional characters :舞狮; Pinyin: wǔshī ) is a traditional dance in Chinese music, which is mostly performed by two people, a " lion dress " with music. Today, the lion dance is traditionally performed every year for New Year of Chinese. It is also used in initiations of important buildings or significant events as luck -bringing ritual - increasingly outside of China.
The lion dance is taught today mostly spoken in standalone lion dance schools and in many kung fu schools in the southern kung fu style, therefore, is from the " southern lion dance ".
The Lion
The lion ( or the lion dress) usually consists of a bamboo body which forms the head of the lion. This is then covered with a solid and elastic material. This material then passes further from the head of the lion to the rear, where the length of " all lions " can vary because there are different sizes of lions. Some lions have a total length up to 6.40 meters, while others only have a length of 3.60 meters.
The fabric, or the "skin of the lion ", has the task to hide the two lion dancers during the dance, with only the legs remain visible. This then has the appearance as if the legs of the lion dancers legs of the lion. The fabric is also still mostly colored colorful, which can contribute the lion's magnificent. The lion's head has usually above a small " horn ", which comes from a legend of the ancient Chinese over the lion.
For the lion dancers located in the inner cavity of the lion's head two threads; they have an important function in Lion Dance. When pulling the threads of the front lion dancers includes the lion's eyes and simultaneously move the ears of the lion. In addition, the lion dancers can operate a small flap at the bottom of the head, which represents the lion's mouth.
The Legend
The southern lion, also known as the "Annual Monster" (Chinese年 兽/年 兽, Pinyin Nian Shou, English Nian ), which is also an animal of the year in the Chinese calendar, comes from an old legend. This legend refers to the then emperor of the Qing dynasty, Qianlong ( Ch'ian Lung ).
One night this had a strange dream. He dreamed of a mythical beings from whose head towered a mid horn and confronted him. The Emperor felt scared, but the creature looked at him only and was gone with a twinkle in his eyes again. The Emperor immediately the next morning and call his servants and scholars began to investigate the meaning of the dream and of the essence.
His subordinates finally came to the solution that it could be in the nature of a lion and that it wanted to make it clear to the Emperor that he had assimilated the emperor outranked. Henceforth called the Emperor that lion Ruishi (瑞 狮/瑞 狮, ruìshī, English Imperial guardian lions, lion luck ').
Some time later, the inhabitants of the town of Lingnan in Guangdong Province created a new lion, which they, however, Fushan Shi called. To meet these lions now with life, experimented various martial arts representatives with different choreographies of dance steps to fulfill this task. Indeed, according to some time, a unique form of dance that is still known today as the " lion dance ".