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Chinese New Year is a time of festivity for the Chinese, and one of the ways of
celebrating it is to have a lion dance in front of the house or business
premises. A lion dance is believed to bring luck to the place. It was the
eighth day of the New Year. My friend, who has a computer shop in town, invited
a troupe of lions to usher in the year at his shop. A one-ton truck carrying the
troupe arrived at the premises at 9:30 a.m. The troupe had two lions, one red
and the other yellow. The performers were young men and boys from a local
Chinese association.
quickly the performers donned the lion costumes. Each lion costume had two
performers inside it. The big drum rolled and the cymbals clanged. The lions
started dancing to the pulsating beat. They
performers were very skilful as they pranced around in mock combat. The
thunderous beat of the drum soon attracted a sizable audience in front of the
shop.
The dance went on for about ten minutes as the drum kept the tempo going. The
performers must be really fit to keep the action going at the
frantic pace.
My friend had hung two red packets at a height of about three meters above
the door of his shop. These red packets were prizes for the lions. They will
have to reach up and take the packets. So after the round of dancing, the red
lion reached up to take one of the packets. this was accomplished by having the
front performer stand on the shoulders of the back performer. It was by no means
an easy feat, but they performed well in
getting a red packet. In similar fashion the yellow lion reached up and took the
second red packet.
After claiming their prizes, the two lions stage a final round of dancing.
When the dance concluded, the spectators gave them a hearty round of applause.
It was a fine performance.
The members of the troupe then had snacks and drinks that were prepared for
them. Finally the troupe packed their things and got on their truck to go and
stage another performance somewhere else in town. |
