By Genette Nowak
It’s vivacious. It’s hypnotic. It’s creative. It’s a thrill. It’s the Chinese Lion Dance. This dance is alluring beyond its flare of colors and bold beats; its nature is quite impressive in its mimicry of the lion. Brown University’s Brown Lion Dance is dedicated to the ancient art form that incorporates the movements of martial arts and dance to celebrate various events, both on campus and off. It’s a student-run organization that has been committed to the spirit of the Chinese Lion Dance since 1996. Students pass down their routines and with every year their performance evolves into something that much more special.
Often, the Lion Dance is often confused with the Dragon Dance. While both dances are celebratory and an intricate part of many Chinese festivities, the Dragon Dance involves a dragon while the lion dance—you guessed it—features a lion! The dragon is much longer than the lion and hoisted high into the air needing a bigger team, up to fifty people, to manipulate it. As for the lion, it only takes two people to recreate the personality and emotions of the animal—one for the head, one for the tail.
Chinese New Year is right around the corner, January 23, 2012, and this year marks the year of the dragon signifying ambition and dominance. Those who are born in the year of the dragon are said to not fear any challenge that may come their way. One of the most vibrant ways to celebrate Chinese New Year is the Lion Dance. Brown senior, Brian Yang explained to Tribe, “The Lion Dance comes along with the New Year because it chases away the evil spirits and brings in good luck.”
Though, the New Year isn’t the only time one can witness the “awakening” of a lion. “Traditionally we are more visible during Chinese New Year but the dance is used at any time to banish bad luck and bad spirits,” added junior, Marvin Li.
The Chinese Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, a harvest holiday, is another celebration that is often associated with the Lion Dance. The dance is also performed at weddings, religious occasions and when a new business opens. “We come and dance away any negative spirits that may be lurking, to wish good luck upon things,” said Li.
“At a typical Lion Dance performance,” Li said, “we come in and bow before the audience.” Because the reason for celebration differs the troupe will change their routine to fit its purpose. For example, if they are dancing at the opening of a new space, they will cleanse the threshold. “We take the lion head and shake it around the doorway,” Li said, “and then you hop over the threshold never stepping on it.”
In the beginning of the routine the objective is to awaken the sleeping lion. Once it is awake the “teaser,” much like the idea of a court jester, uses humor and wears what Li refers to as a “Buddha-like mask” to taunt and play with the lion encouraging movement, dance and energetic tricks. As drums beat and cymbals crash, lettuce is also used to tease the lion; it is suspended and persuades higher acrobatics. After much trickery the lion eats the lettuce and spits it out at the audience. “Being hit by the lettuce is symbolic of you being hit by fortune,” said Li.
The Brown Lion Dance has three usable heads in different colors; they are quite sizable covering most of the upper body. The heads are constructed of rice paper and bamboo involving a network of pulls and rods that allow the dancer to rhythmically bounce the lion’s head, to bat its wide, flirtatious eyes and to flap its mouth and tongue. The head is quite heavy and smells of hard work, but it’s also quite fantastic how the performers are able to evoke facial expressions with an inanimate animal. Trailing from the head is bright, flouncy fabric that covers the second dancer who functions as the body of the lion. The second dancer follows the head and creates the fluidity of what a real lion might look like if it were to dance.
In terms of aesthetics, Li said, “A black head represents the academic scholar, the red one represents battle or a high ranking official. Different colors represent different things. Regionally styles can vary. Our group is more of a southern style.”
Yang added, “There are different lengths, different tails, different faces. Some are lighter and some are much bigger and heavier. They allow us to do different moves. Some styles incorporate more acrobatics, like the Malaysian styles. But what we do is based on performance for cultural events that is much different than competition where the dancers are up on stilts.”
So, where does this legacy come from? While there are many variations to the story according to region, Li tells the version he is familiar with. Legend has it, there was a monster that was eating up all of the crops and the people couldn’t feed their families. To scare away the beast the people created the boisterous lion. Another version of folklore involves the emperor. He had a nightmare that a monster was chasing him and out of nowhere an unfamiliar creature chased the monster away. The next morning he awoke and described this creature to his subjects, but they didn’t recognize his description because there aren’t any lions in East Asia. The subjects believed the creature was from Western civilization. This is why the Chinese lion looks the way it does, cartoonish and colorful. Its depiction in the Lion Dance is based on fantasy and imagination. “This is the Chinese interpretation of what a lion looks like,” Li said, and added, “Shiny.”
This ten-member group of students has great talent and can be seen performing all over Providence and other parts of southern New England. They often perform for elementary school students and other organizations to help celebrate and bring luck. Their most famed performance is at Brown’s annual Baccalaureate Ceremony.
For more information and to watch clips of this lively, traditional dance please visit: Students.Brown.edu/Liondance.
