Dragon dance (Simplified Chinese: ?? ; Traditional Chinese: ?? ; Pinyin: w? lÃÆ'³ng ) is a traditional dance form and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen in festive celebrations. This dance is performed by a team of experienced dancers who manipulate the long, flexible figure of the dragon using a pole positioned periodically along the length of the dragon. The dance team simulates the imaginary movement of this river spirit in a winding and bumpy way.
Dragon dance is often performed during the Chinese New Year. The Chinese dragon is a symbol of Chinese culture, and they are believed to bring good luck to the people, therefore the longer the dragon in the dance, the more luck will be brought to society. Komodo is believed to have a quality that includes great strength, dignity, fertility, wisdom, and luck. The appearance of a dragon is equally frightening and bold but has a kindly disposition, and it is the emblem to represent the imperial authority. The movement in a show traditionally symbolizes the historical role of a dragon showing strength and dignity.
Video Dragon dance
History
During the Han Dynasty, various forms of dragon dance were described in ancient texts. Rain dancing performed during the drought may involve the use of dragon figures as a Chinese dragon associated with rain in ancient China, for example the Yinglong dragon is considered a rain god, and Shenlong has the power to determine how much wind and rain brings. According to the text of the Han Dynasty of Autumn and Autumn Dung by Dong Zhongshu, as part of a ritual to ask for rain, a clay statue of a dragon is made and children or adults can perform dancing. The number of dragons, their length and color, as well as the players can vary according to the time of year. Other dances involving dragons can be found in popular forms of entertainment during the Han Dynasty, the baixi variety show (??), in which the players are called "mime people" dressed up as various creatures like wild animals , fish and dragons. In his book Lyric Essay on Western Capital Zhang Heng recorded various performances such as a player dressed as a green dragon playing a flute, and a dragon-fish acting where the fish turned into a dragon. The dragon-fish dance version called "fish-dragon extending" (????) was also performed at Han's palace to entertain foreign guests - in this dance mythical animal Shenli (????) turns into a flounder, then on a dragon. However, this ancient dance does not resemble the modern Dragon Dance in their descriptions, and the depiction of dragon dances on carvings of stone carvings of the Han Dynasty shows that the props used may also be impractical, unlike the modern Dragon Dance in which the light dragons are manipulated by the performers.
The dragon dances of the Han Dynasty are also mentioned in the Tang and Song Dynasties. A character similar to the dragon lantern (??) used during the Lantern Festival is described in the Song Dynasty of Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital, where dragon figures mounted for display are made of grass and cloth. and in it many candle lamps can be placed. Such dragon lanterns can also be carried and paraded by the players on the street during the Lantern festival at night. Various kinds of dragon dances have been developed in different regions of China, for example, Zhejiang Fenghua Dragon Cloth (????) is made with bamboo frames and covered with cloth, and is said to have been developed in the 1200s. A form of dragon dance from Tongliang County (????), which originated from the worship of the totem serpent, began during the Ming Dynasty and became popular during the Qing Dynasty. In the modern era, the government of the People's Republic of China adapted and promoted traditional folk dances, contributing to the popularity of dragon dance form that is now widely found in China as well as Chinese communities around the world.
Apart from the popular dragon dance form, other regional dragon dances include one from Zhanjiang, Guangdong province where the dragon body is formed entirely from human chains of tens to hundreds of players; and in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province, dragon bodies are formed using wooden benches. The number of different dragon dances has been put in over 700.
Maps Dragon dance
Dragon Structure
The dragon is a long serpentine body formed from a number of parts at the poles, with a dragon's head and a tail. The dragon is assembled by combining the circular circuits on each part and attaching the decorative head and the tail piece at the end. Traditionally, dragons are built of wood, with inner bamboo circles and covered with rich fabrics, yet in modern times lightweight materials such as aluminum and plastic have replaced wood and heavy materials.
The dragon can reach its length from 2 meters (10 feet) operated by two people to a small screen, about 25 to 35 meters (80 to 110 feet) for more acrobatic models, and up to 50 to 70 meters (160 to 230Ã, ) for larger parade and ceremonial styles. The size and length of the dragon depends on the available human strength, financial strength, materials, skills and field size. A small organization is not capable of running a very long dragon because it requires great human strength, great cost and special skills that are difficult to manage.
The normal length and recommended body size for the dragon is 34 meters (110 feet) and is divided into 9 main sections. The distance of each minor part (like a rib) is 35 cm (14 inches); therefore, the body has 81 rings. Many can also be up to 15 parts long, and some dragons along the 46 parts. Sometimes dragons with more sections can be built in Chinese communities around the world to produce the longest dragon possible, because part of the dragon myth is that the longer the creature, the more luck it will produce. Sun Loong in Bendigo, Australia, was made in 1970, the world's longest dragon measuring about 100 meters (330 feet) and is believed to be the longest dragon used regularly. Longer dragons have been created for one time. The world record for the longest dragon is 5,605 meters (18,390 ft), in Hong Kong on October 1, 2012.
Historically the dragon dance can be performed in various ways with different types and colors of the dragon. Green is sometimes chosen as the dragon's main color, which symbolizes the great harvest. Other colors include: yellow represents a solemn kingdom, gold or silver symbolizes prosperity, red color represents excitement while its scales and tail are mostly beautiful and glittering silver colors at all times which gives a feeling of joy. Because the Dragon dance is not performed every day, the dragon cloth must be removed and has a touch of ultra paint before the next performance.
Performance
The dragon dance is performed by a skilled team whose job it is to bring the immobile body to life. The right combination and exact timing of different parts of the dragon are essential to make a successful dance. Any mistakes made by even some players will spoil the whole show. To be very successful in the dance, the dragon head must be able to coordinate with body movements to match the drum time. For larger ceremonial and parade dragon styles, the head can weigh as many as 12 katis (14.4 kg, almost 32 pounds). Dragon tail also has an important role to play because he has to keep time with head movement. The fifth part is considered to be the centerpiece and the players must be very vigilant as body movements change over time. Dragons are often led by someone holding a round object representing pearls.
Dragon dance patterns are choreographed according to the skills and experience gained by the players. Some of the dragon dance patterns are "Cloud Cave", "Whirlpool", T'ai chi patterns, "threading the money", "looking for pearls", and "dragon circling pillars". The "dragon chase pearl" movement shows that dragons are constantly pursuing wisdom.
The dragon moves in a wave-like pattern that is accomplished by the swings strung from each successive part. While this swing is the basic motion of the dragon, executing more complex formations is limited only by the creativity of the team. Patterns and tricks done generally involve running into a spiral formation to make the dragon's body rotate and spin on itself. This causes the player to jump up or through the body part of the dragon, adding to the visual appearance. Other sophisticated maneuvers include a variety of turning tricks such as bottle openers and more acrobatic moves where the players stand on their feet and shoulders to increase the height of the dragon's movements.
The performances in the dragon dance team combine several elements and skills; this is something of a cross-over activity, combining the training and mentality of the sports team with the stagecraft and talent of the performing arts group. Basic skills are simple to learn, but to be a competent performer requires special training until movement becomes second nature and complex formation can be achieved - which depends not only on the skills of individual members, but on the concentration by the team as a whole to move in cooperation.
The double dragon dance, rarely seen in Western fairs, involves two dancers entourage with dragons. More rarely is a dance with a row full of nine dragons, because nine is a "perfect" number. Such a dance involves many participants from various organizations, and is often only possible under the auspices of regional or national governments.
Competition
A number of dragon dance competitions have been held around the world. However, in competition performances, there are strict rules governing dragon body specifications and routines performed, so the dragons made for this event and what is mostly seen in the impressive stage performances are made for speed and agility, to be used by performing teams for tricky difficulties maximum. In this dragon, the head is smaller and light enough to be whipped, and must be at least 3 kg, body pieces are lightweight aluminum with sugarcane and most of the circle will be a very thin PVC pipe. The show is usually 8 to 10 minutes routine with an accompanying percussion set.
In more recent times, luminous dragons where dragons painted with glowing paint glowing under black light are also used in the competition.
Outside of China
Unlike lion dances in many Asian countries where there are many original versions of the dance, dragon dances are found in other countries especially among overseas Chinese communities. In Japan, the dragon dance (??, Ja Odori - also referred to as "Snake Dance" ??) is one of the main attractions in the Nagasaki Kunchi festival. The dance was originally performed by Chinese residents who settled in Nagasaki, the only port that was said to be open to foreign trade in Japan during the Edo period. The dragon dance has also been adapted for other local celebrations by the Japanese - the gold dragon dance (????, Kinry? No Mai ) has been performed in Sens? -ji in Tokyo since 1958 But there is a unique form for Japan - Orochi (big dragon or Japanese dragon) that can be found in the show kagura .
In Vietnam, dragon dance can be done during T? T, Vietnamese New Year.
In the literature
Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem "The Great Chinese Dragon", published in his 1961 anthology Beginning from San Francisco inspired by a dragon dance. Gregory Stephenson says that the dragon "... represents 'the power and mystery of life,' the true sight that 'sees spiritually everywhere appears in the material world'". Earl Lovelace novel "Dragon can not dance" uses the Carnival dance theme to explore social and historical changes in the West Indies.
Arthur Ransome combines dragon dance in his children's book Mislie Lee, part of the Swallows and Amazons series, set in the 1930s in China.
See also
- Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance
Note
External links
- Lion Directory - Lions & amp; Worldwide Dragon Dance Resource Center
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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