1st International Dragon&Lion Dance Contest Jiujiang, China

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The first international dragon and lion dance contest(Jiujiang, China) was held at Jiujiang University on 28th November,2006, organized by the General Administration of Sports, Chinese Dragon and Lion Dance Association, and Jiujiang Municipal Government. The leaders from the General Administration of Sports and thegovernments of Jiangxi Province and Jiujiang City and friends from home and abroad enjoyed the dances with the masses in Jiujiang City. There were 17 teams, from 8 countries and territories, to compete in this year’s competition, including 6 dragon dance teams,7 southern style lion dance teams and 4 northern style lion dance teams.

The Chinese people consider themselves as the descendents of dragon, which is in fact a fictitious animal combining features of some auspicious animals, such as the horns of a stag, ears of a bull, eyes of a rabbit, claws of a tiger and the scales of a fish, on a long serpent’s body. With these features, this divine animal is always associated with clouds, thunderbolts and rainfall. It can walk on the land, swim in the sea and fly in the air and is the deity of wind and rain. Chinese people believe it is the embodiment of power, dignity, luck, strength and success. Chinese emperors proclaimed they were incarnations of the real dragons to ensure their superior authority. This totem is so deeply rooted in Chinese people’s mind that it can be found almost everywhere in Chinese people’s lives. The dragon dance is an important festive tradition in China. It was originally performed to please the dragon, which is the deity of water, to ask for rainfall during drought years. Gradually it became an entertainment and a dance form for festive occasions, usually during the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. The dragons, usually ranging from several meters to more than 100 meters long, are made of light materials such as bamboo, wood, rattan, cloth, paper, etc. There. are poles attached to the belly of the dragon. Duringthe performance, performers hold the poles and raise the dragon, starting the grand dance with the beats of roaring drums. Sometimes a man raises a pearl and entices the dragon to follow his rhythm.

Though lion is not an indigenous animal of China, it is an important Chinese totem, the symbol of power, majesty and courage, capable of warding off evil spirits.

In Chinese legend, lion is the ninth son of the dragon and is the best employable guard, thus it is usually seen in front of royal palaces, offices and residences. Lion dance is a folk recreational and sporting activity, imitating the movement of lions. As an important tradition in China, it is usually performed with the dragon dance on auspicious occasions, as lions express joy and happiness.A good performance is believed to bring luck and happiness. Lion dance needs more skills of martial arts than dragon dance. Usually there are two performers who play the lion. One, handling the lion’s head, leads the dance and shows the lion’s emotions. The other plays the body and the tail. They hide themselves under a cloth hide attached with the head.

Chinese lion dances can be broadly categorized into two styles, the northern and the southern. The 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. The 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 color and has a distinctive head with large eyes,a mirror on the forehead, and a single horn at center of the head.

The Dragon Dance is often performed with the Lion Dance at the same time, which features a team of around ten or more dancers. The Lion Dance usually consists of two people.

The contest lasted five days. After intensive competition of several days, the team from Singapore won the Golden Prize of dragon dance. The teams from Jiujiang China and the ones from Italy won the Golden Prize of northern style and southern style lion dance respectively.

The International Dragon and Lion Dance Contest will be held ten sessions in the following ten years in Jiujiang China. It will carry forward the spirit of dragon and lion, and animate people’s cultural life. Through holding this cultural activity, we can strengthen the friendship between people in Jiujiang and friends from home and abroad, to promote the position of Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province even in the world.

(P.S. The second International Dragon and Lion Dance Contest has already been held in Jiujiang in November 10-11,2007. There were over twenty teams that participated in the contest.)