TUGUEGARAO CITY — Villagers have been wowed as performers of lion and dragon dance with their movements in a string of performances at the SM City Tuguegarao mall, capping its early Chinese New Year celebration on Wednesday at about 6 in the evening in this city.
The student-performers swayed like real lions and dragons as they presented the traditional dance, a common event in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion’s movements in a costume to bring good luck and fortune.
The dancers later made rounds at establishments and were graciously given ampaw or red envelopes with cash gifts.
“Compared with the performances last year, this is a best performance ever that made shoppers enjoy the Chinese New Year,” Gerina Malubay-Torno, public relations officer, said.
The Chinese lion dance was played by two dancers, one of whom manipulates the head while the other forms the rear end of the lion, for each lion head. To show the courting and mating periods, two lion heads performed during the affair. Lion dance’s basic movements can be traced in Chinese martial arts and performed to a dynamic drumbeat.
Believed to bring good luck to people, the Chinese dragon dance culture believed that the longer the dragon is in the dance, the more luck it will bring to the community.
Just like with the lion dance, dragon dance is believed that the performances symbolize great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness.
The dragon dance is being performed by many people who hold the long sinuous body of the dragon on poles. It is played by a team of experienced dancers who manipulate a long flexible giant puppet of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon. The dance team simulates the imagined movements of this river spirit in a sinuous, undulating manner.
The lion dance is usually performed during the Lunar New Year and other traditional, cultural and religious festivals. It is also be performed at important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding ceremonies, or may be used to honor special guests by the Chinese communities.