A dragon dance is amongst the most auspicious traditions of Chinese culture. The dazzling performance is a spectacle to behold as expert dancers manoeuvre the long dragon body with flowing acrobotic movements. The performance can be made extra special in a darkened room with UV lights as the UV activated paint on the dragon glows and is made to ‘float’ through the performance area.
As part of the performance, the dragon makes ritualistic movements that is said to bring good luck and fortune to the company hosting the dragon. In ancient China, the dragon dance was traditionally reserved for nobility and large institutions due to its very powerful presence and ‘aura’.
Make your next event extra special by booking a performance by WACWs dragon dance troupe. Our team has years of experience performing for corporate clients and important delegates. Contact us today with your enquiry.
More about Dragon Dance
Background
Dragon Dance was initially conceived with inspiration and imagination and is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture. Like the Lion Dance, it is most often performed in festive celebrations. The Chinese Dragon is described as strong, powerful, beautiful and sacred animal. It is portrayed as a mythical animal that can live in water, land and sky. It is the combination of antlers of deer, body of snake, scale of fish, claw of eagle, and tail of phoenix.
In Chinese Dragon Dance, a team of dancers carry the Dragon on poles and a dancer carries a Dragon Pearl. The lead dancer lift, dip, thrust, and sweep the head, which may contain animated features controlled by the lead dancer and is sometimes rigged to belch smoke from pyrotechnic devices. The dance troupe mimics the movements of this river spirit in a twisting, flowing manner. The Dragon’s fabric and bamboo body can be as long as tens of meters.
The pearl of the Dragon represents the sun and wisdom. The pearl is carried by a dancer and is used to lead and charm the Dragon. During the performance, the Dragon is seen to be constantly chasing the pearl and symbolises that the Dragon is continually in the pursuit of wisdom.
The earliest records of the dragon dance were in the Western Han dynasty about 200 BC. Chinese dragons are strongly associated with water in popular belief. They are believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, or seas and have the power to decide where and when to have rainfalls. The dance was done to beg for rain during a drought.
Legends in China described the dragon’s appearance as having a body of a snake, the scales of a fish and long beard. Over time, it became more and more embellished in the minds of the people, acquiring the antlers of the deer, the eyes of the tiger-lion, the tail of the phoenix and the claws of the eagle – in short, using the distinctive features of other creatures until it became what we see today.