Chinese New Year- Lion Dance

Lion dancing is a form of traditional Chinese dance. Two dancers (acrobats really) put on a lion costume. One person forms the back lets of the lion while the other person forms the front legs and carries the lion's head. The person in the front also is responsible for manipulating the lions eyes and ears. The lions dance, leap, and pose across a number of small circular pedastle lined up in a row that are about 10 - 15 feet off of the ground. The lion dance is accompanied by percussion music (drums and cymbals). I was lucky enough to see some lion dancers at the Pavillion Mall last weekend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_dance

The musicians and dancers get ready for the show.


The band.












An Unfortunate Incident

Sadly, at the end of a fantastic show there was an ugly incident when one of the lions ran wild. I don't know if you have heard about it on the news or not. Luckily, I was able to catch the entire sequence on film.

One of the lions gets loose in the crowd.


The runaway lion attacking poor defenseless children. It appears that the lion has a fondness for blond-headed white kids.


Struggling to save the devoured child.


Still struggling with the lion. It appears that this woman is trying to take a photo down the lion's gut to see if the child is still OK.


Video

Obviously, still photos can't do justice to the beauty and athleticism of the lion dance. Here is a link to a lion dance video. Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BftIBp-U5jc