Chinese Dragon Dance
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The Dragon Dance Costume

The costume is a dragon's head and its long serpent-like body that the dancers hoist up and animate using attached wooden poles. The longer the dragon, the more luck it is thought to bring. The dragons can be anywhere from 80 to 200 feet long and require as many as 100 dancers to carry it. Traditionally, the Dragon Dance costume was made from bamboo hoops and wooden poles. Today, lighter weight materials, like plastic, are used to construct the frame, which is then covered in rich fabrics and festooned with lights, feathers, and other festive details.

The colors of the dragons import their own significance: green is symbolic of a rich harvest; yellow of the empire; gold and silver for prosperity; and red for good fortune and joyfulness.

dragon_head