Chinese Dragon Dance

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Bringing the Dragon to Life

Like the Lion Dance, the Dragon Dance is performed in time with drums, cymbals, and gongs.  Precise timing and excellent teamwork are required to bring the beloved dragon to life.  Kung Fu practitioners are often chosen for their level of fitness, agility, acrobatics, and skill with weapons, which allows them to manipulate the poles of the dragon effectively.  To bring the dragon to life, the dancers make the dragon's body undulate, as though it were swimming or flying.  Their creativity and skill is then expressed through dazzling acrobatics, featuring corkscrews and spirals, the dragon swirling back on itself and ducking through the spirals, and lifts to elevate the dragon's head higher into the sky. The traditional patterns performed during a Dragon Dance include: Cloud Cave, Whilrpool, Trheading the Money, Dragon Encircling a Pillar, and Searching For the Pearl.  Searching for the Pearl is usually led by a man who has a ball (“the pearl of wisdom”) on a stick.  This pattern symbolizes the dragon's endless pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment.  During Chinese New Year the ball is often a red globe, which signifies the sun.  Combining their formidable artistic and athletic ability, the dancers bring the dragon to life, inspiring the same awe in onlookers that the dragon has for centuries.