Lion dance in celebration of Chinese New Year at a public library in the United States (2008).

Lion Dance
Excerpt from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

During the 1950s-60's, people who joined lion dance troupes were “gangster-like” and there was a lot of fighting amongst lion dance troupes and kung fu schools. Parents were afraid to let their children join lion dance troupes because of the “gangster” association with the members. During festivals and performances, when lion dance troupes met, there would be fights between groups. Some lifts and acrobatic tricks are designed for the lion to “fight” and knock over other rival lions. Performers even hid daggers in their shoes and clothes, which could be used to injure other lion dancers’ legs, or even attached a metal horn on their lion’s forehead, which could be used to slash other lion heads. The violence got so extreme that at one point, the Hong Kong government had to put a stop to lion dance completely. Now, as with many other countries, lion dance troupes must attain a permit from the government in order to perform lion dance. Although there is still a certain degree of competitiveness, troupes are a lot less violent and aggressive. Today, lion dance is a more sport-oriented activity. Lion dance is more for recreation than a way of living.

For the full content of this article, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_dance. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

Keywords:
Chinese holidays, Chinese New Year, festival, celebration, festivities, festivals, celebrations, culture, cultures, anthropology, cultural, Chinese-American, Chinese-Americans, Chinatown, Maryland, Montgomery County, Germantown, documentary photography, editorial, press photography, news, lion dance, kung fu, karate, east asia, china, taiwan

Ref: 2008_0157

Location: Germantown Public Library, Germantown, MD

Photographer: Irene Abdou