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History of the Dance

From its origins in combining stylised depictions of natural animals, the Chinese dragon evolved to become a mythical creature revered in Chinese culture. Its physical form is a combination of many animals, including the horns of a stag, ears of a bull, eyes of a rabbit, claws of a tiger and the scales of a fish, all on a long serpent’s body. With these traits, it was believed that dragons were amphibious with the ability to move on land, fly through the air and swim in the sea, bestowing them roles as governors of cloud and rain in weather.

Dragons are believed to bring good luck to people, which is reflected in their qualities that include great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness. The appearance of a dragon is both frightening and bold but it has a benevolent disposition, and so eventually became an emblem to represent imperial authority.

The Dragon Dance itself originated during the Han Dynasty (180-230 AD) and was started by the Chinese who had shown great belief and respect towards the dragon. It is believed to have begun as part of the farming and harvest culture, also with origins as a method of healing and preventing sickness. It was already a popular event during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 AD) where it had become a folk activity and like the lion dance, was most often seen in festive celebrations.

Dragon dancing continued to evolve as a performance art and was often performed by members of martial arts schools as a side activity. Dragon dancing today is a symbolic worship of this powerful, mythological creature and contributes an important ceremonial role in celebrating Chinese festivals.

Performing the Dance

The dragon dance is performed by a skilled team who job is to bring the motionless body to life. The dragon itself is a long serpent shaped body on poles, assembled by joining the series of hoops on each section and attaching the ornamental head and tail pieces at the ends. Traditionally, dragons were constructed of wood, with bamboo hoops on the inside and covered with a rich fabric, however in the modern era lighter materials such as aluminium and plastics have replaced the wood and heavy material.

Dragons can range in length from around 25 to 35 metres for the more acrobatic models, and up to 50 to 70 metres for the largest, parade and ceremonial styles, since part of the myth of the dragon is that the longer the creature, the more luck it will bring. Performance dragons such as those CYSM uses are typically nine sections long, and are built for speed and flexibility – with a smaller cylindrical body, and a lighter, less adorned head and tail. The dragon is lead in performance by the movement of the dragon ball (literally “ – dragon pearl”) which traces the path and pattern the dragon will take. The energetic movement of the "dragon chasing the pearl" is also symbolic of a dragon’s continuous pursuit of wisdom.

To perform a dragon dance, the team move their sections in time – to dip, thrust, jump and twist the pieces as they run, bringing energetic movements to the dragon, as they follow the lead of the dragon ball. The dragon moves in a wave-like pattern achieved by the co-ordinated swinging of each section in succession. Whilst this swinging constitutes the basic movement of the dragon, executing more complex formations is only limited by a team’s creativity. The patterns and tricks that are performed generally involve running into spiralled formations to make the dragon body turn and twist on itself. This causes performers to jump over or through the dragon’s body sections, adding to the visual display. Other advanced manoeuvres include various corkscrew-like rotating tricks and more acrobatic moves where the performers stand on each others legs and shoulders to increase the height of the dragon’s movements.

These and many other complex formations are done at a vigorous pace during a performance, which always contain the respectful bowing of the dragon at the beginning and end. When accompanied by the drum, gong and cymbals playing a distinctive beat, the resulting performance is a colourful and stirring flurry of excitement that is very entertaining to watch.

Teamwork and Philosophy

Performing in a dragon dance team incorporates several elements and skills; it is something of a cross-over activity, combining the training and mentality of a sports team with the stagecraft and flair of a performing arts troupe. The basic skills are simple to learn, however to become a competent performer takes dedicated training until movements become second nature and complex formations can be achieved – which rely not only on the skill of the individual member, but on concentration by the team as a whole to move in co-operation.

Dragon dancing requires stamina and fitness, strength and speed, coordination and grace. Above all, a convincing and impressive performance requires perfect teamwork. A seamless performance requires each and every performer to have keen awareness of their specific role in the dragon as hesitation, lack of confidence or inattention by one performer can cause the entire dragon to stumble to an unsightly halt. Nowhere is it more apparent that a team is only as effective as its weakest team member.

Our training in CYSM concentrates on building solid core skills for dragon dancing. This focuses on two key areas; achieving the precise shape and timing of swinging the sections, and learning to run in the correct foot-steps of formations. Further training involves being able to jump, crouch and rotate whilst moving with the sections in a wide variety of shapes. The CYSM squad trains on Sunday afternoons throughout the year, peaking with more intense sessions towards the Chinese New Year over summer.

Whether at training in our hall, or performing on stage, street or arena - the CYSM Dragon Dance Team is a team in every sense – unified in spirit to concentrate on delivering outstanding quality.