Living in New York City, we are really fortunate to able to see so many different cultural practices and traditions and diversity at large.

Chinese Lion Dance has been around for over a thousand years, and I am extremely glad to be part of such an old traditional practice and art form. Lions are represented as guardians, which is why many times you might see a lion statue in front of Chinese buildings or historical Chinese imperial structures. In Chinese Lion Dancing, the lion is used to scare away evil spirits or bad "stuff" at large in going into each store as seen on Chinese New Years in Chinatown. As I have been told by the creator of the Chinese Lion group, the eating of the lettuce and throwing it back at the owners of the store are done to bring good luck and fortune. However, many people do not know that Chinese Lion Dance in NYC was used for negative effects as well. Many times Chinese Lion Dance groups mainly during the 1990s was using the exhilarting performances in front of each store for extortion fees given in red envelopes during Chinese New Years. This is soemthing that is really hidden and not known by many.

Going back to the more postive side of Chinese Lion Dance, its a unique type of dance. Chinese Lion Dance requires two people, one for the head and one for the tail. Both roles are hard because it requires the performers to act in unison according to the beat of the drum while acting exactly like a LION. The drum in Chinese Lion Dance could be classified as the leader because the cymbals and gong and the lion all follow each beat of the drums. Therefore, the performers in the lions have to know every single movement according to every beat and rhythm to the drums, which is tough if the performers don't practice enough. My favorite part of each performance is the stacks, which is when the person controlling the head of the lion jumps really high and the stacker, the tail of the lion, lifts the entire body above his head and lets him sit on it. The effect is amazing because its sort of the climax of the each performance. There are also many variations of stacks; the hardest one of them is the shoulder stack, where the head of the lion jumps and balances on the shoulders of the stacker. The height doubles and the crowds roar. The vibrant colors of each lion are also different, which brings the lion to life along with the sharp movements. Its really difficult to explain every detail, so if you ever have the time, stop by to Chinatown in Manhattan during Chinese New Years and see the performances. Its an extremely ecstatic atmosphere, in which I believe you all will enjoy.

This also relates to Mark Morris way of interpreting dance and music because the Chinese Lions also follow each beat and rhythm to each precise movement as to Mark Morris's choreography to each score.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW OF A CHINESE LION DANCE COMPETITION:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40-K2yi8qXs