This is stunning! Is this a Lion Dance or a Dragon Dance?

[Carol]

Ms. Restita DeJesus posted this clip the other day on Facebook. The link appears to be one dance from a competition. I started watching it, and was riveted by the skill of the performers!

The clip shows what I would think of as a Lion Dance...except the video hosts refer to it as a Dragon Dance. I really don't know much about the Chinese arts so I went googling.

Wikipedia says:
Lion Dance = 2 performers
Dragon Dance = More than 2 performers.

Seems reasonable, but is it accurate? I asked a colleague who is originally from Taiwan, and he said the distinction was not always that simple, and that there were some cultural differences. Unfortunately he never expounded upon what those differences are.

So....is this a Lion Dance? Or a Dragon Dance? Or is it not that simple (or not that important) to delineate between the two?

 

[clfsean]

Need a link Carol!

But if it's what I think it is, it's a competitive lion dance from Genting, Malaysia or a similar competition.

Competitive lion dancing is big $$$$$ in Asia & America for that fact. There are at least two groups I can think of off the top of my head that normally send teams from America overseas to compete. Aside from bragging rights, 1st place (last time I looked, albeit a while ago) was in the neighborhood of $10K US.

The downside to competitive lion dancing is that martial skills are no longer measured or even required. Some groups are practicing martial artists, but many aren't.

 

[Carol]

Gaaaahh! Sorry! Here is the link *blush*

- Amazing DRAGON Dance in Competition - Please SHARE Facebook

 

[clfsean]

Yup ... Lion ... Hok San styled head... Genting style high post competition...

 

[Vajramusti]

Ms. Restita DeJesus posted this clip the other day on Facebook. The link appears to be one dance from a competition. I started watching it, and was riveted by the skill of the performers!

The clip shows what I would think of as a Lion Dance...except the video hosts refer to it as a Dragon Dance. I really don't know much about the Chinese arts so I went googling.

Wikipedia says:
Lion Dance = 2 performers
Dragon Dance = More than 2 performers.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Where is the clip? Lion dance may involve a southern or northern lion.The southern lions generally have bigger and more expressive heads- and generally have one person working the head and another person doing the tail-thus four legs.
Tibetans have the white snow lion that also dances.
The dragon dances usually involve longer and thinner bodies and can have more than two performers.
The southern lions often have the strongest legwork.

Seems reasonable, but is it accurate? I asked a colleague who is originally from Taiwan, and he said the distinction was not always that simple, and that there were some cultural differences. Unfortunately he never expounded upon what those differences are.

So....is this a Lion Dance? Or a Dragon Dance? Or is it not that simple (or not that important) to delineate between the two?