Lion Dance in Spring - From Beauty… to Transformation

The bustling sound of drums “tung, cheng…” along with colorful, bright lions and dragons, performing joyful and lively acts, like wishes of good health, peace and luck, sent to everyone and every home before the New Year. However, in the past few years, this type of performance has been transformed by many individuals into an illegal business service – street lion dancing, and worse, there are many groups using this trick to steal from unwary households…

Lion dance, a cultural beauty that always attracts a large audience. Photo: TLM

Bustling Tet atmosphere

In Ho Chi Minh City and many provinces, during the holidays, there are often professional lion-unicorn-dragon troupes participating in art programs, exchange activities, festivals, and serving the public at music and dance stages. The high-quality performances in terms of technique and performance art have contributed to creating a vibrant competitive atmosphere between lion-unicorn-dragon troupes, and at the same time are the premise to promote the development of this type of cultural and sport across the country, helping the troupes to increasingly improve and confidently participate in national and international competitions.

At the 2nd Asian Indoor Games held in Macau, the Vietnamese lion-dragon troupe, participating for the first time, won a bronze medal. At the 3rd Asian Indoor Games - held in Hanoi, the Nhon Nghia Duong lion-dragon troupe from Ho Chi Minh City excelled in bringing home the first gold medal in this sport for Vietnam.

The talent, combined with the effort to study and practice of professional lion-dragon troupes, is now highly appreciated by experts, contributing to diversifying artistic performances to serve the entertainment and relaxation needs of the public, especially during the spring and Tet holidays. Master Luu Kien Xuong, Head of Nhon Nghia Duong lion-dragon troupe, said: “We resolutely do not allow any member to split off to form a group to “do business” in a haphazard and offensive way. With professional lion-dragon troupes in Ho Chi Minh City, most of them have binding regulations to help members of the troupe develop their abilities and avoid participating in shabby, scandalous lion dance groups.”

Transformation of lion dance groups

Due to the attraction of this type of performance, many groups and teams of lion and unicorn dances spontaneously appeared, making a living from the holidays. The spontaneous groups usually had about a dozen teenagers, led by one or two seniors who knew a little about lion dancing and drumming. The tools and props used were old drums, unicorns, and costumes of the God of Wealth and the God of the Land, etc., rented at cheap prices.

Right from the days before Tet, many lion dance groups have been wandering through alleys, into every neighborhood, alley, stopping at every house to dance lion to ask for money.

During the days before and during Tet, usually in areas with wide sidewalks, whenever a house opens its door, the "men" rush straight into the house, dance a few times, conveniently stick a "lucky charm" on the homeowner and wait for money. People often give 20,000 - 50,000 VND, while businesses are often forced to spend 100,000 - 200,000 VND before the lion dance group will leave. Worse, while the drums and gongs are beating, the "god of wealth" and "god of land" rush into the house to dance, worship randomly, if the homeowner is not vigilant, some valuable items on the table, on the cabinet, within reach... will fly away with the lion dance group. Last Tet, there were many cases of homeowners losing their belongings in this way.

Ms. Thanh Loan, who lives in District 3, said: “My relatives once lost two phones because they let disguised “gods of wealth” and “gods of land” come into the house to dance. Not to mention, there are several lion dance groups every day, so whenever I hear the sound of lion drums from afar, I close the gate.” Mr. Huy, owner of La Vang Coffee Shop on Luong Huu Khanh Street, District 1, is very afraid of the rotating performances of lion dance groups. He remembers last year, as soon as the first group finished dancing, he happily gave them 200,000 VND. However, as soon as this group left, another group came to dance, and there were days when three lion dance groups came to the shop. When the shop owner refused, the lion dance groups insisted that it was not good for the god of wealth to come to the house and chase them away, so they had to let them dance, and in the end, they had to give them lucky money.
All of these lion dance groups were established spontaneously, without a license to perform, but still exist and transform into a form of begging for money accompanied by theft. Because there is no specific governing body, when an incident occurs, it is very difficult to control the situation and to trace the origin and identity of each lion dance group. According to information from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the unit responsible for the activities of these lion dance groups belongs to each locality...

It is thought that local authorities need to strengthen inspection and supervision to promptly prevent the distortion of cultural activities during this Tet holiday.

According to SGGP