Lion and dragon dance boys with passion

The barber's blood passion

In an old kiosk less than 10m wide², the popular barber shop of Mr. Ho Quang Chinh (born in 1984) is a familiar place where his friends who love lion and dragon dances often visit every day. With a thick Hue accent, he enthusiastically told us about the lion dance, about his family's love for the dance and the patient journey to spread it in the beloved land of Nghe An.

Back then, Hue Street was very small, just standing on the porch, you could hear the sound of lion dance drums and dragon dances resounding throughout the streets. Just like that, 5- and 6-year-old children like me would eagerly take each other to watch the lion dance festival and then be amazed by the adventurous and exciting twists, somersaults, and lunges. What makes this dance so close and familiar as a part of my hometown life is that it does not discriminate between men and women. As long as they have the ability, anyone, at any age, can participate in the performance. So back then, many times I witnessed my grandmother and mother transform into lions and dragons dancing on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival. And it was they who passed on to me a passion for this dance.

In 1990, because of the need to make a living, his family moved to Vinh city. Leaving the dreamland to start a new life in the land of hot wind and white sand made the young Ho Quang Chinh feel lonely and lost in the early days. Then that sadness quickly passed when the Mid-Autumn Festival came, he heard the bustling sound of the lion dance drums and eagerly performed the skillful dragon dance on the star lantern parade street of the city. His passion arose, he immediately signed up for the lion dance group and became an indispensable part of the following Mid-Autumn Festivals. A little older, at the age of 18, Ho Quang Chinh founded the lion dance group with more than 10 members who were young people with the same passion. And it was this core that connected many people who loved this subject inside and outside the city, so that up to now, the group has nearly 30 members.

30 people are 30 identities, they are different in profession, personality but share a passion for lion dance. Because the income from this profession is very little, the members have to find other jobs to make a living. Like Mr. Chinh who is attached to the hairdressing profession to make ends meet for his family.

Soul of Dance

Before expressing his desire to learn more about the requirements and unique characteristics of the lion dance, Mr. Chinh enthusiastically explained. "The lion dance is actually an abbreviation of "Unicorn, Lion and Dragon dance". These are the 3 mascots that bring luck and prosperity according to our ancestors' concept. Over time and market demand, I see that the lion dance is becoming more and more popular and many people invite to perform because this is the most beautiful dance, requires the most difficult techniques as well as brings the closest feeling to the audience.

The most difficult part is that the lion's head does not have a mane like a lion's, so when performing, you have to be skillful so as not to expose and show off the performer's weaknesses. On the other hand, if the dragon dance consists of a large group of people, it will be easy to create many positions, many styles and have a certain leisurely movement. Everyone also has a stick to control the dragon's body as desired. Lion dance requires the speed of performing the movements to be fast, strong and decisive, so it quickly loses strength. If the dancer is not really focused while dancing the lion, the head and tail cannot match each other. Especially the movements of climbing and stacking people up high.

Although, anyone can perform the basic movements if taught, but without passion, the dance will become soulless. The dance must be performed in a way that shows what the lion is looking for, if picking lingzhi, where is the lingzhi? It is still a lion, but the lion in each groundbreaking dance is different from that in weddings, New Year's Eve and Mid-Autumn Festival. Each dance exudes a unique personality and emotion of the lion.

Because of these strict requirements, the members of the group practice very hard. The dancers must have good health, and in addition to talent, they must know a little martial arts to be able to perform climbing and jumping movements. If not careful, accidents and injuries can occur. Especially, perseverance is needed to practice difficult movements skillfully.

Many people when watching a body dance performance often only focus on the artists who transform into unicorns, dragons or lions. But they do not know that the person who decides the success of a performance is... the drummer. The drummer in a lion dance is like a conductor directing an orchestra of dozens of people. The sound of the drum, in addition to creating a lively atmosphere for the dance, is also a command or signal for the members to coordinate with each other. For example, the rapid drum sound "tung tung tung" means the start of the dance, everyone moves up and down rhythmically like a lion playing, and the drum sound mixed with "cac tung" sounds, depending on each segment, the performers coordinate with each other or move left and right. Each lion dance usually has 7 segments such as: the unicorn moves, the eight lotuses, the orchid, the unicorn, the unicorn fights for a pearl, the unicorn rides a bridge, and the unicorn returns to the mountain. Each segment carries a different emotion, sometimes strong, sometimes soft, sometimes leisurely and dignified. Therefore, the drummer must be a long-time lion dancer to know the dances and understand the rhythms and melodies during the lion dance.

I have been dancing lion for more than 7 years before I can play the drum for everyone. Currently, my dance group only has 3 members who can play the drum. Therefore, the number of people who love this dance is very large, but those who stick with the profession are very rare. Recently, when many stores opened, they started inviting lion dance teams to come to their new home, but the salary only fluctuated from 1.5 to 2 million VND. While each performing group has 7 people, not including the cost of clothes and tools, the remaining salary is only enough for gas and one meal. However, overcoming all the difficulties, the happiness of those who follow this profession like us is to bring joy to everyone as well as preserve the traditional culture left by our ancestors."

“Don't write about us in a difficult, hard way.”

When the conversation ended, the members of the lion dance group were busy preparing for the practice session at the nearby park. We were also excited to join the crowd pouring into the park to enjoy watching the practice session. When the drums sounded loudly, the lions transformed themselves into skillful tricks, dances and stacks. What made the audience excited was the appearance of the boy Nguyen Tuan Duc. Although he is only in 8th grade this year, he has mastered the position of lion leader. The skillful movements and precise jumps are the result of nearly 5 years of hard training with his seniors.

And there are many other factors that bring youthful energy to the lion dance, such as the young man Nguyen Van Minh in Doi Cung ward. According to Minh, after watching his group perform on the full moon night organized by the ward, he was so excited that he insisted on asking his parents to take him to Chinh's house to join the group to practice. Thinking that it was just a child's whim, his parents and the group members were not too strict and accepted him to practice. In the early days, Minh carefully studied each movement of everyone but could not perform much. After a month, he returned and asked to dance in the lion head position, which made everyone feel apprehensive. Because new participants often take on the lion tail position because the lion head is very big, heavy and difficult to dance. But then the young Minh made the older members go from one surprise to another when he was able to dance in the lion head position continuously for more than an hour without getting tired, and even asked to continue dancing. While the older ones could only dance for 30 minutes before being forced to replace them. It turned out that for a whole month, he had bought the CD and practiced at home, and with his natural talent, he was able to achieve such an impressive achievement. Now the boy Minh is 17 years old and has become one of the young leaders following in Chinh's footsteps.

When the afternoon came, we said goodbye to Mr. Ho Quang Chinh amidst the bustling sound of the lion drums of the group preparing to practice for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival performance. Even though the only food they had before the hour-long practice session was a bowl of hastily mixed instant noodles, happiness still shone brightly in their eyes. Before leaving, he did not forget to remind me: “Don’t write about us in the direction of difficulties and hardships. Instead, talk about our joys when we are attached to our profession. Because all members have only one desire to pursue and burn with their passion!…”./.