For today’s session, we went to the Global Village to learn about the Lion Dance and look around the center. It first started off with a presentation, by Kwan, about the origins and history of the Lion Dance. It is celebrated in several parts of Asia, not just China, and means different things to everyone. The typical lion costume does not resemble a real lion because Chinese people did not know what lions actually looked like since they were not in Asia at the time.
The dance is different for every culture or society that celebrates it. Kwan showed us pictures of different lions. One Korean lion dance had a very cartoonish look on its face while other styles, usually traditional, were more typical of a lion face but still very fantastical. He showed us some pictures of what they look like in parades, which one stood out to me because Kwan said that one dance has the lion jump from stilt to stilt, which would require a lot of practice and balance.
He then showed us two videos of the Lion Dance. One was a very traditional dance led by the IACA a few years ago. Three men were involved, with one playing a large drum and two men in the lion costume. They were very coordinated and did tricks, like standing on each other’s shoulders and bouncing the head. I can’t imagine how much work that would require to get the performance so precise. The other video showed a recent Lion Dance that took place at an Asian fest. It was run by young girls and had peppy music rather than a drum beat. One girl would go in front of the lion and lead it around the stage. This performance was more contemporary while the first one was much more traditional.
After seeing the videos, we all tried the Lion Dance ourselves. There is a lion costume at the Global Village, which Kwan and Benny showed us how to wear it. Kwan played on a large drum while Benny instructed us on how to dance with the costume on. I was on the end of the costume, so I had to bend at 90 degrees and walk with the person in front who held the head. It was fun to go to the beat of the drum but I can’t imagine performing the dance professionally because of how much work would go into it.
After trying out the dance, we looked around the center for a few minutes. There are a lot of art pieces and cultural items for each continent in there. It makes the museum so colorful and welcoming. I saw some IACA pieces, like little models of houses in China that show just how many different cultures there are there. The Global Village was really cool and I hope I can go there again.