Lion dance (醒獅) has been part of Chinese culture for thousands of years, dating back to the Han Dynasty (205 BC to 220 AD), where it was primarily performed in a religious ceremony. Today, it continues to be performed at special events such as Lunar New Year celebration, cultural festivals, weddings, birthdays, and business grand openings. By having the lion do the blessings, it is believed to ward off evil spirits, and bring happiness, luck, and prosperity to the people and businesses.
Although there are many kinds of lion dance, we do specifically the southern fatshan (佛山獅) lion dance. Our lion is fierce yet also agile that can jump high. Southern lion dance is popular in southern China and Southeast Asia, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore. Traditionally, the southern lion dance troupes were performed by martial artists of various kung fu schools. The lion dances to the beat of a large drum, a gong, and cymbals. The lion requires two dancers, one in the front handling the head, eyes, ears, mouth, while the other in the back handling the tail. It is quite different than a dragon dance which requires over 10 people to perform. The lion dancers must have good strength, power, stamina, flexibility, and balance in order to fulfill such a task. A Buddha (大頭佛) may be used to tease the lion with a fan, guide the lion in a crowd, direct the lion to the red envelope (紅包), or spot the dancers during a high acrobatic stunt. Hung Gar practitioners were well known for their lion dance performance. The legendary Wong Fei Hung first encountered his last wife at a lion dance performance. As the story goes, one of his shoes flew out of his foot during a performance and hit, which later became his last wife Mok Gwei Lan (莫桂蘭)’s face.
We offer classes for lion dance every Sunday. We encourage our students to participate in the lion dance practice as this can strengthen their gung (功) or fundamental. We are accepting new student of all age group and ability in our lion dance class. There is no charge in learning this traditional art. A student begins by learning musical instruments first such as the cymbal and gong. Depending on the student’s body type and interest, he or she can go on to learn either to play the drum, manipulate the head, or maneuver the tail of the lion. Lastly, the student can also learn the movements of the Buddha. Once the student is proficient in this art, he or she can join the lion dance troupe to perform in various events throughout the year.
Our price of the performance varies depending on the number of lions that is required, the place and distance of the performance, the kind of props required, and the amount of time it takes from start to finish. If you are interest in booking a lion dance performance, please contact us for a quote.
Here is a list of our more popular clients:
Ameristar Casino
Anheuser-Busch St. Louis Brewery
Ballpark Village
Captain Elementary
Chesterfield Day School
Chinese Student and Scholar Association – SLU Groups
Chinese Culture Day
Commerce Bank
Delmar Loop
Festival Of Nations
Fo Guang Shan St. Louis Buddhist Center
Gateway Dragon Boat Festival
Glenridge Elementary
Hollywood Casino St. Louis
John Burroughs School
KSDK Show-Me-St-Louis
Kung Fu Tea St Louis
Ladue Middle School
Little Saigon Cafe
Lu Lu Seafood & Dim Sum Restaurant
Lumière Place Casino
Mad Crab restaurant
Maryville Univesity
Olive Supermarket
Pokedoke restaurant
Richmond Heights Public Library
River City Casino
Saint Louis Art Museum
The Spirit Church
Spoede Elementary School
St Louis Art Fair
St Louis Community College
St Louis Master Qi Kungfu School
St Louis Public Library – Carpenter Branch
St. Louis Vietnamese Community
Sushi Koi
United Provisions
University of Illinois Springfield
Voncii Nail Salon
Wei Hong Seafood Restaurant
Wonton King Chinese Restaurant
World Affairs Council of St. Louis
Wyland Elementary School
Zenwich restaurant