Lion Dance 舞狮

CNY celebration won't be perfect without the performance of Lion Dance. It is believed that the 'Lion' will scare away the 'bads' and bring in the 'goods'. A team of with a few 'Lion Dancers' and musicians will be invited to houses, shops and even corporate buildings to perform, in hoping that it would bring good luck to the family members or more businesses.

My family owns a well-known building materials shop in Ipoh. Every year, on the 2nd day of CNY(年初二), the Lion Dance team is expected around noon time to perform at the shop. This tradition has been carried out for many years, even before I was born. I am still a first row spectator of that, although I'm now 24. Just like my cousins ........


This year, of course, there's Lion Dance performance at our shop. This time, they came with a 关公狮(Red lion). As to what I know, there are Black/Green(张飞狮), Yellow(刘备狮) and others. All the lions are named according to their colour, with a character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms(三国演义).

The musicians: - Setting up & getting ready

I'm coming in!

In front of the Altar, blessing for my Ancestors.

Half time, change of player!

In the showroom of the shop.

Look! The Lion is so Pro & Creative!

采青ing

Finale - Kowtowing

Thanks Dudes! Pity them, had to cramp in this tiny lorry.

Normally, the performance would be ended with fire crackers burning. Nevertheless, this is now banned in Malaysia. Too bad. Otherwise, we could see the floor covered by a layer of red colour pieces. It's definitely a good time to take good photo. Not only for the colour, but for the 'Noise' too. Long long time ago, people burned firecrackers as they believed that it would scared away the monster, Nian(年). Red, is always the 'In' colour during CNY!