Lion dances are everywhere.

Lion dance is called lion dance in Jiangcheng. Among them, the word "dance" is pronounced as "Meng" in Yangjiang dialect, while "lion" is pronounced as "lion" with the same meaning. This is taboo, because the "lion" sound in Yangjiang is as unlucky as the "lose" sound. The following introductions of Yangjiang lion dance are basically southern lions.

In the old days of Jiangcheng, firecrackers and lion dances were always used for celebrations, especially during the Spring Festival. Lions worship the house in the early hours of New Year's Day. According to the secular view, the lion shakes his head with his tongue in front of the door, and the evil spirits hiding in the corner will be swept away. Therefore, they regard this as a "home of wealth" and respectfully and solemnly present "red envelopes" to the lion dancers.

People who have just built a new house will invite lion dancers into the house and dance layer by layer. Newlyweds want to have a boy early, they will invite the lion into the bedroom and let it roll on their own bed. Because "lion" and "lion" are homophonic in Yangjiang dialect, "lion goes to bed" is a good sign that "lion (boy) goes to bed".

Wealthy families and shops will invite the lion dance team to give special performances. Generally, they perform in an open space, and there are many people watching. Lion dance usually has various martial arts performances, the climax of which is "lion" and "picking green". Upstairs, the host lifted a big red envelope with a bamboo pole and tied a green vegetable. The lion dance team set up a ladder on the spot, allowing the "lions" to climb the ladder while dancing and climb to the top, and open their mouths to "eat" the red envelope and green vegetables. The most wonderful "picking green" is "picking coconut", that is, replacing green vegetable leaves with coconut. The lion must open the coconut hanging on it. Lion dancers often tear off coconut skins with their teeth and blow them up with their fists, which is impossible without real kung fu.

Nowadays, the lion dance in Jiangcheng is not only for the Spring Festival, but also for the opening ceremony and promotion activities of ordinary businesses. Lion dance teams are often invited to join in the fun, and they have become advertising practitioners, and their skills are much more exquisite than those written by Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty. The lion dance in Beili, xushui county, Hebei Province has a long history and is known as the hometown of lion dance in the north. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, festivals and major events were performed at Zhangjia Temple Fair. Everyone in the village, from the old people to the children, is dressed neatly and practiced. Created many unique skills, and the Lion Dance Art Troupe in our village was founded on this basis 1925, with a history of more than 80 years. In 1950s, the village lion dance troupe went to Romania with the Central Song and Dance Troupe to participate in the 4th world festival of youth and students and won the gold medal. His visit to six countries in Eastern Europe and his performance in North Korea achieved great success and were highly praised by party and state leaders. Since the reform and opening up, the lion dance in this village has attracted more attention and made great achievements. He has participated in the 8th, 9th and 12th Longtan Cup Excellent Folk Flower Invitational Tournament in Beijing and won the highest prize-the winning prize; Best Award of Music Spring in Hebei Province; 1994 Jin Jiu Prize of Shenyang International Folk Dance Art Competition; The 4th Stars Award of the Ministry of Culture; Special Performance Award of the 4th and 5th Qingdao Folk Art Festival; 1997 gold medal in China Tianjin Dragon and Lion Competition; The first prize of Golden Glory of the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television; He has participated in the Spring Festival Gala of Hebei TV, CCTV, Zhengda Variety Show, the 40th issue of East, West, North and South, and the 10th anniversary celebration. In spring, the roaring performance of the hundred lions is spectacular and superb. It is called the lion's deterrent and has a good reputation in Beijing. On the occasion of celebrating the return of Hong Kong and the 15th National Congress, the delegation was invited to Beijing to participate in large-scale performances organized by Beijing Municipality and the National Tourism Administration. He was received by party and state leaders Li Ruihuan, Li, Qian Qichen, Zhen and Lei Jieqiong, and was highly praised and praised by diplomatic envoys of various countries in China. Over the years, the troupe has performed hundreds of municipal and provincial performances, covering more than a dozen cities and regions across the country, enjoying a well-deserved reputation in China.

Lion dance is divided into literary lion and lion dance. The literary lion shows the static and gentle side of the lion, the fear when threatening, the kiss when intimate, the hope when expecting, itching, licking, stretching, rolling, pulling out ears, relaxing and so on. Exquisite and lifelike, really lifelike.

The lion dance skills are superb. Through the excellent performance of the lion, the lion can climb mountains and rivers, climb upright, jump, turn around, soar and jump, showing the dynamic and fierce side of the lion, especially the performances of Meihuazhuang and Shisan stepping on the ball, which are unique, thrilling and amazing.

From the past to the present, our village still insists on lion dance to celebrate every harvest year, New Year and Spring Festival. At that time, villagers from neighboring villages also flocked to watch the lion dance. These lions bring hope, joy and happiness to people. Everyone in the village goes out to work with the group, and has formed a lion dance industry. And was named as a folk art protection project by the state.

Over the past decades, the Lion Dance Art Troupe in our village has made remarkable achievements on the road of inheritance, development, innovation and improvement. It has trained and transported a large number of professional lion dancers and talents for the country and brother provinces and cities, taught and helped a large number of lion dance groups, and enjoyed a unique reputation in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. Stiff lion is a folk activity popular in Huangpi and Xiaogan, Hubei Province, and also a lion dance activity, especially in huangpi district.

The stiff lion activities in villages of Huang Xiao have different styles. Generally, independent lion swimming activities are held in the bay (the constituent unit of the village). Before the lion tour, several adult men were naked, with bare arms (civilization is advocated now, and many stiff lions in Huangpi Bay wear yellow and red jackets), kneeling in the hall of "Touren" (people who played with lions in those days), wearing red scarves on their heads, and then beating gongs and drums around them, firecrackers roared, making the room smoke for ten to several minutes. During the lion's swimming, the frozen clowns followed the lion all the time, like immortals. They were half naked, trembling and not cold at all. Sometimes they stop to play with sticks and swords, and sometimes they blow up with firecrackers in their hands without fear.

From the 13th to 16th of the first month of every year, the stiff lion began to take part in rural activities in Huangpi area of Wuhan. At this time, many people in the city will go to the countryside to see the stiff lion. Stiff lions are also called "general lions" (lion dancers are called "generals" or "clowns"), and lion dances in other parts of China are generally called "awakening lions". Stiff lions are special. Their jumping is seen by many people as Tai Chi. The stiff lion, that is, the "clown", is in a semi-conscious state after being smoked, as if possessed by the gods in the sky, and the lion dancer becomes extraordinary and has the taste of sacrifice. In particular, the night lights on the 15th are the most lively and wonderful. Stiff lions will not only climb to the mountains of tables, but also bite candles and take mascots from boiling diesel. Lions will also go to every household to play, and the heads of every household will take out fireworks to welcome the lions. Then an elder next to him said, lanterns are auspicious, and he prayed that the next year would be good and lively. This is a unique landscape that can never be seen in other parts of the world and a unique cultural heritage of Huangpi, Hubei Province. Tian Yang has a long history of lion dance. According to legend, as early as 1000 years ago, a lion dance was held in Tianyang, an ancient land. In the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1555), Madame Vashti triumphed in the war against Japan, and the people of Tianzhou helped the old and brought the young out of the city to meet her, and danced lions for entertainment. During festivals, the custom of Tian Yang people enjoying lion dancing has been passed down to this day. Different from the folk lion dance in other places, the lion dance team in Tian Yang, with the attention of the county government, was changed to Tian Yang Lion Dance Art Troupe and managed as a business establishment unit. During festivals, Tian Yang Lion Dance Art Troupe goes deep into streets, villages, factories, mines and schools to perform for the masses, and also participates in various activities such as opening and completion celebrations, song concerts and cultural trips to the countryside, insisting on voluntary performances and serving the masses. He has participated in the national and folk traditional sports meeting in Baise area, the National Games in Guangxi and the National National Traditional Sports Meeting, and won the first prize. 1996, Tianyang Lion Dance Art Troupe won the "Golden Lion King" award in the "Lion King in Bagui Longcheng" competition; 1In September, 1997, Tian Yang's lion dance performance was recognized as the best program in the China Folk Stunt Art Festival held in Fuzhou and Xiamen.

Since its establishment, Tianyang Lion Dance Art Troupe has performed more than 6,000 performances on large and small occasions, attracting nearly 10 million people, including more than 800 competitions and performances at or above the municipal level. * * * won 67 medals, including 30 gold medals, 22 silver medals, and 0/5 bronze medals/kloc, which were successively rated as advanced collective units in regions (cities), autonomous regions and the whole country.

The most striking thing is that Tian Yang's lion dance is not only famous at home, but also attracted people's admiration abroad. 1992, Tianyang Lion Dance Art Troupe was invited to perform in Bonn, Germany. The audience responded strongly and cheered constantly. The local media reported that it was highly praised as "the best skill in the world", which aroused great concern of the international community about lion dance in Tian Yang, and thus attracted lion dance enthusiasts from Japan, the Netherlands, the United States, Russia and other countries to come to Tian Yang for many times to learn lion dance and record lion dance videos.

Skilled but embarrassed to lose.

Tian Yang lion dance has the characteristics of being handed down from generation to generation, and its traditional style has remained relatively complete. The most commendable thing is that in the modern development, Tian Yang lion dance does not stick to a single inheritance, but innovates on the basis of traditional lion dance routines, which improves the technical content and enhances the appreciation. Members of the Lion Dance Art Troupe keep practicing for more than 8 hours every day, from learning horse stance, jumping, kicking, piling and prancing, to learning Nanquan and Qigong, and then learning various routines of lion dance. After strict training, martial arts and dance are integrated into the lion dance to achieve a perfect artistic realm. On the basis of traditional lion dance routines such as prancing, jumping, tumbling and tumbling, Tian Yang Lion Dance has created dozens of programs such as "Double Lions Playing Ball", "Lions Climbing the Golden Mountain", "Knife-tip Lion Skill" and "Lions Swimming in Plum Blossom Piles" through excavation, arrangement, reform and innovation. These programs have beautiful shapes, changeable movements and superb skills. Domestic researchers say that the lion dance in Tian Yang has the artistic effect of "high, difficult, scary, dangerous, strange and beautiful", while the lion dance in Tian Yang pushes the traditional lion dance skills in China to a new peak. The lion dance of Zhuang nationality in Tian Yang is characterized by great difficulty and breathtaking beauty, which embodies rich national characteristics. According to historical records, it has been spread for more than 450 years. From the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the ground lion dance, which mainly focused on New Year's greetings, celebrations and entertainment, gradually developed into a series of stunts such as "the lion climbs the golden mountain", "the lion crosses the overpass", "the lion with a knife tip", "flying the lion with a high stake" and "the golden lion is heroic", and has been involved in sports frequently, enjoying a good reputation throughout the country and even overseas.

Tian Yang Zhuang lion dance has many routines, rich programs and exquisite skills, integrating martial arts, dance and acrobatics. In nature, it can be divided into two types: the earth lion is a kind of literary lion dance, which is characterized by a lively and lovely naughty image. It mainly flashes, jumps, moves, rolls or makes funny moves on the ground for fun. Lions are led by players wearing naughty horses and smiling big head Buddha masks, and performed with firecrackers and percussion. They are usually used for holiday celebrations, New Year greetings and New Year wishes. Lion dancing at high altitude belongs to the martial arts school. Its main feature is the integration of martial arts, acrobatics and dance movements into lion dance, with high-platform performance as the main feature. Generally, a lion with a lion ball leads the way, teasing the lion to make all kinds of exciting modeling actions. It can climb more than 20 golden hills piled with high stools to show its majestic posture, roll and jump on the steel rope hanging high in the air, and perform belly turning at the tip of the knife.

Due to various reasons, Tian Yang Lion Dance Art Troupe has gone from peak to trough, and the number of lion dance art troupes has been greatly reduced, and its stunt is on the verge of being lost. The situation is very serious. The most direct blow comes from brain drain. Due to the low income of lion dancers, lion dancers have left the group to work in other places. In addition, some foreign lion dance groups have absorbed some foreign lion dancers with high salaries, resulting in brain drain. There used to be nearly 100 people in Tianyang Lion Dance Art Troupe, but now there are only 12 people left. A large number of brain drain makes it difficult to develop lion dance in Tian Yang.

I hope I can contribute to the inheritance of lion dance culture in Tian Yang.

Fortunately, the Tianyang county government has attached great importance to the plight of lion dance in Tian Yang, and called on people from all walks of life to pay attention to the development of lion dance, actively solve problems for the lion dance art troupe, and make contributions to recasting the glory of lion dance in Tian Yang.

Some experts pointed out that Tian Yang Ganzhuang Mountain Song Club has gained a good reputation, and how to effectively use the popularity of Ganzhuang Mountain Scenic Area to enhance the reputation of Tian Yang Lion Dance is also a problem worthy of consideration. Tian Yang Lion Dance Art Festival can be held during the Ganzhuang Mountain Song Festival every year, so that Tian Yang lion dance programs can appear during the Song Festival, attract tourists, expand their influence, build a lion dance brand, and let Tian Yang lion dance form a new shock wave of Tian Yang culture.

The relevant departments put forward to clarify the affiliation of the Lion Dance Art Troupe, which can be managed by the County Cultural and Sports Bureau, and a leader of the County Cultural and Sports Bureau concurrently serves as the honorary head of the Lion Dance Art Troupe. The lion dance art troupe should implement enterprise management and take the development road of combining "raising lions by lions" with "raising lions by economic entities". Reform the current family management mode, reform the benefit distribution mechanism, establish a transparent financial management system, improve the basic salary system, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm of team members. In the process of inheritance and development, we should strengthen market-oriented operation, actively strengthen contact and cooperation with the outside world, extensively and reasonably absorb social funds, and the whole society will invest in inheriting the lion dance culture in Tian Yang.

There is also a legend about the lion dance of Zhuang nationality: According to legend, in ancient times, people lived in hills and deep forests, wild animals haunted them, and the ancestors of Zhuang nationality were often harassed by them and their crops were destroyed. In order to drive away wild animals, ensure the safety of people and animals, and ensure a bumper harvest of grain, the ancestors of Zhuang nationality came up with the method of "driving away animals with animals", imitating lions, beating gongs and drums, dancing lions, and lighting a fire at night to drive away animals. Lions became heroes and auspicious symbols in the eyes of the ancestors of Zhuang nationality. They danced lions in festivals to celebrate their wishes. "Hometown of Lion Dance in China" —— Suixi County, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province

Suixi county government decided to hold Suixi Lion Dance Art Festival every year from 2005.

Suixi Lion Dance Festival was held once in 2005. It hasn't been held since then

In 2004, the first Suixi Lion Dance Art Festival opened on165438+1October 26th. On the same day, a wonderful lion dance performance and "Lion Country Night" were held in the cultural square and main streets of the county. 1From October 27th to February 8th, 165438+65438, lion dance teams from all over the country took turns to perform and learn skills. In addition, calligraphy and photography exhibitions related to lion dance were held.

Suixi folk lion dance has a long history.

The local government adheres to the principle of "active protection, rational development, effective utilization and encouraging competition", adheres to the concept of "paying equal attention to modernity and tradition and promoting the all-round development of cultural undertakings", actively develops folk lion dance art, and the lion dance team continues to grow. There are 255 folk lion dance teams, including 28 high-stakes lions, 227 ground lions and more than 10,000 performers.

Lion dance is a comprehensive art integrating martial arts, dance and gongs and drums. There are male and female lion dance teams in Suixi; Single lion, double lion; Ground lion, high pile lion; High-piled single lion and high-piled double lion form a unique artistic style of lion dance. Many lion dance teams won prizes in national competitions, and their Chinese lion dance teams also went to Paris, France to participate in the "China-France Culture Year" exhibition. In June, 2003, Suixi County was named "the hometown of lion dance in China" by the French Folk Writers Association.

Suixi lion dance belongs to the southern lion dance and enjoys the reputation of the hometown of lion dance. It visited many countries on behalf of China.

And served as the special guest of the lion dance performance at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Xinchang is also rich in lion dance resources, and loves to use the way of "lion dance" to look forward to a peaceful and auspicious year. Therefore, there are many lion dance teams in this county, among which the famous ones are Tang Hong Lion Dance and Ru 'ao Shangdi Lion Dance, Zhou Xia Lion Dance in Chengnan Township, Zhai Ling Black Lion Dance in Dashigu Town and so on.

The lion dance in Shangdaodi Village has become a climate since the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1736- 1796) and has never stopped. In the last lion dance class, there are generally 13- 16 people, including 3-5 people in the band (which can be changed alternately). Generally, the performance is performed on the threshing floor: one player throws a colored ball into the sky, and two players are busy getting into the lion's skin. A lion dances with a lion's head and a lion's tail, and a fierce lion flies up and chases colored balls, wagging his head and tail with the beat of drums, imposing and imposing, which immediately shows the humorous and interesting life-like state of the lion and the superb lion dancing skills of the lion dance class.

More than 80% people in Tang Hong Village can box and dance lions. Lion dance in Tang Hong Village is often associated with martial arts performances. There are three programs: first, the lion charmer pulls the lion out with ropes and hydrangeas and performs simulated dances in the four corners of the town; The second is martial arts performance, which is divided into two parts: boxing and equipment. The performers are rubbing their hands, fighting with sticks and swords, which is dazzling. Finally, the performance "The Lion with Hydrangea" was performed, and the lion juggler used hydrangea as bait to fight with the lion. The whole performance was accompanied by percussion.

The lion dance in the south of the city began with the sound of trumpets accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums. A double lion, one with a lion's head and one with a lion's tail, jumped out. Sometimes it jumps wildly, sometimes it is quiet, or squats or sits, or stands or walks, shaking its head and wagging its tail, looking around, coordinating its head and tail movements, and performing vividly. In the intense rhythm of gongs and drums, stunts such as "the lion drills bridge opening" and "the lion swallows mace" dance one by one. Lion dancers try their best to give full play to their usual real kung fu.

Zhai Ling Village in Dashiju Town is surrounded by mountains, and people around it call it "Xiaoliangshan". Lions in Zhai Ling are different from lions in other places. Their fur is made of black paulownia, so they are called black-haired lions, which means they are brave and invincible in the world. There are about 20 people in the black lion class in Zhai Ling. During the performance, they played a song "Urging the Wind" with gongs and drums, and played a loud trombone. Young people dressed in samurai costumes hold hydrangeas and lead lions to perform, one with a lion's head and one with a lion's tail. A very brave black-haired lion rose into the air and demonstrated the martial arts of the lion dancer with various difficult movements and humorous visual movements of life. After the lion grabbed the hydrangea, he changed to a martial arts performance. At that time, heroes of Xiaoliangshan emerged one after another, such as Big Fish Boxing, Small Fish Boxing, One Leg, Two Legs, One Leg, Flying Legs, Inverted Crawler and Carp Crossing the Beach.