From Chinese Dragon Dance Masters
Sept. 27 , 2006
Dragon Dance |
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – After nearly two weeks of events and presentations at Wittenberg University, the Chinese Dragon Dance masters Wang Yuxi and Yang Hua returned to their homeland on Sept. 27. Touted as the foremost authorities on the ancient arts of dragon and lion dancing, Wang and Yang lived up to their prestigious reputations, opening doors to the rich and unique Chinese culture.
The visit culminated with a performance by Wittenberg’s Dragon Dance team, the only known collegiate organization of its kind, on Sept. 25. The students on the team received formal training from the masters during exhausting daily practices on Alumni Way, and the event served as an informal debut of a new Lion Dance team.
University President Mark Erickson, faculty and staff members, students and a host of young children from the community assembled in front of the Benham-Pence Student Center to enjoy the comical antics of the male and female lions at the start of the exhibition. As the resounding clangs of the gong filled the street, the pair responded to the teases of Emily Shelly, class of 2009 from Pittsburgh, Pa., rolling over, chasing their tails, scratching their heads and performing gymnastic stunts well beyond their week’s worth of training. The lion dance was highly theatrical, reminiscent of Chinese opera.
The dragon dance team performed its piece to the rhythmic pangs of Yang’s gong. Members snaked through the trees before displaying their new formations, coordination and synchronized movements, much to the delight of the crowd.
The campus visit started with a formal lecture by Wang and Yang in Bayley Auditorium. Erickson, a proponent of international education since arriving on campus in 2005, attended the event alongside professors and students with interests in East Asian studies.
Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance Shih-Ming Chang, one of the organizers of the visit, provided translation and explanations to Wang’s lecture. The masters afforded students a brief visit to China via DVDs and snapshots, introducing the awe-inspiring martial arts skills of the lion dancers and the vastly diverse representations of the dragon.
Dating back thousands of years to China’s Han dynasty, the histories of the Dragons and Lions, including each region’s take on the celebrated arts, were proudly traced by the masters. Both dances feature different numbers of participants — from one person to three, or in the case of the dragon, up to thousands.
he variety included umbrella dragons, flower dragons and rolling dragons — named after the materials from which they were constructed. But the crowd favorite was the dynamic fire dragon, to which Erickson declared, “We’re not doing that one here!”
Comprised of bareback men performing with a dragon made of fabric, the dragon is set alight while the performers continue their dance, protected only by a “watered down iron,” according to the masters, applied onto their skin. This fantastic show is to symbolize that the men are without fear.
The lion dances probably evoked more giggles from the audience than its snake-like counterpart because of some puppy-like antics. The most practiced versions of the lion dance include two partners, with one person controlling the head and the other the end.
In 2000, Wang and Yang coordinated 5,000 dancers performing with a 10,000-foot-long dragon on the Great Wall of China. This occasion broke the mark in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest dancing dragon. Renowned martial arts actor Jackie Chan waved the dragon’s golden pearl tease at the head of the line.
Outside of the Wittenberg community, Masters Wang and Yang contributed their knowledge to the dragon dance team’s exhibition at Springfield’s Culture Fest on Sept. 16. Incorporating only the earliest of the masters’ adjustments to their movements, the dragon dance team snaked through the crowds before performing under the pavilion. The next day, the Wittenberg team followed the masters to a public dragon dance workshop in Columbus.
“I thought it was a really great opportunity to have Masters Wang and Yang to come all the way from Beijing to teach us,” Shelly said. “They worked us really hard, and we want them to come back.”
- Christie Lue '09
117-06
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