The Chinese Lunar New Year was celebrated on the 10th & 11th February in Malaysia. During this season the Lion Dance is preformed to cast off the evil spirits and to bring good luck and fortune for the coming year. The Lion Dance has a deep relation with the Chinese cultural traditions. The dance form is an expression of joy & happiness. The Lion is regarded as a creature representing good omen. With it's strength it represents a powerful figure that protects the people from evil spirits . It is a dance preformed during the New Year, cultural festivals, at the launch of a new business and even in wedding ceremonies. This dance is an auspicious sign in Chinese Culture and is preformed to the beat of a drum and clanging cymbals.
My neighbour staying opposite my house invited the dance troupe to preform the Lion Dance and I together with my neighbours watched this performance. Accompanied by the beating of a drum and clanging cymbals, 2 lions - one with the red dance costume denoting bravery and the other green denoting friendship and goodwill, approached the doorway of the house with specific steps and sniffed around - looking for evil spirits. The lions circled around dancing , stepped back, approached the door and sniffed again. The lions bowed 3 times nodding their heads up and down to the uncle and aunty of the house, which is a sign of respect and good luck greeting, before entering the house. They then bowed 3 times again before the alter in the living room and danced around for a few minutes after which they left the doorway tail first, then the head.
At the porch, outside the house the lions danced again. They rolled some oranges which were placed down to those who were standing around - which signifies that they are spreading good luck everywhere. According to the Chinese the words tangerine and orange sound like the words for 'luck' and 'wealth'. One lion with some coins in it's mouth then approached me and my other neighbours and opened it's mouth. We then reached into the lion's mouth to take the coins.
The owners hung a head of lettuce called the 'green' up against the ceiling of the house porch. The lion raised it's head up and picked the greens and spat out the
greens, scattering the fresh leaves around - which means spreading out
the good luck and good fortune to all those present. It then came outside the gate and from a pole hung a string of red envelopes. It 'ate' the money (this offering is a symbol of good luck and a reward for the lion for chasing away the evil spirits). After climbing down the pole, the 2 lions danced around. The house owner then lighted a string of firecrackers hanging from another pole. As the firecrackers exploded, the lions danced more frantically. The firecrakers are lit to ward off the evil spirits. After dancing to the explosion of the firecrackers, the lions then bowed 3 times again in front of the uncle and aunty of the house concluding the lion dance preformance.
