credit: YouTube
Lion dance (simplified Chinese: 舞狮; traditional Chinese: 舞獅; pinyin: wǔshī) is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume. The lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Year and other Chinese traditional, cultural and religious festivals. It may also be performed at important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding ceremonies, or may be used to honour special guests by the Chinese communities.
The Chinese lion dance is sometimes mistakenly referred to as dragon dance. An easy way to tell the difference is that a lion is normally operated by two dancers, while a dragon needs many people. Also, in a lion dance, the performers' faces are only seen occasionally, since they are inside the lion. In a dragon dance, the performers' faces can be easily seen since the dragon is held on poles. Chinese lion dance fundamental movements can be found in most Chinese martial arts.
There are two main forms of the Chinese lion dance, the Northern Lion and the Southern Lion. Both forms are commonly found in China, but around the world especially in South East Asia, the Southern Lion predominates as it was spread by the Chinese diaspora communities who are historically mostly of Southern Chinese origin. Versions of the lion dance are also found in Japan, Korea, Tibet and Vietnam. Another form of lion dance exists in Indonesian culture, but it may be of a different tradition and can be referred to as Singa Barong.
The lion dance is known in Vietnam as the unicorn dance (Vietnamese: mua lan). Most lions in Vietnam resemble the Southern Lion – they are part of the Chinese Southern Lion tradition but have acquired local characteristics. There are however also distinct local forms that differ significantly in appearance and performance, for example the lion dances of the Tay and Nung minority people.[39] A court version of the dance is performed at the Duyet Thi Duong Theatre within the ground of the royal palace at Huế.
The dance is performed primarily at traditional festivals such as Vietnamese lunar new year (Tết) and Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival (Tết trung thu), as well as during other occasions such as the opening of a new business. The dance is typically accompanied by martial artists and acrobatics. A feature of the Vietnamese unicorn dance is its dance partner Ông Địa or the spirit of the earth, depicted as a large bellied, broadly grinning man holding a palm-leaf fan similar to the Chinese 'Big Head Buddha' (大头佛). The good-hearted spirit, according to popular beliefs, has the power to summon the auspicious unicorn, and thus during the dance, takes the lead in clearing the path for the unicorn. The comical appearance of Ông Địa adds to the festive and merry-making nature of the dance. (Wikipedia)
You should check this out lel; it's pretty rad.
I always went to Orange County to where most of the American-Vietnamese community were. There, there was a place called Phuc Loc Tho, a well-known Asian mall. There was always a kind of festival during the New Year.
At a certain time around noon, the 'lion'/'unicorn' would come out and the crowd would feed it money. The 'Big Head Buddha' would 'tame' it from going too wild.