Lion Dance on Stilts @ Esplanade

September 6th, 2009 in Rants by 7 Comments

Last night the lion dance at Esplanade was an interesting show, even with the strong winds, the show still went on, thank goodness it did not rain. I was there with my friends and friend’s dad who was also a photographer, we had quite a nice chat about photography techniques, and his travels, experiences.

Preparation for the dance

Preparation for the dance

Anyway back to the lion dance, as we arrived early we had the chance to see them preparing, and for the first time we saw that there were actually mattresses and cushions at the base of the stilts which were later covered with a green silky cloth as part of the decoration.

The crew

The crew

There was quite a crowd that came to spectate as well, the night started out with a dragon dance, which IMHO would have been better if it were not cramped up on the small stage. Did not bother to get any shots of it either.

The lion on stilts

The lion on stilts

The first Lion Dance performance by Team B was well done, nearly no mistakes, but it was not so smooth for Team A later on as there was a part where the front dancer kept falling to the ground, apparently it was due to the strong winds, or IMHO, was due to the dancer at the back being unable to grab onto him properly, but well I’m probably wrong as these guys should be well trained for the performance. Luckily nobody got hurt.

Gaze into the night

Gaze into the night

There was another performance with a black lion but due to bad placement of the drums, all we could see were the drummers backsides and some glimpses of the lion head when they were raised.

Qi Lin

Qi Lin

There was a Qi Lin amongst the lions as well, did not quite like the costume though as it looked to me like a hell hound, and again the view of it was obscured most of the time.

The black lion

The black lion

Leap of faith

Leap of faith

Playful Lion

Playful Lion

There will be an international lion dance competition on the 26th to 27th September 2009 at the Komtar Dome. Be sure to go check it out if you’re a fan of lion dance as it will be your chance to watch international standard lion dance right here in Penang!

Author: seraph

Web Designer by profession with over 6 years of experience in various industries such as education, corporate and creative. I also love photography and currently a part-time wedding and portrait photographer with over 4 years experience. I have a passion for art, design, video games and anything visually attractive. Visit www.aperture.my for my photography portfolio.

7 Comments

[...] may read my earlier post on the Lion Dance on stilts @ Penang Esplanade for some more [...]

my hubby used to be a lion dancer (back) before…when he was in secondary school…that is the outside social activity he played that time…almost 3 years he went out with the group early in the new year..house to house as they get order la . He got hurt but not the serious things they thought…as his age become older…after form 5 then he stopped to play and went to work in Singapore.

penny hu : im still remember...

9/6/2009

oh lucky his injury was not serious, go house to house, not bad, can earn some extra cash :D

Seraph

9/6/2009

The leap of faith is just perfect.

Sachiko

9/6/2009

hehe, lucky I got the timing right, kinda hard to follow their movements, very sudden.

Seraph

9/7/2009

The leap of faith is just perfect….

Arns

9/16/2009

Thanks for the compliments :)

Seraph

10/12/2009

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