Lion Dance

Date (1): 27th Dec 2009 In Penang
Penang Venue: Padang Brown to City Hall, Esplanade

 
Date (2): 30th Dec 2009 in Butterworth
Butterworh: Padang MPSP to Tow Boo Kong Temple, Raja Uda
Organizer: Penang State Government
Tel: 604-6505136
Time: 7.30pm to 11pm

The year-end party mood in Penang has set in with Chingay and Lion Dance troupe members displaying their skills in balancing the stilt poles for the annual performance.

This Parade is an annual street parade held in Penang. Today, the parade has evolved into a massive multi-cultural and international event.
The procession will be held in 2 different locations and dates.

Friday December 19, 2008

The Star Online

GEORGE TOWN: The year-end party mood in Penang has set in with chingay troupe members busy honing their skills in balancing the towering flag poles for the annual performance this Sunday.

Although there will not be any competition following the controversial contest last year, the 10 teams taking part in the event promise to give their best.

Penangites have a reason to party and rejoice this year’s parade following George Town’s listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Sunday’s parade will start at Datuk Keramat’s Padang Brown at 7.30pm and pass through Datuk Keramat Road, Penang Road, Burma Road, Transfer Road, Sri Bahari Road, Chulia Street, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling and Light Street before ending at the Esplanade at 8.30pm.

It will be followed by a three-hour cultural performance there.

Caught rehearsing in front of the historic City Hall at Esplanade on Wednesday was the North Malaysia Chingay Association which is sending the biggest team.

Its chief coach Lee Kok Keong said the members had been training throughout the year to sharpen their skills in balancing the flag poles weighing some 15kg each.

The members performed stunts like tossing the pole with their feet, catching it with their chins or foreheads, and balancing the pole while walking.

The organisers decided to hold the parade on a Sunday at the request of many groups who complained about traffic jams in George Town in past years on Christmas Day due to the event.

Most Penangites look forward to the parade which marks the start of the year-end party as the mood will continue right up to the New Year countdown.

Penang will hold a Lion Dance On Stilts competition at Komtar Dome this September. National level competition on 26th September. International level competition on 27th September 2009.

Admission is free.

Lion Dance

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

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

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 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

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

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

Leap of faith

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!