China’s dragon dance event has been undertaken for many decades. In every Chinese New Year parade, there must be the incorporation of dragon dances. For instance, dragon dance is a form of traditional dances and performances that are performed in the Chinese culture. Unlike other dances, the dragon dance is always performed on the festive celebrations, and it is always performed by skilled and experienced dancers who tend to dance with a long flexible figure of a dragon using differently positioned poles at a regular interval along the length of the dragon. These dancers tend to simulate the exact movement of the dragon in an undulating manner. The dragon portrait is always regarded as a sign of luck thus the more extended the dragon, the higher the success it will bring on to the people in the community. Analyzing China’s dragon dance portrays different anticipated meanings and performances involved.
Dragon dances started in 206BC-24AD from the Han Dynasty and had never seized to be practised in the community ( Yü, 2016) . This act of culture was passed down from dynasties to dynasties because of its anticipated importance in the society. During this period, dragon dances were practised to appease the ancestors to have mercy and help the communities. The emergence of the dragon dance was due to the survival dependencies of the china people towards agriculture thus dragons were regarded as the spirits of rain ( Yü, 2016) . Therefore, the dance was acknowledged because they practised agriculture and so needed water to crop their plants.
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The Chinese dragons are believed to have power over rain, water, and food. Therefore, the main reason why dragon dance started was to appease the dragon so that rain would fall in the right amounts to provide good harvests ( Yuan, 2015) . On the other hand, they appeased the dragons to protect them from the hot weathers which may cause drought, hunger, and diseases in the community. Apart from good agricultural manifestation, the dragoon dance was believed to represent power, good luck and strength across the community thus becoming another main reason why it started. It is considered by the Chinese community that practising the dragon dance during festivals drives away evil spirits and ushers in blessings and good luck in the community.
The Chinese dragon is a powerful symbol in the Chinese culture with the supposed control over the watery phenomenon. For instance, the dragons were manifested in many aspects of the Chinese culture from their legends about their ancestries to the modern culture ( Yuan, 2015) . In distinguishing the origin of the dragons in China, there are some legends that describe the origin of the dragon and how it emerged in the course of china’s history. One good example that explains how the dragons were incorporated in the China history is that of Totem Worship theory where the yellow emperor launched the war series among the nine tribes on the yellow river valley thus incorporating the other nine tribes Totem into his dragon after their defeat. Therefore from this moment, this aspect explains why the dragons have greater attributes that belong to the other nine creatures.
Analyzing the instruments used in the dragon dance portrays the significant aspect and the relevant meanings of the dance. For instance, the dragon dance is accompanied by little music presentation and minimal instruments involvement, and the main concentration is focused on the movement of the dragon and the dancers participating in the dragon dance ( Tsouvala and Magos, 2016) . There is always a beating of drum and gongs which plays their beats differently.
There are no acknowledging famous people who have participated in the dragon because of the critical preparation of the patterns that are involved in the dance. For instance, the dance requires massive training and proper preparations and coordination’s because of the movement that is anticipated on the dance thus if there is a single mistake on the dance then the entire dance will be ruined. Therefore, there is no direct acknowledgement of the famous people who have participated in the dragon dance practices.
The dragon dance is performed by the trained dancers who are well coordinated and have practised in a given period for the dance. Moreover, dragon dance dancers depend on the size of the dragon, therefore, the bigger the dragon, the more the dancers and the lesser the dragon, the less the dancers. In most cases, the performers need to be very strong and fit and move in anticipated coordination. Therefore, the people who take part in the dragon dance are well trained and well-coordinated and flexible during the dance in the intended festivals.
The experienced dancers of the dragon dance tend to manipulate a given size of the dragon from using the poles that are positioned of the figure in a contemporary way. For instance, the dragon dance is swayed around but in a meaningful manner in one direction as people cheer and observe. Plus there is always a ball of given representational that the dragon tends to follow which has representational meanings in regards to the kind of ball that the dragon is chasing.
The dragon dance is always performed during the New Year celebration gatherings. Community and other members gathered to watch how the dragon struggles to catch the pearl which is never successful during the first minutes, but the stages of the dance grow more intense until the dragon reaches the pearl and grabs the ball ( SHANG, 2017). . This gathering come around to witness and pays respects by cheering on the performances and celebrating.
The dragon dance is always performed during the New Year parade, and it is always customarily performed across different performances like the Kung Fu performances, lion dances, acrobats among others. The New Year celebration is one of the joint celebrations that is celebrated by the Chinese community across the world, and it is always attended by the non-china origins to observe the dragon dance because of its entertainment purposes.
Through critical coordination of the dancers, the dragon dance starts by a man holding a long pole in front of the dragon head where he swings the dragon pearl from side to side while in perfect coordination of the tune and the dragon drums ( Yuan, 2015) . On the other hand, the dancer’s tend to move in well-strategized moves by the music. The dragon held by the dancer’s chases the pearl until it gets it but through great stages of the dance.
Through the strong believes of culture and traditions in the Chinese community, dragon dance is practically practised because of the reasons that were laid out and passed down throughout their culture. Therefore, the main reason that the Chinese practice the dragon dances in the New Year festivals is because they believe it brings luck into the community casts away evil spirits and helps their agricultural growth ( Tsouvala and Magos, 2016) . These are the main reasons why the dance is practised throughout the year with much seriousness by the Chinese communities even abroad.
References
Mathur, S. (2016). The new dragon dance: China's evolving growth model . Retrieved from https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&context=ami
Shang, H. P. (2017). The Dissemination of Chinese Dragon Culture and the Inheritance and Innovation of Dragon Dance in Colleges and Universities. DEStech Transactions on Social Science, Education and Human Science , (ichss).
Tsouvala, M., & Magos, K. (2016). The dance of the magic dragon: embodied knowledge in the context of transformative learning theory. Research in Dance Education , 17 (1), 28-41.
Yü, Y. S. (2016). Chinese History and Culture: Sixth Century BCE to Seventeenth Century . Columbia University Press.
Yuan, L. I. U. (2015). Cultural differences of Chinese loong and Western dragon. Studies in Literature and Language , 10 (3), 40-43.
