Lion Dance in Antwerpen China Town @新年舞狮

History

Lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume.

Chinese lion dances can be broadly categorised into two styles, Northern and Southern.Northern dance was used as entertainment for the imperial court.
The northern lion is usually red, orange, and yellow, shaggy in appearance, with a golden head.

Southern dance is more symbolic. It is usually performed as a ceremony to exorcise evil spirits and to summon luck and fortune.

The southern lion exhibits a wide variety of colour and has a distinctive head with large eyes, a mirror on the forehead, and a single horn at center of the head. The Lion dance is often confused with the Chinese Dragon Dance, which features a team of around ten or more dancers. The Lion Dance usually consists of two people.

Last Saturday afternoon, I just saw lion dance in Chinatown.
I talked to the staff in the store, know the whole process of activities.
The Lion Dance team will send out a New Year's greeting card before two days.
If store want to lions come to New Year, they should to prepare firecrackers and red envelopes.

Hanging firecrackers in the store's door, after playing firecrackers
Lions will come to store. He will go in and walk around the store then take your red envelope. The red envelope is usually have 50-100 euro.
This behavior has a symbolic meaning is “best wishes for the success of your business. ”

I inched through teeming streets. What an interesting day.

I recorded the dance with my phone.
You want to see it?