An egregious oversight rectified
My tragic oversight, let me show you it.
In Sunday's polltastic post of polltasticness I failed to show you something crucial about lion dancing.
That would be the fact that in competitive (read: serious) lion dancing, they leap and spin about while on top of ten foot high poles. Since this type of lion dancing is performed by two-person crews, the coordination and athleticism involved is staggering. YOU try jumping around on top of poles in perfect synch with a partner. Competitive lion dancers tend to also come from trained martial arts and/or acrobatic backgrounds.
The lion dance is also very stylized, with many of the moves representing specific things.
So, from the World Lion Dancing Championships from 2004, straight from the GuanSheng Temple in Malaysia, watch the world champions perform to a packed stadium. Each team has their own team of drummers and musicians that accompany them - and check out how the drums are covered with Vegas-style lights (as well as the breathless TV announcers marking every move):
Speaking of stylized moves - note how, when the lion first appears, he appears to stop and lick his paws.
The World Championships are broadcast on television in numerous countries, and I have to wonder: why can't WE have awesome sports like THIS on TV? Screw hockey and football - THIS stuff is the shiznit. I'd watch ESPN if lion dancing were featured.
Here's another finalist from the competition, again with their own musical crew, riotously colorful drummers, and an awe-inspiring display:
How FREAKIN' COOL is that?
So, I have to ask this: oh wise flist, has anyone yet made a movie or television series about the high stakes world of competitive lion dancing? Or written a comic series? Because we need one yesterday.
By the way, it was lion dancers that were pictured in the first image in my entry on Sunday - some of you answered that you couldn't recognize what they were, so there you go.
Appropos to yesterday's post, Michael Paciocco promptly stepped up to the plate:
My sentiments precisely.
Other goodness - you know, I go on a lot about how brave Wonder Woman is, but it's time to give her mother, that being Hippolyta, some serious props.
Where do you think Diana got her consummate bad-assery from? From THIS WOMAN, that's who:
In answer to a few questions from Sunday's post:
The styles of Native American dancing pictured were, in order, the following:
- Chicken dancing
- One style of grass dancing
- Men's fancy dancing, a blended style that's evolved quite a bit over the years
- Lisa Odjig performing a style of hoop dance
If you didn't know any of that and you live in the United States of America, might I suggest you do a little reading and watching. Because to not know it and continue to not know it is a form of cultural ignorance that's untenable.
In Sunday's polltastic post of polltasticness I failed to show you something crucial about lion dancing.
That would be the fact that in competitive (read: serious) lion dancing, they leap and spin about while on top of ten foot high poles. Since this type of lion dancing is performed by two-person crews, the coordination and athleticism involved is staggering. YOU try jumping around on top of poles in perfect synch with a partner. Competitive lion dancers tend to also come from trained martial arts and/or acrobatic backgrounds.
The lion dance is also very stylized, with many of the moves representing specific things.
So, from the World Lion Dancing Championships from 2004, straight from the GuanSheng Temple in Malaysia, watch the world champions perform to a packed stadium. Each team has their own team of drummers and musicians that accompany them - and check out how the drums are covered with Vegas-style lights (as well as the breathless TV announcers marking every move):
Click to viewSpeaking of stylized moves - note how, when the lion first appears, he appears to stop and lick his paws.
The World Championships are broadcast on television in numerous countries, and I have to wonder: why can't WE have awesome sports like THIS on TV? Screw hockey and football - THIS stuff is the shiznit. I'd watch ESPN if lion dancing were featured.
Here's another finalist from the competition, again with their own musical crew, riotously colorful drummers, and an awe-inspiring display:
How FREAKIN' COOL is that?
So, I have to ask this: oh wise flist, has anyone yet made a movie or television series about the high stakes world of competitive lion dancing? Or written a comic series? Because we need one yesterday.
By the way, it was lion dancers that were pictured in the first image in my entry on Sunday - some of you answered that you couldn't recognize what they were, so there you go.
Appropos to yesterday's post, Michael Paciocco promptly stepped up to the plate:
My sentiments precisely.
Other goodness - you know, I go on a lot about how brave Wonder Woman is, but it's time to give her mother, that being Hippolyta, some serious props.
Where do you think Diana got her consummate bad-assery from? From THIS WOMAN, that's who:
In answer to a few questions from Sunday's post:
The styles of Native American dancing pictured were, in order, the following:
- Chicken dancing
- One style of grass dancing
- Men's fancy dancing, a blended style that's evolved quite a bit over the years
- Lisa Odjig performing a style of hoop dance
If you didn't know any of that and you live in the United States of America, might I suggest you do a little reading and watching. Because to not know it and continue to not know it is a form of cultural ignorance that's untenable.