Hung Gar Kung Fu & Lion Dance

About

Dating back over two thousand years, the lion dance is one of China’s most important traditions. Now associated with Chinese New Year celebrations, the dance spreads joy and prosperity. It also appears at auspicious social events like restaurant openings and weddings, where it is believed to chase away evil spirits and summon luck and fortune.

Lowell’s Hung Gar Kung Fu & Lion Dance is one of several Massachusetts-based branches of Chiu Mo Kwoon, a school founded by Grandmaster Winchell Woo, a revered figure in Boston known for teaching unforgettable lion dance performances. The school’s style originated in southern China.

Supposedly possessing mystical properties, everything about the lion’s presence is symbolic. The costume’s five colors—yellow, black, green, red, and white—represent the five cardinal directions (east, west, north, south and center) important in Chinese aesthetics. The lion walks in a zigzag path to confuse evil spirits, which the Chinese believe move in straight lines.

The lion is enacted by two dancers. One handles the head; the other plays the body and tail. The two dancers demonstrate energetic movements combined with strong kung fu stances to make the lions come alive. The head dancer moves the lion’s facial features to express moods. Three musicians accompany the lion, playing a large drum, cymbals and a gong.

“The story involves overcoming some obstacle,” explains Christopher Yee, now head instructor at the Lowell branch. “Harmony is essential for a successful lion dance—harmony between dancers in each lion, harmony between the lions … and harmony also between the musicians and the lions. There are times where the drum tells the lions what to do and then there are times the lion tells the drum what to play. The drum is the heart of the lion dance, and the cymbals and gong need to match the drum.”

At the festival, students from Lowell will be joined by students from the school’s other branches in Boston, Springfield, and Mansfield.