Hung-Sheng Lion Dance Theater
In recent years, Asian cultural arts have been performed to great acclaim internationally, and Taiwan’s cultural arts have also enjoyed a growing reputation. However, the traditional Temple culture arts of Taiwan’s people – and their abundant and deep artistic content – are seen comparatively rarely on the world stage.
During this tour, our group will combine some of the most refined works of our past temple festival repertoire, including traditional folk art dances such as the Dragon Dance and the intricate Dance of Eight Generals. This combination further refines what was originally simply temple festival tradition of the “Waking Lion,” giving the performance still greater style and uniqueness. Taking the “Waking Lion Gong and Drum Dance” as its focal point, and aided by the extravagant ostentation of religion, the program reveals a new face to Taiwan’s temple arts, allowing viewers to enter the realm of the folk temple festival and see its liveliness and vibrancy.
Revealing the Refined Performance Culture of the Temple Festival
In order to convey the artistic culture of Taiwan temple festivals, this performance will use traditional religious ceremonial form and will take place amidst the sound of gongs and drums ,.
The prelude to the performance will involve black flags, horns, and gongs, and then the gods General Hsieh and General Fan (Qi Ye and Ba Ye), who represent the avoidance of evil spirits and bring felicity, as well as the Three Princes, the Generals and other gods, will circle round, bringing good luck. The purpose of this part of the performance is twofold: one, to proclaim that a fine play is about to take place, and two, to attract an audience and gather them together.
Hung-Sheng’s special act, “Glowing Night Dragon,” immediately follows the prelude, bringing on the first climax of the program with its glowing Dragon God. In an evening venue, the glitteringly luminous dragons and Pearls tumble through the air, piling like clouds seemingly about to fall into the audience below. The dancing dragons convey the message of good fortune and wealth to the people of the world.
And then, another vibrant performance comes from the rhythms of the gong and the drum. Hung-Sheng is the first group in Taiwan to perform the “Drum Dance” from the “Waking Lion Gong and Drum Dance” alone, creating a new method performance in which the beat of the large drums are coordinated with that of the gong. Because the drummers have all undergone the most rigorous martial arts training, their bodies and hands are exceptionally strong. During the performance they coordinate the gong with kung fu moves, revealing the vibrant bonds of sound, strength, and beauty.
Finally, the Lucky Lion, as an auspicious totem, brings the last but best part of the program. This part is a favorite because of the Waking Lion’s use of a variety of expressions and emotions. Through its movements and expressions during the performance, the lion captures the surprise, curiosity, happiness, and fear of all creatures. Its extremely life-like appearance will surprise and delight the audience. During the performance of “Grab the Green” on plum branches high above, the Waking Lion must leap high over layers of obstacles before he can succeed in “getting the green.” This performance not only tests the depth of the martial arts training of the dancing lion, but also requires lively, quick responses. Its special, outstanding moves are perilous and after alternating bouts of cold sweat and relief, the audience never fails to break into cheers at the exciting conclusion.
Strong and stern gods and generals on tours of inspection, ever-changing dragon gods, intensely powerful drumming contests, and the lively, leaping Lucky Lion all come together in a performance with a plethora of highlights that is also a brilliant combination of the art of both traditional and contemporary Taiwan temple festival culture.
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Schedule
For further information, please contact Taipei Cultural Center at or tpecc.org
