WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:26.720 Lion Art really is the expression of the lion as being a life creature. 00:27.720 --> 00:31.720 The physicality behind it, it takes quite a bit to do it. 00:35.720 --> 00:40.720 No matter if it's competition or if it's just a random performance on a Tuesday, 00:40.720 --> 00:44.720 we all love it so much and I feel like that's what makes it really special. 00:45.720 --> 00:57.720 I'm the chief instructor, also known as Shufu, of the Zhang Yikung Fu Association. 00:57.720 --> 01:02.720 So I started in Chinese martial arts when I was 14 years old. 01:02.720 --> 01:10.720 This is our 30th year teaching in traditional martial arts and also lion dance here in Madison. 01:15.720 --> 01:22.720 Martial arts schools traditionally are linked with lion dance culture in itself 01:22.720 --> 01:24.720 and they help celebrate the new years. 01:28.720 --> 01:32.720 When we start a performance, we always like click the rim and it's really loud. 01:32.720 --> 01:33.720 Everyone starts paying attention. 01:33.720 --> 01:35.720 Without the music, there's no dancing. 01:36.720 --> 01:45.720 The Sarping style that my teacher, Chansu Ki, from Singapore teaches us is really important 01:45.720 --> 01:48.720 because it's a beautiful style. The music is very festive. 01:48.720 --> 01:51.720 The style itself has prescribed beats. 01:51.720 --> 01:56.720 We can't modify what that particular beat is because there's a meaning behind the beat 01:56.720 --> 01:59.720 and there's a movement that the lion does with a beat. 02:05.720 --> 02:10.720 There's eight emotions that it shows. There's seven different postures, different ways of raising the head. 02:10.720 --> 02:19.720 And all of those things have to be taught very carefully because a small little detail can make or break 02:19.720 --> 02:23.720 the way that the structure looks or how the art is performed. 02:23.720 --> 02:29.720 And it takes a long time to refine that particular movement to trick the audience into believing 02:29.720 --> 02:32.720 that's a real creature rather than somebody under the lion. 02:32.720 --> 02:38.720 All of those are emotions that you're supposed to make the lion show through the big heads, 02:38.720 --> 02:44.720 which is very difficult. That's why it's not just a matter of blinking the eyes or moving the mouth. 02:44.720 --> 02:49.720 It's actually moving the whole body to express that sort of particular emotion. 02:53.720 --> 02:56.720 So you kind of have this particular area here that you're going to see. 02:56.720 --> 02:58.720 And then when you open the mouth, you can see through the mouth. 02:58.720 --> 03:02.720 But besides that, you can't really see what the eyes are seeing, 03:02.720 --> 03:06.720 which is difficult because a lot of times when the crowd comes over to play with the lion, 03:06.720 --> 03:09.720 they look at the lion, they're going like this in front of the eyes. 03:09.720 --> 03:12.720 The person has no idea what's going on. They can see that there's feet down here, 03:12.720 --> 03:15.720 but they have no idea what the person is doing in front of them. 03:16.720 --> 03:21.720 I can see the person's legs in front of me, and then everything else is black. 03:22.720 --> 03:26.720 Really going backwards. I got you right here. Ready? 03:27.720 --> 03:29.720 Like that, there you go. 03:29.720 --> 03:33.720 There's a lot of two-person work, right? So you have a head and you have a tail, 03:33.720 --> 03:36.720 and they have to communicate with each other and trust each other 03:36.720 --> 03:38.720 because there's a lot of tricks that they can do. 03:41.720 --> 03:48.720 If you want to do fun tricks like throwing people over your head or having people standing in your legs. 03:50.720 --> 03:53.720 The more you trust each other, the more you understand each other, 03:53.720 --> 03:56.720 the friendship grows and the more fun you have, and then the energy comes up. 04:12.720 --> 04:17.720 Usually for the viewers, we try to go with a story about the big-headed monk 04:17.720 --> 04:19.720 and how he plays with the lion and the lion. 04:20.720 --> 04:24.720 Overcomes several different obstacles, just like we do in daily life, 04:24.720 --> 04:28.720 and ultimately there's a big payoff in which he grabs some lettuce, 04:28.720 --> 04:30.720 which the lion is an agent of transformation. 04:30.720 --> 04:33.720 So he eats lettuce, but he spits out fortune. 04:33.720 --> 04:38.720 And when he spits out fortune, the idea is that he's being able to spread it to the community 04:38.720 --> 04:40.720 or trying to share it with everybody. 04:41.720 --> 04:45.720 We do grab the tangerines and we give them out as gifts to the audience. 04:45.720 --> 04:50.720 And every time it gives the gift out, it's kind of like the lion is wishing wealth. 04:55.720 --> 04:57.720 We want the audience to have fun and really enjoy. 04:58.720 --> 05:02.720 If you watch the performances, a lot of times you just see the kids light up, 05:02.720 --> 05:05.720 so they usually are like fascinated by it. 05:07.720 --> 05:12.720 Some of the reactions we've had from the crowd are just how much fun and excitement it was, 05:12.720 --> 05:15.720 especially hearing the live drums and music you played. 05:16.720 --> 05:20.720 The concept of equality and equity is really important for our team, 05:20.720 --> 05:23.720 and everybody and our team understands that, and they all help each other. 05:26.720 --> 05:30.720 Honestly, I think the main thing I want an audience to take away from lion dance 05:30.720 --> 05:36.720 is the enjoyment of the show and kind of a celebration of culture. 05:36.720 --> 05:45.720 We have like a lot of people from Southeast Asia that will come up to us and say, 05:45.720 --> 05:50.720 oh, watching your show just reminded me of being back at home and missing it so much 05:50.720 --> 05:53.720 is so great to be able to see it here in Madison, Wisconsin. 06:06.720 --> 06:08.720 Thank you.