Dragon dance and lion dance

Dragon dance and lion dance

Being an ethnic Chinese who has been deprived of my cultural
link to my ancestors for the last three decades, I am indebted to
Mr. Edi Petebang who has boldly pulled off the shroud covering
the cultural heritage of the Chinese Indonesians (The Jakarta
Post, March 6, 1999, "Banned dragon dance reappears amid changing
political climate").

Let me point out the discrepancies between the dragon dance
and barongsai. Barongsai is what we call the lion dance. Barong
is the Balinese word for a mask worn in a dance. Sai is the
Chinese word for Lion. As the Chinese used to profess to be
descendants of the dragon, they regard the dragon with reverence.
To the Chinese it is the most noble of all creatures. It is the
symbol of grandeur, hence the formal yellow robes of the emperors
worn down to the last emperor of the Qing dynasty from the
beginning of Chinese history invariably bore the motif of the
dragon.

The lion dance or Barongsai is performed to enliven occasions
of a lesser scale, if an opening of a grand ceremony is preceded
by the dragon dance. The lion is for the lighter side of an
event, more frolicsome, acrobatic and does kungfu acts galore.
Therefore angpaws (presents) are handed to the agile lion through
its mouth. But the majestic dragon does not accept handouts this
way.

WIDIJARTO ADIWONO

Jakarta