Lion and dragon dance

The first National Lion Dance Club Tournament is an official tournament organized by the Vietnam Lion Dance Federation after more than a year of establishment, thereby standardizing the competition system, creating a playground for exchange and competition for clubs. "With this first national tournament, the movement is raised to a new level: both preserving cultural identity and affirming the sports and martial arts value of the artistic lion dance", director, People's Artist Nguyen Trong Trinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Lion Dance Federation affirmed.

With that important meaning, famous lion dance clubs across the country did not miss the opportunity to exchange and compete at this special event. 13 lion dance clubs from the provinces of the Central - Northern - Western regions, including: Ninh Binh, Bac Ninh, Lam Dong, Dong Nai, Tien Giang , Tay Ninh, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai and the host Dak Lak, gathered in a playground where each team brought its own style, along with the desire to affirm the identity of martial arts through each dance.

Traditional lion dance performance by Vuong Long Club of host Dak Lak .

The clubs compete in the following categories: traditional lion dance; traditional dragon dance; plum blossom lion dance (men); plum blossom lion dance (men and women); speed dragon and speed lion; dragon of choice and luminous lion. These are all difficult competitions, requiring good team coordination, smooth movements, strength, martial arts, and the indispensable element of artistry.

The drum and gong beats are sometimes urgent and urgent, sometimes slow, following each coordinated movement, making it impossible for viewers to take their eyes off.

The mai hoa thung competition was the highlight, attracting great attention from the audience, because this was considered the most difficult performance, requiring dexterity, skillful techniques, endurance and absolute precision when performing on the high pole system. With careful preparation and practice, the athletes performed daring juggling moves, exciting the audience, accompanied by a nervous mood watching the unicorns move on the high poles, sometimes rhythmically, gracefully, sometimes powerfully dancing.

The speedy dragon dance also creates attraction when the audience watches the dragons move, gracefully undulating, sometimes jumping forward, sometimes retreating, sometimes turning their whole body gracefully under the rhythmic control of the athletes. As for the luminous lion dance, it has both traditional elements and innovation in performance form, performance techniques with the application of light and sound technology, also satisfying the audience with its novelty and uniqueness.

Dragon dance performance by Long Nghia Duong Club (Thai Nguyen).

Within the framework of the tournament, along with the above performances, the organizers have brought the image of the Ly Dynasty dragon to appear throughout the tournament. According to the organizers' explanation, the dragon is a sacred spiritual symbol, the pride of Vietnamese culture, deeply ingrained in the Vietnamese people's consciousness. Unlike the Chinese dragon with its majestic and powerful appearance, the Ly Dynasty dragon has a very unique appearance: long body, soft body, winding like clouds, high head, body without large sharp scales but covered with tiny scales, symbolizing gentleness, delicacy, generosity, expressing the spirit of peace, openness and prosperity of the Vietnamese people in the period of independence and autonomy.

“We hope that through the tournament and the art of dragon dance, the public will better understand that the dragon in the Vietnamese mind is not a distant or borrowed symbol, but the crystallization of intelligence, humanistic spirit and national pride. The image of the Ly Dynasty dragon takes the audience back to the past, a journey back to the cultural roots, thereby raising awareness of preserving the unique cultural identity of the nation,” said Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak, Tran Hong Tien.

Dang Trieu

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-du-lich-van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202509/lan-su-rong-hoi-tu-8a220db/