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Dragons in the dark: World Luminous Dragon Dance Championship
CNNGo met Hong Kong's champion dragon dance team as they faced down tough competition from around the world
| The World Hong Kong Luminous Dragon Dance Championship 2010 was held on January 23 at the Hong Kong Coliseum and we got to meet Hong Kong's top team before their performance.
The 'luminous' dragon dance is a twist on the conventional Chinese dragon dance. Traditionally performed in broad daylight during major festivals to ward off evil spirits, the folk custom followed the Chinese diaspora to South East Asia where, in recent decades, the dragon has been transformed into a neon-clad beast lit up by UV light. This luminous modern version of the dragon is called "ye guang lung" in Cantonese, literally meaning “glow in the dark dragon." The biannual World Hong Kong Luminous Dragon Dance Championship gathers teams from around the globe for a spectacular display of dragon dance skills in a darkened stadium. When we went backstage at this year's championship to meet the Northern Shaolin Lung Chi Cheung Martial Arts Association representing Hong Kong, we were expecting to find a nervy group of martial artists somberly stretching their limbs before the big show. Instead, we were greeted cheerfully by a bunch of young people in high-spirits; excitable yet at ease. When asked what will determine their win, team leader Wong Ming-chung said: "Luck. Luck is very important as there are so many factors out of our control when we perform. Dragon dance requires performers to think on their feet and react to the immediate situation very fast, as a team." |
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| Team leader Wong Ming-Chung (top row, fifth from the right): "Will power and focus also determine a winning team. You cannot calculate everything that will happen during a performance. All you can do is focus very hard and use your will power to react to unexpected things." |
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| The team runs through their routine in the parking lot outside the stage. Team manager, Lung Chi Fai, said that dragon dance is "a medium
through which a group of people strive very hard to achieve something
together."
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| The team's percussion ensemble started playing together through an after-school program. They designed their own costumes.
From right to left: Wong Chi-ying, Liu Man-chi, Chan Tzi-wah, Tse Wing-yu, Wong Chi-kei.
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| The ladies in action.
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| "When i used to play soccer in school, it didn't feel like a team sport," said Wong (center). "When someone scored in soccer, they became the star of the game. What about the efforts of the rest of the team?
"In dragon dance, when we win, we win together, and when we lose, we lose together. The team spirit is very strong." The Northern Shaolin Lung Chi Cheung Martial Arts Association came second in the World Hong Kong Luminous Dragon Dance Championship.
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| Teams from around the world participated in this year's championships, including the one above from New Zealand.
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| Singapore's luminous dragon dance team was this year's winner of the World Hong Kong Luminous Dragon Dance Championship.
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| Taiwan also participated in the World Hong Kong Luminous Dragon Dance Championship. Competitors are judged on the level of difficulty, creativity, and finesse of their dance.
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| If you are interested in learning dragon dance or other Chinese martial arts, contact the Northern Shaolin Lung Chi Cheung Martial Arts Association (Chinese only) or the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Dragon and Lion Dance Association. |
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