ition to life

9 perfect remarkable skills

y bowing to the store owners, and
hen would go on to the next,” Low
aid.

Eugenia Chau, an instructor with
he Vancouver Chinese Lion Dance
\ssociation, explained that the let-
uce contains deeper significance
han merely a snack for the lion.

"The word lettuce in Chinese
ounds like 'money,’ so when the
ion gets the lettuce...you get pros-
erity for the coming year,” Chau
aid.

Having begun her training in
hina, Chau continued the prac-
ice in Canada after immigrating in
991. She said the training is rig-
rous, but it prepares her and her
eam for the intensity and nuance
f the performance.

“We do some weightlifting, and
ou also have a dedicated partner to
york with, so you have better tim-
ng if you have to do any acrobatic
noves,” Chau said.

Josh Pratt is a martial artist and
nember of Ken Low’s team. He
2d the lion dancers at Saturday’s

Chinese New Year celebrations on
Victoria Drive.

Pratt began training 16 years ago,
and now competes internation-
ally with the Vancouver City Police
Lion Dancing Team.

He said despite the depth of his
experience, he'd rather not be the
dancer responsible for the lion's
head.

“I prefer being in the tail,” Pratt
said. “A little less pressure being in
the tail, I think.”

On what began as a rainy Sat-
urday morning, Pratt and his crew
leapt and bound around Victoria
Drive as onlookers gasped and ap-
plauded the acrobatic ability of the
six people inside the three lion cos-
tumes.

As they made their way further
into the neighbourhood to collect
the offerings of lettuce hung out-
side of local shops, the sun broke
through the clouds and shone
down on what had become a beau-
tiful second day of the Chinese
New Year.

Lion costumes are
made overseas with
regional flair

= By PERRIN GRAUER

he costumes worn by the

award-winning Vancouver

City Police Lion Dancing
Team have each been handmade in
China, and are treated with great
care and respect by the dancers.

Josh Pratt, who has been involved
in lion dancing for 16 years, said
that each costume production facil-
ity has its own particular style.

“You can get different styles of
heads, with the way the eyes are
shaped, or the nose, or the mouth,
that determines who’s made it, or
which factory it comes from. They
all have a bit of unique style,” Pratt
said.

The basic form, he added, de-
pends on the region it’s from.

“So different cities within Chi-
na have a different style of lion
head,” Pratt said, adding that he
and his fellow dancers were wear-
ing lion heads made in the southern
Chinese style.

Colour, too, can be meaningful
for traditional performances.

“The colours traditionally have
some significance, but for the com-
petition stuff, not as much any-

more. So the red lion is good
luck, the yellow lion is good
fortune, green for money, blue
would normally be used for a

funeral, because it’s a darker
» colour.”
_ The heads themselves
are constructed from strips
of bamboo covered with
 papier-maché and finished
Y with reflective laser paper,
sequins, fur and paint. The
mouth is moved directly
by a dancer’s hand, while
the blinking eyes and flap-
ping ears are controlled via
strings.

Pratt said it takes some
practice to manipulate the

lion’s expressions while per-

forming a kind of gymnastics, but
that it’s all part of the care that goes
into the traditional practice.

Two of the Vancouver City Police
Lion Dancing Team's lions perform
at the Victoria Drive Chinese New

Year event on Saturday.
NATHAN GAN & PERRIN GRAUER PHOTOS

eat

The “illuminating mirror" (sometimes referred to as a third eye) atop one of the lion's foreheads. PERRIN GRAUVER PHOTO

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