Traditional Dragon Dance Costume - High end, 9 persons

Traditional Dragon Dance Costume - High end, 9 persons

This traditional high end red and gold costume for 9 + 1 persons is made of shiny satin fabric with embossed scale patterns in red and gold. In Chinese culture, these colours symbolise fortune and prosperity (gold) as well as excitement, emulation and warm seasons (red).

This costume was made by Chinese craftsmen near Guangzhou (town formerly named Canton) who have been making it for several generations.

The characteristics of the Dragon Dance costume

• Costume including dragon, cups, sticks and the traditional ball
• Crest made of thick rigid satin fabric
• Dragon designed for 9 people and the ball carrier (the leader)
• Dragon in shiny satin fabric and bamboo sticks
• Plastic cups to fix the sticks and give the dragon a relief and a well-rounded shape
• Number of sticks : 10
• Body length (aprox.) : 18 m
• Body diameter (approx.) : 33 cm
• Total weight (approx.) : 20 kg
• Sold with the traditional ball
• 10 costumes included

History of the Dragon Dance

The origin of this dance goes back to the Han dynasty. During this period, the inhabitants discovered a creature living in the mountains which, at nightfall, came to devour the inhabitants and animals. In view of these repeated attacks, the inhabitants were able to analyse the dragon's behaviour and deduced that it was afraid of light and noise; hence its nightly attacks. Every year, to avoid its arrival, the inhabitants decorated the village with lanterns and set off firecrackers. Years later, this festival became the Chinese New Year as we know it, where there is a lot of noise and animation during the performances of the dragon, which moves to the rhythm of drums, firecrackers, fireworks and light animations.

The monstrous conception of the dragon has evolved over the years to place the dragon as a symbol of rain synonymous with good harvests, bravery, nobility and luck. In addition, the dragon is the guarantor of the seasons and the different elements (water, fire, wind, earth), placing itself as a figure of prosperity and life in general.

The Dragon Dance Style

The Dragon Dance combines dance and acrobatics. Indeed, this dance has to be impressive and aerial to give the dragon a lot of realism.

At a Dragon Dance, there are not only the costume wearers, who are responsible for animating the dragon with long bamboo poles and making it perform artistic feats, sometimes with the dancers climbing over each other. The head wearer is the guide: he starts the dance and the dancers at the back have to follow his movements to keep up with the music and keep the dance flowing.
On the other hand, the ball carrier is the commander of the dance; he is the conductor of the orchestra. He dictates the dance with his ball and is responsible for exciting the dragon to perform impressive acrobatic figures.