Lion Dance Costume, Southern Style - High end, Shen Lan

Southern Lion Dance Costume, High end - Shen Lan Wu Shi

This white  traditional costume is made of treated and coloured sheep's wool and wood & bamboo structure with a cloak made of white fur and blue satin-finished fabric with black edgings.

This costume was made in Guangdong province, near Guangzhou, by a family of craftsmen who have been practicing this activity for several generations. It is a high quality costume with very good finishing and fine details made by hand. The paintings and decorations are in the traditional style, the shiny details are in satin-finished fabric and the lion's fur is dense to make the costume as realistic as possible.

Characteristics of the Southern Lion dance costume

• Complete costume including cloak , head, two trousers and two pairs of shoes
• Southern style lion in sheep's wool and wood
• Head dimensions : 52 cm (+/- 2 cm)
• Cloak length : 190 cm (+/-10 cm)
• Composition of the head : wood & bamboo
• Trousers size : one size
• Shoe size : 37 to 47 (US : 5.5 to 12.5)
• Adult size
• Ideal costume for a size between 1.70 m and 1.90 m (5'7'' to 6'3'')
• Dominant colour : white
• Satin-finished fabric colour : blue with black edgings
• Ears, eyes and mouth can be moved with a traditional wire mechanism
• Extra fur included to add yourself on your shoes

History of the Lion Dance

There are many legends about the origin of the lion dance, but here is the most popular.

The origin of this dance goes back to the Hans dynasty during the development of the Silk Road linking the Western countries to China. The Western countries, which were very dependent on China at that time, decided to give these people a major gift: lions. This is an animal that was not present on the territory and the inhabitants, intrigued by this new species, decided to analyse and reproduce its movements.
This western gift thus, over time, gave rise to the traditional lion dance that we know accompanied by drums and gongs and which is performed during major events and festivals in China; notably during the Chinese New Year.
This dance is a symbol of courage, strength and wisdom and places the lion as a lucky animal guaranteeing good news.

The Lion Dance Style

• Southern Lions:
  The Southern Lions' dance is more solemn than the Northern Lions' dance. Indeed, the Southern Lions' dance is very punctuated and marked by martial poses giving a more wild and ferocious look to the animal. On some costumes, the ears and eyes are mobile to give the Lion more expression and character.
  Otherwise, the movements of the Southern Lions deal with real actions of the animal: clawing, licking its fur or swinging its body.
  The organisation of the dancers is the same as that of the Northern Lions: one dancer in the front (head and front legs) and one in the back (back legs and back structure).