February 3, 2009

It’s not usual for me to see live lion dancing in close-distance except in workplace, as it seems there’s often a habit for many companies to hire lion dancing troupes to give a short performance for auspicious reasons probably. But it so happened that this Lunar New Year I encountered two groups of lion dancing troupes in Sai Kung, a place which often gives me nice memories. And as far as lion dancing is concerned, it was where I got a glimpse of how lion dancing practice sessions are like.

Has anyone ever ventured into the now-deserted school (in the sense it no longer functions as a school because it has since moved and renamed) in Sai Kung, which is next to Tin Hau Temple? The classrooms look deserted but the outlook of the school still pretty new.  During my few times excursion there, I often saw a group of children/young people practising lion dancing. It’s a no easy art at all because it requires much physical strength. And it was there I met up with a girl aged about 10 years old but has been trained to act in the role of the lion head (The dance of a Lion is preformed by two performers, one at the head of the lion, one at the tail of the lion). An expert even at her young age, she shouldered (at least what I could see then) the expectations of her father, who’s a renowned lion master himself.  Several times she seemed to be on the brink of telling her own story – whether she really liked it or not , but it was also on these few times that her father interrupted the conversation, and expectedly, she swallowed the words.

Every time I watched lion dancing, I often thought of this young girl, wondering if she still performs it? And how it’s like to move the heavy lion head in such a lively way? Perhaps more importantly, how she’s going to pen her own story…

Written by: hiuylee