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Lion, dragon dance troupes in hot demand to usher in 2024 Year of the Dragon

2024-01-10 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - Some lion and dragon dance troupes here are seeing an increased demand for their services in the coming Year of the Dragon, and are intensifying their training sessions.

One of them is Nickiseverywhere Team Quan Shen Dragon and Lion Dance Centre, which has received about 28 requests to perform between Jan 6 and Feb 29.

Founder Nick Ong says they are for events that celebrate the Chinese New Year (CNY), as well as performances every day from Feb 9 to 24.

He added that in 2024, they have received between 60 per cent and 250 per cent more orders than in the same period from 2020 to 2022.

Mr Ong said: “I’m worrying about the manpower (we have) every day, as I’m afraid that I cannot give my clients the slot they want.”

He added that his troupe usually trains once a week, but may have four or more sessions a week closer to the festive period.

Feb 10, 2024, is the first day of the Year of the Dragon. In the Chinese zodiac, the dragon is seen as an auspicious character.

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In tandem, some home and business owners may engage lion and dragon dance troupes to perform at their premises to symbolically ward off evil spirits and bring good luck.

Lion dance performances usually have dancers under an ornate lion’s head and trailing fabric body moving to the beat of Chinese instruments such as drums, gongs and cymbals.

Dragon dance performances frequently involve men moving a dragon puppet that chases a dragon pearl, both of which are propped up by poles, to the beat of similar Chinese instruments.

Other troupes in Singapore have also seen rising demand to perform during the festive period, which runs for 16 days from the eve of CNY.

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The Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation told The Straits Times that as at Jan 8, it had issued 195 performance permits for the CNY period.

Its president, Mr Ang Mong Seng, said the deadline for permit application was Jan 12, and he expected to issue up to 230 permits for the upcoming festive season.

“In the last two or three years, the number of permits we’ve issued was lower due to Covid-19, but the demand is coming back,” he said, adding that the federation issued 201 permits in 2023.

“There are many requests coming in, and we expect the number of ‘cai qing’ (picking the green) performances by the troupes to go up to 4,000, compared with 3,000 in 2023.”

Cheong Cheng Dragon & Lion Dance Association’s team leader Kessler Tan said he had received over 40 bookings so far, which is between 35 per cent and 100 per cent more than the bookings for CNY performances during the pandemic.

He added that his troupe was planning to put in more sessions to stay in tip-top shape for the CNY period, even though they had been training throughout the year.

Fu Hong Lion Dance Culture Troupe founder Paul Woo said his troupe had 22 confirmed orders for CNY performances, and was expecting 80 more. Fu Hong had about 50 orders for CNY 2023.

Troupes try to liven things up by coming up with novel ideas each year, including gifting dragon soft toys in 2024. PHOTO: PAUL WOO

Mr Woo has bought more lion heads to prepare for an anticipated higher number of orders, and his troupe will also be mixing modernity with tradition by getting a God of Fortune mascot to perform the “Ke Mu San” dance, which has gone viral on Chinese social media platform Douyin.

Similarly, Mr Ong said he would be doing more for the coming Year of the Dragon.

“Every year I try to surprise my clients with something new. Since it’s the dragon year, I thought surprising them with something related to dragons will be most appropriate,” he said, without revealing details to keep the surprise element for his clients.

Some troupes have also designed their own dragon mascot to spice things up. PHOTOS: NICK ONG

While the troupes ST spoke to try to liven things up by coming up with new ideas each year, the prices of such performances have also gone up by at least 17 per cent in 2024 due to increased rental costs.

Mr Ong said the amount the troupe earns during CNY is mostly spent on renting lorries, equipment, storage space and manpower.

For example, the price of renting a lorry with a driver has gone up by 50 per cent. It used to cost $120 a day, but it has gone up to $180 this year, he added.

“My office and store rental used to be $3,800 a month, but has increased by about 30 per cent to $5,000 a month.”

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Mr Woo, who faces a similar situation, said while he expected his troupe’s bookings to double in 2024, he was concerned about the increased costs.

He added that he used to pay between $1,500 and $1,800 a month for lorry rental, but that has gone up to close to $4,000 a month.

“Customers always comment that we make a lot of money from performing, but they don’t realise that we also face a lot of unseen challenges,” he added.

“Last year, it was raining heavily during the Chinese New Year period, but we still had to continue performing in the rain. Our lion heads, which cost about $1,200 each, were destroyed by the rain, and we had to throw them away afterwards.”