The lion at work across the Washington area

What you are looking at

A lion dance photographs well because everything about it is designed to be seen from a distance: the bright silk and fur of the costume, the exaggerated expressions of the head, the low kung fu stances of the dancers and the scattering of lettuce leaves at the climax of the blessing. The images here were taken at events across the region, in restaurants and ballrooms, on sidewalks and plazas, and on festival stages.

The lions we dance are Southern-style lions, the kind traditionally danced by Chinese martial arts schools in Guangdong and across the Cantonese diaspora. The large head with its mirrored forehead, horn, blinking eyes and hinged mouth is worked by the front dancer; the second dancer forms the body and tail. The colors are not decorative. Traditional lions are associated with the heroes of the Three Kingdoms, and a yellow, red or black lion each carries its own character, from the venerable elder to the young fighter.

Look for the percussion behind the lion. The drum sets every movement, and the gong and cymbals answer it; nothing is played from a recording. Look, too, for the lettuce hanging at the doorway of a new business or the scroll being presented to a couple. That is the choy cheng blessing, the moment most hosts want photographed, and the reason a lion dance is more than entertainment.

The photographs at the top are from recent bookings: the lion working a shopping mall atrium under Lunar New Year lanterns with a balcony of spectators above, four lions raised together at a demonstration, the lion playing to the front row with its drum, gong and cymbals behind, and a close view of a Southern lion head showing the mirrored forehead and painted detail up close. The gold and red dragon, held on poles with the pearl at its head, is the team’s dragon dance, performed for festivals, parades and large celebrations alongside the lions.

The wedding photographs come from a reception in a gallery room hung with artwork, and they show what the dance actually looks like at a wedding: the lion working the floor with the guests pressed in a ring around it, playing to an older couple who reach out to it, rearing up at the height of the dance, and coming to greet the newlyweds. Nobody stays seated. That ring of guests, phones up, is the reason couples book the lion rather than another act.

The two archive photographs, the lion in front of the U.S. Capitol and the two lions at an indoor celebration, come from the school’s earlier website and show the team in decades past. The remaining images were taken at the school in Kensington: the four lion heads that hang above the training floor, Grandmaster Sifu Tai Yim with his senior students, and the weapons and forms that the same performers train in. If you have photographs from an event we performed at and would like to see them here, email us. To book the team for your own celebration, request a quote.