The Lion Dance Story
Once upon a time in ancient China. There was a big scary beast who had razor sharp teeth, giant claws, and a very mean growl.Most of the time he will stays in the wilderness, but at the rise of every new year, he would sneak into the village, and scare everyone in sight. The villagers called the monster ‘nian’ which means year in chinese.At the start of every lunar new year, everyone from the kids to the elderly all shut themselves in and hid within their homes. The villagers dreaded chinese new year for many many years. This was until a wise sage visited the village and told them what Nian was afraid of. Loud noises, fire and the colour red. And so the next time Nian came, the villagers fought back. They banged on their drums, lit all the firecrackers they could find, and wore the colour red from head to toe.Nian ran away and never came back. The villagers then started celebrating new year, instead of fearing it. This would be later be known as the first chinese new year. The tradition is now celebrated yearly all over the world. We not only perform the lion dance to celebrate chinese new year but also to tell children that they too can embody their fears and become a lion.
