What is the Chinese Dragon Dance?

What is the Chinese dragon dance?

Known as wǔ lóng in Mandarin, the Chinese dragon dance is a festive performance that’s most often seen during the celebrations for the Chinese New Year. Dragons are seen to be a symbol of luck in Chinese culture. So, by performing this Chinese New Year dragon dance, it’s believed that good fortune will be enjoyed by the community for the months to come. Dragons also symbolize power, dignity and fertility, but these qualities have less to do with the dragon’s involvement in the New Year celebrations.

The Chinese dragon dance involves a team of highly skilled performers that move in unison under a large, decorative papier-mâché likeness of a traditional Chinese dragon. During the performance, the dragon is supported by wooden poles, which are moved by the dancers to mimic its imagined movements, to the rhythmic beat of a drum. There’s usually also one person standing in front of the dragon with a large pearl, known as the ‘Pearl of Wisdom’. This performer is said to entice the dragon in its search for knowledge.

Traditional Chinese dragons might look a little different to the one’s most of us in the UK are used to - they’re said to be part stag, fish and tiger! What’s more, depending on the occasion, these dragons can be different colours. For example, green is sometimes chosen to symbolize a great harvest. Likewise, gold and silver are taken to represent prosperity. To keep the dragon looking fresh, it’s usually given a lick of paint before the next performance.

The dragons used in New Year celebrations are of varying lengths, with some as large as 100 m. It’s said that longer dragons are luckier than shorter ones, which means that high-profile events tend to have the longest dragons. If you were wondering, the record for the world’s longest dragon is over 5,000 m!

If you’d like to have a go at recreating a (slightly smaller!) Chinese dragon dance in your PE lessons, then you might like to try using this Chinese New Year Lesson Pack, which contains everything you need to get started.

What’s a lion dance?

The Chinese lion dance, which is known as wǔshī in Mandarin, is another kind of traditional Chinese dance that’s performed at special occasions, including New Year. As you might have already guessed, dancers operate a large, lion-like costume to mimic the movements of a lion. As with the dragon dance, this performance is usually accompanied by the rhythmic beat of a drum.

Unlike the Chinese New Year dragon dance, some versions of the lion dance involve movements from Chinese martial arts. In fact, it’s often the case that the performers of a Chinese lion dance are members of the local martial arts school. Performing the dance is considered a great honour, so if one school has lots of capable members, then that’s seen to be a reflection of the school itself.

In the past, and in areas with more than one martial arts school, this has led to conflict. It used to be a tradition that shops would hang a lettuce or other vegetable above the ground, at a height only a skilled martial-artist could reach. If someone managed to get the lettuce, then they would be rewarded with money. This was a problem when different martial arts schools came to the lettuce at the same time - they had to fight to decide a winner!

Of course, this fighting has long since stopped, and today, the lion dance is an eagerly awaited part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. Just in case you’d like to have a go at recreating this tradition with your class or child, then here’s a selection of Dance: Chinese New Year Activities we think you’ll love. You might also like this Chinese New Year Lion Dancers Fact File.

For an exciting Twinkl Originals tale to inspire learning, try 'Dragons in the City', a fantastic Chinese New Year Story for kids.

What is the meaning of the Chinese dragon dance?

The Chinese dragon dance has lots of different meanings, which come from a rich history that stretches back for over 1,000 years.

The oldest references to the dance describe it as being performed at times of drought, to bring rain. That’s because, in some parts of China, the dragon was considered to be the god of weather. According to this tradition, the colour, length and number of dragons varied depending on the time of year. Around this time, it was also popular for people to dress up as dragons and perform dances as a form of entertainment, but these dances were very different from the ones we see today.

China is one of the world’s largest countries, so it might not come as a surprise that a wide variety of Chinese dragon dances developed in its different regions, each with a different meaning. The Chinese government is responsible for having promoted versions of these dances, which explains their popularity today. And, as there are now established Chinese communities in all parts of the world, the dragon dance has become popular even outside of China.

If you’d like to learn more about the fascinating traditions and culture of China, then you might like to try these China Geography Lesson Plans.

Who dances the Chinese dragon dance?

As mentioned in the last section, there are lots of different types of Chinese New Year dragon dance. Often, the one that’s selected for a performance takes into account the skill level of the dancers. The English names for some better-known dragon dances are as follows:

• Cloud Cave;
• Whirlpool;
• Threading the Money;
• Looking for Pearl;
• Dragon Encircling the Pillar.

As a fun, creative activity, if you’d like to have your class or child perform their own dragon dance, then why not try getting them to name it as well? For more fun PE activities and lesson plans, you might want to head over to Twinkl Move.

How to organize a dragon dance?

Here is how you can organize a Chinese New Year dragon dance with your children:

1. Explain to the children that dragons are a very important part of Chinese culture and have been around for many years, playing a large part in Chinese history. A dragon is a symbol of power, strength and good luck and was thought to protect people from natural disasters that occurred such as earthquakes, floods and typhoons. Dragon images can be found all over China, on flags, clothes, buildings, stories and art. Dragon dances are usually performed during Chinese New Year!
2. Place children into mixed groups of around six. Children stand in a line and the first child is given a PE hoop, with ribbons attached, to hold.
3. All the children in the group take hold of the ribbon or cloth, which should stretch down the line.
4. Allocate a drummer. The drummer should beat a slow, steady beat to begin with (this should be modelled). With each beat, the children take a step. As the beat changes, the children move to the beat, with the child at the front keeping the movement and leading the way with the other children following.
5. The child at the front should be encouraged to make a 'rise and fall movement, with the other children following the lead. The pace of the drumming should change to allow the dragon's movements to change!
6. Repeat with other groups, whilst the spectators praise and evaluate each dragon dance!

If you need some help remembering these steps but still want to teach your children how to make the dragon dance, you can try our fantastic Dragon Dance Adult Guidance Sheet. The resource is an easy-to-understand PDF file, that you can print and start using straight away. It includes a list of the equipment you’ll need for the dance and the steps we underline above. Why not use our guidance sheet to give your students a fun and culturally enriching activity?

But how can you do the dragon dance without a proper song? You don’t have to worry about that either because we’ve got you covered! This Chinese Dragon Dance Song enables children to get into the spirit of the Chinese New Year with this fun song. All you have to do is print it and share a copy of it with your children! They will certainly love the eye-catching illustrations we’ve included in the resource.

Who can learn the Chinese dragon dance?

Although most people have to train for years before they can perform the Chinese dragon dance in public, there’s no reason you can’t explore it in your PE lessons, whether that’s at school or at home. If you’re struggling to think about how this might work, then here are some ideas to get you started:

• Chinese New Year celebrations often have a dragon dance. Can you do three actions that show how a dragon might move?
• Sometimes Chinese New Year celebrations have a lion dance too. Lions are fierce and strong - can you move like one? Put some music on and see if you can move like a lion in time to the beat.
• Houses are decorated with lanterns at Chinese New Year. Lanterns light up the room. Can you come up with three actions to show how a lantern lights up a room?
• Fireworks are set off to celebrate Chinese New Year. Think about how fireworks bang and pop in the night sky. Put on some music and move around the space as if you’re a firework.
• A fan is a lucky decoration for Chinese New Year. Fans move back and forth to cool the space down. Can you move around the space using your body like a fan?
• Find out one other way Chinese New Year is celebrated. Can you think of an action to show this way of celebrating?
• According to Chinese legend, the dragon has special powers that allow it to fly, swim and walk. As a fun activity, why not try seeing how many of these movements you and your class or child can incorporate into your dance routines?

Of course, if you think you’ve got any ideas for teaching the Chinese dragon dance, then why not let us know in the comments section below? We’d love to hear them.

Chinese dragon dance resources from Twinkl

Here at Twinkl, we’ve got loads of resources to help you teach about Chinese New Year and the dragon dance. If you’re struggling to find what you’re looking for, then here’s a selection of our favourites.

• Chinese New Year Writing Pack: this bumper pack of writing resources is perfect for livening up your English lessons this Lunar New Year. This bumper pack contains over 20 teacher-made resources, so there is something for everyone.
• Lunar New Year Colouring Pages: colouring has a variety of benefits for young learners - from mindfulness, to improving dexterity, and encouraging creativity. Colouring pages are also great for filling those 15/20 minute gaps throughout the day.
• Animals in the Chinese New Year Calendar: animals are a huge part of the symbolism in Chinese New Year traditions, and this Twinkl Original calendar is the perfect addition to any classroom.
• Chinese New Year DIY Dragon: this DIY craft project can be completed in the classroom or at home. And, the best part is that it only requires old plastic bottles and some basic craft equipment.

If you’d like to find out more about how Twinkl can help your lesson planning on the Chinese New Year, then you might like to watch the video below from our YouTube channel, which walks you through some of our top arts and crafts on the topic: