Lotus Flower Dance, Atlanta History Center, Chinese New Year Celebration
January 2008
I knew mine wouldn’t come out very well as I’m not an aggressive photographer. As in, though others were using their flash, I didn’t because I was concerned about all those flashes going off in the faces of the performers. And so I didn’t use my flash even though others were. And I sat with H.o.p. and my niece on the ground midway back from the performance, not wanting to leave them and not wanting to push to the front in order to get shots. Which all makes for not being a good photographer.
Still, I wanted to work on at least one shot of the Lotus Dance by which to remember the occasion.
On the table is a pair of lotus lamps that I picked up at a Chinese store in anticipation of the first Chinese New Year we ever celebrated, which was a couple months after H.o.p. was born. We even purchased an ox statuette as he was born in the year of the ox. And we started the practice of the little red money envelopes and cleaning the house for the New Year. I don’t remember why we began celebrating the Chinese New Year then, but we did. At least in our own American fashion.
Actually, I do remember. We began celebrating because of H.o.p.’s birth. I don’t know why we chose to begin celebrating the Chinese New Year, but we did.
I love those cheap little lotus lights with the pink bulb in the heart of the lotus flower.
At some point during the Lotus Dance performance the dancers began reminding me of my lotus lamps. Then something rather magical occurred and, despite the fact the performance was thoroughly human and had its share of hesitations, it was as if a veil had fallen around the dancers that was indeed the lotus blossom and I had, for the first time, a real feeling for what those little plastic lamps symbolize. I’m sentimental enough that it seemed that whatever hopeful spirit was attached in those lamps, by intention, came alive and unfurled on the floor over the dancers. And it was more than lovely. I thought, “It’s about Spring.” Which I’d not realized before. Today, as H.o.p. and I took a stroll around the internet looking up material on the Chinese New Year and its symbols, I wasn’t at all surprised to finally learn that it is indeed a celebration of Spring.
Eventually we settled on learning about the Lion Dance, its origins, why lions when there are no lions in China, and that the dance we saw Sunday was a Southern style Lion dance.
We went through a number of Youtube videos of Lion Dances. The below was a favorite of us both.
For those unfamiliar with the dance, if you watch, note how the lion is progressing across the poles to the greenery hanging on the third pole from the end. This “lettuce” traditionally accompanies a monetary reward. At about 2:20 the lion attains the lettuce, consumes it, and then there is a roar of delight as it spits out the lettuce sans that monetary reward. The lion then consumes a banner that is unfurled in the second part of the video.
Leave a Reply