Sunday, 6 February 2011

Happy Chinese New Year!


My first week of trying to think like a social anthropologist has proved challenging and exhilarating. Today I was lucky enough to stumble upon a Chinese dance ceremony, celebrating the Chinese New Year, outside an oriental restaurant in the Botanic area. A small crowd had gathered around a colourful dancing “Chinese Dragon” who was leaping and rippling to the beat of drums and symbols, whilst pretending to eat a small pile of scattered vegetables! (I captured some videos and photos of this which I will attempt to post alongside this blog!) Upon chatting to members of the dance troop, they informed me the ceremony was called, "cai ching", and that it was Chinese custom to travel around various Chinese run businesses in the area and to a certain extent “bless” them with good luck, symbolized through the dragon being revitalized and satisfied by eating the vegetables. The members of the dance troop varied greatly in age, from teenagers to elderly men, and not all of a Chinese decent. The younger men took it in turns to dawn the costume and perform the dance, with the dragon backing in and out of the restaurant, lowering and raising itself to varying rhythms which visibly required great strength and control of the leg muscles. The elderly men played the instruments and looked in as if moved and inspired I must add. The watching locals were intrigued and captivated, capturing videos on their mobile phones, many drawn out of the neighboring cafes and restaurants to watch.


In relation to the week one lecture and reading, this ceremony highlighted, for me, the themes of globalization through dance, as well as the notion of ‘transformation’ in the performer. The unlikely fusion of the Belfast Street I walk every day and the colorful explosion of Chinese rhythm, costume and dance emphasized the former, while the way in which the men giving life to the Chinese Dragon moved with such character and precision really highlighted the latter, with the notion of transformation and almost a heightened level of spirituality, as they ‘became’ the dragon. I found the ceremony really interesting and a breath of fresh air in Belfast, this style of dancing is really fascinating due to its ceremonial nature, varying rhythms and feats of incredible physical strength and discipline, I may go on to research it further!

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