Guangdong Song and Dance Theatre

Five dancers in Awakening Lion hold ornate lion heads against a dark stage. White, blue, gold, and red heads form an arc above a black lion head held by one of the story’s heroes (a lion dance champion) in a deep side lunge at the front. The performers wear layered, earth-toned tunics with wrapped forearms and lower legs.
Photo: Guangdong Song and Dance Theatre
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When Tradition Takes the Stage, I Stop to Watch

Ziying Cui

Two Chinese dance dramas make me reconsider what I call “my culture.”