AND ON THE 15TH DAY
February 21, 2008 by Jan Shim
… the lion danced for the last time this year! Like bees to honey, the kids at Chung Ching primary school in Seria got all buzzed up this last day of the Chinese New Year celebration. The lions performed in one classroom after another to the echoes of the drum downstairs.
© Jan Shim Photography
As soon as the lion made it downstairs, kids swamped to touch the lions head grabbing everything they can. I remember how certains bits would come off the lion’s head during a performance that kids would fight to get them afterwards. Interestingly, a passer-by whom I’d noticed standing among the crowd began tossing candies in the air much to the delight of the kids who was for a moment distracted by this improptu display of generousity.
© Jan Shim Photography
Mandarin oranges, a popular choice of diversion leading up to the centrepiece where traditionally more mandarins and pamello are used. This is where the lion performer demonstrates his skill in carving the fruit into an ornamental display!
© Jan Shim Photography
A school teacher showing her appreciation as the lion devouvered the bait. A feat no less challenging given how small the classroom door is.
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© Jan Shim Photography
This isn’t the last of the lion dance performances for the year. I am aware of two other events that are still celebrating Chinese New Year with promise of more lion dances, one being this Sunday at the Brunei Shell Recreation Club which starts 7pm and another on the 27th, the HSBC SPRING DINNER!
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spectacular coverage, brings you a step closer to the moment that was.
Great pictures and what a nice tradition to let the lions visit the school and its classes - am sure the kids were thrilled to bits!
Lion Dance brings back lots of memories
Was involved in this art form during my teenage years.
Mainly as the “Lion Head” but started with the “Lion’s Tail/Ass”
The thumbs up pic sums up the event and the photos for the event.
*Thumbs Up*
[...] day of Chap Goh Mei, the 15th and last day of Chinese New Year, we celebrated the morning with a lion dance at the primary school my kids attend. The remaining daylight hours were spent at home with the kids [...]
Beautiful pictures! What camera model / lens are you using?
A step closer to the moment before it disappeared for another year!
Unfortunately Chinese kids in non-Chinese schools are deprived of this tradition and before my kids were put through Chinese schooling, I never quite immersed myself in this tradition until fairly recent.
I pity the PlayStation generation who has lost the appreciation for this tradition. Sigh! Lion head or tail, at least you had a part in it. The same cannot be said for many kids today and parents are partly to be blamed for not encouraging their kids to take part.
It was one of those timely moments—right time, right place and certainly right hand!
My favourite body-lens combo for events like this is the EOS 5D and 70-200mm f2.8 IS. It’s very heavy but you sorta get used to it. Shooting available light makes the job a little interesting but at the same time not having a flash and strapping an external power pack makes a difference between heavy and simply cumbersome!
Best series of lion dance cover I ever seen, very inspiring! =)
Love all except 5th shot (not that it’s not nice, just love it less, hehe), =)
Gee, thanks! I wish I knew about the CHMS KB lion performance—that black lion looks like it’s ready for a mean fight. That evening factoring in the crowd and lighting would have been very interesting to shoot creatively.
If you’ve ever been asked to produce shots that are photojournalistic, the 5th picture would have been the first pick followed by first, second and third, not necessarily in that order .. essentially shots that tell a story in any given time and place. After doing this for a few years, it becomes second nature and the best photojournalistic pictures you see in the newspapers are fleeting moments which the experienced press photographers have an eye for.
[...] AND ON THE 15TH DAY [...]