Video: Welcome in the New Year with the Chinese Lion dance

The Chinese Lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion’s movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. The lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Yearand other traditional, cultural and religious festivals.

According to Disney, “In China, the winter season culminate with the arrival of Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. For more than 2,000 years, the end of the Lunar calendar has been observed and celebrated with many time-honored traditions. These holiday rituals may include a top-to-bottom house cleaning, family reunions, remembering ancestors, festival meals, and sharing stories. Businesses and homes welcome traditional lion dancers, who ward off the negative spirits of the past and spread the prospects of vitality, health, and prosperity.

“The Chinese New Year is also celebrated with an abundance of the color red. In Chinese culture, red is believed to be a lucky symbol of strength and good fortune. Families may dress in festive red clothing, hang red lanterns, and create red jianzhi – or paper cutouts – to decorate their living areas. They even offer hong bao, red paper envelopes that often contain lucky money or small gifts”