Dragon dance is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen during festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of experienced dancers who manipulate a long flexible giant puppet of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon. The dance team simulates the imagined movements of this river spirit in a sinuous, undulating manner.
Dragon dance
Han dynasty stone relief engraving showing a form of Dragon Dance.
Parade of a Chinese dragon in Seattle, c. 1909.
The Millennium Dai Loong Dragon being paraded in Melbourne during 2008 Lunar New Year celebrations.
Dance is an art form, often classified as a sport, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or by its historical period or place of origin. Dance is typically performed with musical accompaniment, and sometimes with the dancer simultaneously using a musical instrument themselves.
Two modern dancers
Members of an American jazz dance company perform a formal group routine in a concert dance setting.
Mesolithic dancers at Bhimbetka
Dancers and musicians on a Sasanian bowl, Iran