Performed by: Singapore Dragon and Lion Athletic Association Chief Instructor: Roger Ting Wan Kee
Dragon Art Instructor: Lee Boon Ping Designer: Chen Yuanji
Water and fire, as the saying goes, will not mingle with each other; they will, however, in Water & Fire Dragon, an extraordinary dragon dance to be presented by Singapore Dragon and Lion Athletic Association. The item is a showcase of the association’s enthusiasm and support for the Chingay celebration. The unique dance features water and fire in harmonious coexistence displayed on the body of a dragon (painted in screen printing).
In addition to the traditional skills of dragon dance, in which the dancers hold the dragon high with poles (stored in the dragon’s body to be lengthened when necessary), a new skill is used in Water & Fire Dragon, in which players dance within the dragon’s body with their hands holding handles in control of the dragon’s body. The dragon seems to run on its own, moving horizontally and vertically after the head, showing outstanding dragon-dance skills including squatting and jumping movements.
The Water & Fire Dragon is 60 metres (200 feet) long, consisting of 23 sections, with a body diameter of 0.85 metre (28 inches). The body is made of thin and shining yarns. Dragon scales are painted with the screen printing technique on both sides of the body, under which hanging the “dragon skirt” painted with the designs of flaming fire and giant waves coupled with the three-dimensioned dorsal, hence the Water & Fire Dragon. Water and fire billow out of the huge head of the dragon every now and then. Shone with the purple light in the darkness of the night, the dragon now soars in the air, now waggles on the ground, its water-and-fire skirt flying in the wind, forming a gorgeous view of water and fire in harmony.
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