FAQs About Our Group

Here are some frequently asked questions we've received and thought you might have the same questions in mind.  However, if you do not find the answer you're looking for, you can contact Alvin or Alex.

1.  What is Lion Dancing?
2.  How do I join?
3.  Do I need any prior experience?
4.  Do I need to know any Martial Arts?
       No, you do not need to know any martial art, just as  you don't need to have experience to begin this.  It would be useful to understand some martial arts, such as Kung Fu due to the fact that most movements in Lion Dancing make use of Kung Fu stances.  We'll train you in the basic stances as you will generally use them when walking and portraying characteristics of the lion.  Below are some pictures of the stances used commonly throughout performances.  Note that these stances are somewhat exaggerated.  You will not need to go that low for the stances when doing the Malaysian/Hybrid style.  It will, of course, look good if you can do so.
5.  Is there a membership fee?
6.  When and where are practices?
7.  Will it be strenuous?
8.  How do I request a performance?
9.  When is your next performance?

Stances (Ignore Positions of Arms and Head)

HORSE STANCE:   This is the Horse Stance.  You're pretty much in this position with your knees bent.  Although this guy has his legs far apart, they can be brought closer.  The lower you go, the better the lion looks, but the more energy it will take out of you.  This position is usually used for either standing or walking around, which will involve the bow/archer stance as well.

Bow/Archer Stance

This stance is achieved by bending one knee and straightening the other leg.  When performing this stance, your front knee should cover the tips of your toes when you're back is straight and you look down at it.  It can be used to move in any direction when walking, as well as portray some form of aggressive characteristic.  Note that usually, in the Bow/Archer stance, the body weight is shifted towards the front. 

Crane Stance

Ignore the hand positions as you will be holding a lion head.  Famous from the Karate Kid, this stance is more than just putting up one knee.  One of the uses is to defend the other leg while placing it in preparation for an attack.  Think of Muay Thai.  They generally stand in a very similar position, especially for one form of blocking kicks.

This stance will be primarily used as an aggressive pose.  All your weight should be on your back leg, and your raised leg should have the feet pointed down while generally in front of your standing leg's knee (as if ready to protect the knee). 

Cat/T-Stance

In this stance, 90% of your weight should be on your back leg, and 10% on the tip of your front foot.  Notice that the front foot is pointed.  Your back leg should be bent.  Also, the positioning of your feet should form the shape of a capital T. 

This stance is primarily used when portraying characteristics of curiosity and/or cautiousness. 

Snake Stance

Also known as "reverse archer/bow", you basically perform the archer stance, twist your body so that you comfortably face generally behind you. 

This stance is intuitively used when you look forward while in archer stance, and decide to look behind you without changing your position much.