Legend has it that Xiangshan county was once stricken by pestilence causing many to suffer and die. Some villagers ventured to look for a remedy but almost got bitten by a python. Fortunately, a monk saved them by chopping the python into three pieces, and its blood flowed into a stream. The monk instructed them to boil Indian Pluchea leaves in stream water which had been mixed with python blood, and the patients recovered after drinking the medicine. Seeing the python as the dragon god, the villagers expressed their gratitude by performing drunken dragon dance every year. Years later when Macao was also stricken by pestilence, the legend of the dragon god passed by word of mouth among local fishermen and the drunken dragon dance was introduced.
Drunken Dragon Dance, presented in the form of dance theatre, innovates the festive tradition with contemporary dance elements. The production is not intended to take a deeper look into the culture of the traditional drunken dragon dance, but to explore what “ritual” will emerge after positioning its background against the contemporary world.
Director: Zé
Choreography: Hong Chan U
Assistant Director: Un Iat Hou
Devising Dancers: Un Iat Hou, Leung Chi Chung, Su Zi Hao and Peng Mi
Duration: Approximately 1 hour, no interval
With occasional Cantonese dialogue and theatrical interpretation, no surtitles
Post-show Talk on 14 May
Drunken Dragon Dance
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