At the end of 2021, although the animation film "Lion Boy" caused a lot of controversy, it also made the lion dance culture return to the public's vision again.
On the Kuaishou short video platform, Deng Wenhai, a Fujin County lion dance descendant with the ID of "Lucky-Group", also suddenly increased countless fans.
In Guangxi, lion dance is a folk activity with a long history, and the "Tengxian Lion Dance" is one of the best.
Although the pace of life in today's society is fast-paced, the entertainment activities are rich, and the "ancient" performance of the lion dance is difficult to attract much attention, but Deng Wenhai and his predecessors have unremittingly insisted on passing down the lion dance culture from generation to generation. Even let this gradually "declining" folk performance re-enter the world stage.
Deng Wenhai worked with his brothers to spread the culture of lion dance.
Pass on the "Fuji County Lion Dance"
Deng Wenhai was born on Xuanzhou Island in Teng County, Guangxi. At the age of 31, he has been "lion dance" for 20 years and still loves the industry.
In 2021, in order to let more young people discover the fun of lion dance performances, Deng Wenhai released more than 50 short videos on the Kuaishou platform with the account of "Lucky-Combination".
Deng Wenhai participated in a TV variety show.
One of the videos of "Lion Dance on the Water High Pile" has a large difficulty coefficient, accurate double cooperation, and a complete set of action performances that are smooth and flowing, and have been praised 1.13 million, which can be described as a hit.
"This is just my daily training for my partner and me, if we participate in international competitions, we Fuji County Lions will choose more difficult and more exciting performances!"
Introducing the lion dance team in his hometown, Deng Wenhai has a sense of pride——
It was in 2004 that the "Vine County Lion Dance" shined. At the "World Lion King Championship" held in Malaysia, the Fujin County Xuanzhou Lions team won the "World No. 1" trophy for China. In 2011, the lion dance declared by Fujian County, Guangxi Province, was approved by the State Council and was included in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. In 2019, the Fujian County Lions won another "world first" and made a stunning appearance at the Spring Festival Gala of the same year...
In the 2004 Malaysia "World Lion King Competition", the Fujin County Lions won the championship.
"Boring practice day after day"
Before receiving these honors, the Fujin County Lion Dance team also had a difficult period of exploration. At that time, if any child said that he wanted to learn to dance lions, most of his parents did not agree, and felt that this skill was difficult to support the family.
Deng Wenhai's daily life photos.
Deng Wenhai came into contact with the lion dance in 2000.
That year, the Xuanzhou Lions of Fujian County rushed out of Guangxi to the whole country. For the first time, it made its debut in the "China Lion King Selection Competition".
That year was also a turning point in Deng Wenhai's life.
"I grew up on Xuanzhou Island. At that time, there was a martial arts team in the school next to my home, which taught lion dances. ”
Deng Wenhai, 9, runs to the martial arts team every day after school to watch others practice lion dances.
The team members wore lion quilts on top of lion heads, churned and jumped on plum blossom piles, and climbed upside down, which made Deng Wenhai fascinated. He developed a keen interest in lion dances.
Deng Wenhai led the lion dance students to participate in the competition.
In 2002, Deng Wenhai was 11 years old and officially joined the lion dance team. His parents did not approve of him learning to dance the lion, but his grandfather always encouraged him to support him.
In Deng Wenhai's Kuaishou short video, there are many performances and trainings, all of which he personally played. He is agile and skilled, imitating the lion's "joy, anger, movement, and stillness" and other expressions vividly.
This is all the result of Deng Wenhai's years of hard training.
"If you want to perform beautiful movements on stage, you can only rely on boring practice day after day." Deng Wenhai said that the most difficult thing to learn to dance lions is persistence, and the hardest thing is physical training.
He runs 5 kilometers around the island every day. At that time, the training conditions were not very good, and the bottom of the plum blossom pile was not a sponge pad, but a straw ball. If you accidentally fall down, it is easy to get hurt.
Once Deng Wenhai fell from a pile, causing a fracture of his lower leg. While lying in the hospital, he was also worried that his calves would not be able to exert strength, which would affect future training.
"Over the years, no matter what difficulties I encountered, I never thought of giving up. If you don't really like lion dances, it's hard to stick all the way to the end. Deng Wenhai said that many of his division brothers eventually changed careers.
"New generation" lion dance coach
In 2008, after leaving the school, Deng Wenhai joined the Foshan "Bilintang" Dragon and Lion team and began his racing career. At its peak, there are more than thirty games a year, and although it is busy, the income is relatively stable.
"The first time I won an award in my life was in 2008, when I finished third in an international competition." Deng Wenhai also remembered that the prize was 1,000 yuan. His parents, too, have since approved of his choice.
In the following 10 years, he participated in lion dance competitions at various levels many times and won numerous awards. Until 2018, he ended his life of wandering outside and returned to his hometown in Fujian County.
At that time, Fujian County had listed lion dance as a key support project, and Fujian County Secondary School also opened a lion dance major. Deng Wenhai taught at Teng County Secondary School and became a professional lion dance coach.
Lion dance training at Fuji County Junior High School.
Deng Wenhai said that there are currently about 1,000 teenagers in the entire County of Fujian learning to dance the lion.
In 2019, the brothers invited Deng Wenhai to cooperate in the establishment of "Fujian Lion King Culture Communication Co., Ltd." These 13 young people after the 80s and 90s are determined to carry forward the traditional culture of lion dance.
They not only engage in training, participate in performances and competitions, but also produce handmade lion heads, lion drums, unicorns and other products supporting dragons and lions, forming a mature dragon and lion cultural industry chain.
Despite his busy work, Deng Wenhai still insisted on spreading the lion dance culture on the Kuaishou platform. In the video, whether it is the wonderful daily training of him and his partner, or the cute performance of the students when practicing the lion dance, it makes fans reminisce endlessly.
Deng Wenhai feels that life is like a lion dance, there are ups and downs, the key is not to bow your head, can not admit defeat. He always firmly believes that the "Fujian Lion Dance" can bring fun to more people and can better develop and continue.