Dancing youth, dancing miracles. From October 3 to 6, the 15th National Dragon and Lion Dancing Championship (Lion Dance Item) was held in Nanjing. Nearly 500 athletes from 42 representative teams of 17 provinces (municipalities, regions) across the country participated in the competition. Led by coaches Qin Yude and Fan Kun, the Lion Dance Team of Taizhou University participated in the Northern Lion optional routine competition and ranked second among all teams. At the same time, five students, Tang Kai, Lin Yangnan, Chen Boheng, Ye Jiahao, and Duan Kaitai, were awarded the title of national-level Lion Dance sports players. This is the first time that Zhejiang province’s colleges and universities have obtained the title of national-level Lion Dance sports players in this event.
It is understood that the National Dragon and Lion Dancing Championship is a national-level Class-A event open to the whole country, with the highest level of professionalism and the most comprehensive competition items. Lion Dance masters from all over China gather here—with professional players also participating—and compete on the same stage.
“Lion Dance Team of Taizhou University was established in 2009. It deeply integrates Chinese Lion Dance culture with Taizhou martial arts culture, setting an example of ‘martial arts and dance integration’ Lion Dance culture.” Qin Yude, vice dean of the School of Teacher Education (Physical Education) at Taizhou University and coach of the Lion Dance team, told reporters that the team has participated in the World Dragon and Lion Online Championship, the National Dragon and Lion Championship, the Chinese University Student Dragon and Lion Championship, and the Zhejiang Province Dragon and Lion Championship many times. They have won multiple medals and have won the first place in the Chinese University Student Dragon Dance and Lion Dance Championship for three consecutive years. They have also cultivated many national-level sports players, including national-level athletes, coaches, and referees.
“Lion Dancing is a high-difficulty sport that involves flying, lifting, and other movements. It requires high-difficulty movements, on-site performance, and performance specifications. It is particularly difficult to practice. Our achievement was not achieved overnight. It was the continuous exploration and research by team members and long-term accumulation.” Qin Yude said. He added that this championship was also the highest award that the Lion Dance Team of Taizhou University has won so far.
“Through years of accumulation, our Lion Dance team has gained high visibility in China and is committed to exploring, sorting, inheriting, and promoting Chinese Lion Dance culture.” Qin said.
“When we learned that we were going to participate in this National Dragon and Lion Dancing Championship, both the team members and I were very excited and immediately devoted ourselves to high-intensity training to prepare for the competition.” Tang Kai, who played the “lion tail” in this championship, said. He explained that the “lion tail” requires strength, while the “lion head” requires flexibility. He and his teammates started high-intensity training since July this year and continued until the eve of the competition.
“I’m very happy after learning about the competition results. This ranking exceeded my expectations.” Ye Jiahao told reporters that the cooperation between the teammates was very tacit in this championship. Several team members started from scratch in their freshman year and gradually became more harmonious after two and a half years of training. “We will not relax our training. We hope to be invited to participate in the Asian Dragon and Lion Dancing Championship, so we must keep ourselves in shape.”
