Dragon dance

Dragon dance (Traditional Chinese: 舞龙; pinyin: wǔ lóng) is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance it is most often seen in festive celebrations. Chinese people often use the term "Descendants of the Dragon" (龙的传人) as a sign of ethnic identity.
In the dance, a team of dancers carry the dragon — which is an image of the Chinese dragon — on poles. The lead dancers lift, dip, thrust, and sweep the head, which may contain animated features controlled by a dancer and is sometimes rigged to belch smoke from pyrotechnic devices. The dance team mimics the supposed movements of this river spirit in a sinuous, undulating manner. The dragon's fabric and bamboo body can be as long as tens of meters.
Musical accompaniment is often supplied in the form of musicians with traditional drums, cymbals and gongs.
The dragon dance is a highlight of Chinese New Year celebrations held worldwide in Chinatowns around the world. The costumes used in these celebrations are usually made in specialty craft shops in rural China and imported at considerable expense using funds raised through subscriptions and pledges by members of local cultural and business societies.
The illustration at right shows a Double Dragon Dance, rarely seen in western exhibitions, with two troupes of dancers intertwining the dragons. Even rarer are dances with the full array of 9 dragons (Kawlung), since 9 is a 'perfect' number. Such dances involve large number of participants from various organizations, and are often only possible under the auspices of the greater community.