| The Samba Lion – Performing at the Xiluo Cultural Festival | ||||||
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On December 11th, 2010, the Changhua County Sijhou Township Office and Yunlin County Xiluo Township Office jointly held the Xiluo Cultural Festival street parade. The venue for this event was the main streets of Xiluo Township, and our Samba Lion Dance Troupe was once again headed by our headmaster and dean in joining in the parade. As always, we grouped at school, then boarded our bus to Xiluo. With our impending approach to the Xiluo Bridge, we became quite nervous with the thought of the crowd that would be awaiting us at the other end of the bridge. Having never had participated in a real street parade, it seemed an enormous challenge to have to dance and sway in front of such a large audience. The moment our bus parked and we had disembarked, we were utterly awed by what we encountered: the hoards of enormous kites billowing in the sky, the spectators milling about in the streets. We could see the fear surfacing in each other’s faces, fortunately, our teachers, headmaster, dean and instructing artists managed to sooth us and calm us down. Our costumes were designed to be eye-catching, and it was no wonder that as we made our way to the grouping point, we attracted plenty of attention from spectators and media alike. We felt like movie stars going down the red carpet, a feeling that could not help but put a confident smile on our faces. With the commencement of the street parade, participants moved along the main streets of Xiluo, and whenever they came upon crossroads where were gathered large crowds of spectators, all units put forth their best performances in order to receive the largest amount of applause and audience favor. As the saying goes, “stand tall, stand out,” we never thought but to show off our best, and along with the blaring music of “Bo-pi! Bo-pi! Bo-pi ah…” we swayed our bodies and waved our lion masks. If we met with any spectators aiming their cameras at us, we positioned ourselves into cute poses to catch their eye. As we gradually got used to performing in public, we became more and more excited, our movements more and more dramatic, and the nervousness we experienced earlier in the day entirely gone away.
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We passed through Yenping Old Street of Xiluo Township, Fushin Temple, then finally headed back to the performance venue on the banks of Jhoushuei River. Even though the day was coming to and end, the sun still shone mightily, and coupled with the fatigue from having been on our feet all day, we were all feeling a little out of strength, but at the same time, we knew that the best had yet to come! During the interval before we were due onstage, we sat on the ground, replenished ourselves with water, and worked up the stamina to go onstage. We put on a performance that showcased our creativity and many months’ hard work to the wild applause of the electrified crowd. In addition to our own segment, we got to see performances put on by Xiyang Junior High School, Santiao Elementary School, Cheng-gong Elementary School as well as other elementary and junior high schools of Sijhou Township, every one of which demonstrated unique costumes and programs that were not only highly creative but also environmentally friendly. The performance that left the most indelible image on our minds was the fashion show put on by Ming Dao University, the bold, colorful outfits couldn’t but catch the eye. With the event coming to a close and the skies darkening with the setting of the sun, we bid our farewells to Taiyang and Wan-ping amidst the glowing rays of sunset, and went our way home with happy memories. In the distance bursts of fireworks and the lights of Xiluo Bridge sparkled, a perfect ending to the Xiluo Cultural Festival street parade.
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