Sydney Lion Dance

Forty years of traditional Southern lion dance sits behind this Sydney team, and the dancers train at a Chinese kung fu school. That lineage matters: the movement is martial arts before it's spectacle. The dance is meant to bring good luck and prosperity, which is why it turns up at business openings and weddings as often as at Chinese New Year. Schools, festivals and corporate functions round out the calendar. Drums, colour and a crowd that stops walking to watch.