14th Malaysia National Lion Dance Championship Team List

UM Lion Dance Night 09

Sunday, 27th Sept 2009

The Universiti Malaya Lion Dance Team once again successfully carried off the UM Lion Dance Night, the third such event to be held since 2007. This year's event is more of a follow up of what they had started in the 2nd UM Lion Dance Night, which is the Lion Dance Drama.

Recaps of the past two events can be found here: 2007, 2008

NOTE: A sincere apology to all those who attended the event because I had earlier reported that there will be performances by both Kun Seng Keng and Kwong Ngai. I wasn't informed about the change until I was there at the event myself... Apparently, due to unforseen errors, the two teams had to pull out from this event.

As they had done in the previous UM Lion Dance Night, the eventful night was kicked off with a Drum Performance. This year's performance was similar to last year's, comprising a huge band of multiple drums, cymbals and gongs.

The only visiting team to this year's event, the Yahya Awal Dragon Dance Troupe took to the stage with their first performance of the night, a Day Light Dragon Dance performance.

This was then followed on by the Eye Dotting ceremony, which was once again carried out by Master Lim Meng Kok. Among the VVIPs this time was the ex-Chief Minister of Penang, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon.

The night then proceeded with Yahya Awal's second performance of the night, Luminous Dragon Dance Performance. This was a fantastic display of speed and agility, and it isn't a wonder that the team has a few national and international titles under their belt.

The event concluded with the much talked about Lion Dance Drama, similar to what has been done last year. Adding more twists and excitement to the story this time, 2 lions performed to get the message of kindness and appreciation to the audience. The drama has been split to 6 parts due to Youtube's 10 minute per video restriction.

Drama part 1

Drama part 2

Drama part 3

Drama part 4

Drama part 5

Drama part 6

14th Malaysia National Lion Dance Championship info

Source: http://www.rwgenting.com/en/entertainment/2009/nliondance/main.htm

The 14th Malaysia National Lion Dance Championship is the biggest and most established high stilt lion dance championship well known within Malaysia. Around forty aspiring teams from around the nation will be competing in this championship. Spectators will be treated to superb mastery of skills and colorful displays of lion dance props as each team strive to prove their prowess to become the 14th Malaysia National Lion Dance champion.

Additional New Competition - Double Lion Competition
This year, the world’s first ever double lion’s competition will be added into the championship. This segment requires higher skills and cooperation among the lion dance troupe. For those who seek excitement and thrill, this lion dance would surely be an eye opener.

Featuring for the first time in the industry, two lions performing simultaneously to the beat and rhythm of one drum.

Synchronization, or the blending of two completely different acts, agility & co-operation that will be held by the core of impressive teamwork, will definitely generate great excitement and awe! Don't miss this special feature, the Double Lion Competition. Catch this special act on the 20th and 21st November from 8.00pm onwards.

Muar team beats Hong Kong troupe in tiebreaker to clinch lion dance title

By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG

GEORGE TOWN: It was a suspense-filled event to the very end as the packed arena waited to see if the tie for first place in the International Lion Dance on Stilts Competition here would break in favour of a Malaysian team or a team from Hong Kong.

In the end, the world-renowned Kun Seng Keng Lion and Dragon Dance Association’s Team A from Muar was awarded the title as its performance had a slightly higher difficulty level.

Team A of Kun Seng Keng Lion and Dragon Dance Association performing at the finals of the International Lion Dance on Stilts competition in Penang.

The association is no stranger to the lion dance scene, having won 30 international titles since 1992 and 37 national titles since 1991.

The Muar team and the Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Dragon and Lion Dance Association’s team scored 9.18 in yesterday’s finals held at the Dewan Tunku Geodesic Dome at Komtar.

The organisers said the tiebreaker was set according to the rules and regulations of the Dragon and Lion Dances Federation of Asia.

Hong Kong team leader Tang Siu Lun said they were happy to have tied for the highest score and felt no disappointment about losing out following the tiebreaker.

Giant leap: The Hong Kong Chinese Martial Arts Dragon and Lion Dance Association’s performing their routine.

Muar team manager Tan Chong Hing said he was quite happy with the results but felt his troupe could have given a better performance.

“During the finals of a championship, it all boils down to the on-the-spot performance. Today’s performances of both our Team A and Team B were not up to mark,” he said.

Team B lost precious points when the lion’s front legs slipped towards the end of its routine on the high stilts, scoring the team 8.73 which was the lowest points in the finals.

The other two teams in the finals were the Chinese Taipei Kao Shiong Liang-Guang Dragon Dance, Lion Dance and War Drum Team, which came in third, and the Meihu Sports and Culture Association from Penang.

The two-day competition was organised by the state government and Penang Wushu, Lion and Dragon Dance Association.

The preliminary round on Saturday saw the participation of nine teams from seven organisations from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/9/28/nation/4795895&sec=nation

Lions and dragons back to thrill all

PREPARE for thrilling acrobatic stunts as the world’s best troupes vie for top honours at the International Lion Dance on Stilts and Dragon Dance Championship 2009 in Penang.

State Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law Heng Kiang said that 10 troupes would make it to the semi-finals on Sept 26.

Only five will move on to the final round the next day.

He said the event was back after a hiatus of seven years.

It will be held from 10am to 5pm at the Dome in Komtar.

He added that the winning team would walk away with a cash prize of RM10,000 while the second and third placed teams get RM5,000 and RM3,000 cash respectively.

Among the troupes which will be participating in the competition are the Cho Kar Chong Kar Kuan Culture and Sports Association from Penang and the Kun Seng Keng Dragon and Lion Dance Association from Muar, Johor. The latter team is the current world champion.

Exciting show: Two lions prance on stilts during a show by the Kun Seng Keng Lion and Dragon Dance Association at a school in Penang earlier this year.

Other participating teams are from Australia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“We want to promote Chinese culture and hope to organise this competition on a larger scale in future to draw more international troupes.

“This event will augur well for the state’s tourism as well as promote lion dancing in a global arena,” Law told a recent press conference.

Law said the event was last held in 2002 and its revival this year was in keeping with the state’s aim to promote Chinese culture by focusing on events like the lion dance, dragon dance and Chingay procession.

“We have some of the best teams in the world and these events will act as a platform to highlight these teams,” he added.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/9/16/north/4662174&sec=north