Lion dancing requires strength and coordination

Kelsie Shibata, a teenager with a cheerful smile, moves her lanky body up and down in graceful patterns while holding a colorful lion’s head used in Chinese lion dancing. She glides as she makes her way through the courtyard of the Mililani Town Center during a practice session with the Asian Lion Dance Team.

It’s Shibata’s job to convey a sense of power and strength in the lion — and she makes it look easy. But Chinese lion dancing, which has been used for centuries to summon good fortune and ward off bad spirits, is a strenuous activity that requires strength and flexibility.

The lion head, which weighs between 15 and 35 pounds, requires a dancer with strong shoulders and arms.

"Lifting the lion is pretty hard," Shibata said. "I started with the smaller head but it didn’t fit, so I used the medium for a couple years before advancing to the larger one."

Shibata, a 14-year-old freshman at Aiea High School, became interested in the art form during a lion dance performance four years ago at her elementary school. She was mesmerized by the lion’s fluid movements and was lulled by the music that accompanied the performance.

But instead of feeding the lion money for good luck, Shibata slipped a note to the founder of the group visiting her school — Brandon Ho of the Asian Lion Dance Team. "I want to be a part of your group," the note read. "Call me."

Shibata has worked on her lion dancing skills for the past four years and has also learned to play all the instruments involved with a performance, including the Chinese drum, cymbals and gong.

"I find the drumming interesting because it represents the lion’s heartbeat," she said.

Some of her interest stems from her heritage. Shibata was adopted from China and brought to Hawaii one day before her first birthday. She said lion dancing allows her to explore her cultural roots.

Shibata had studied gymnastics for eight years when she joined the group, so she was comfortable with the acrobatic movements of lion dancing. And she was no stranger to physical endurance and injury: As a gymnast, Shibata dealt with multiple sprains, broke her ankle and tore ligaments.

Despite the injuries, Shibata said gymnastics gave her a fitness level that she can use in other sports, especially kung fu, the Chinese martial art that helps dancers properly imitate a lion’s expressions and habits.

Typically two dancers perform as the lion. One dancer carries the head and the other becomes the lion’s tail. Shibata prefers to play the role of the head but the tail is equally important, she said: That person must mimic the head’s movements to bring realism to the lion, so teamwork is critical.

But the practice requires athletic training as well.

"We do lots of push-ups to strengthen our arms," Shibata said. "And we do a lot of running for cardio endurance."

If you get too tired, you need to push up the head and gracefully switch places with the tail, she said.

"Staying in the lion for an entire performance is challenging," Shibata said. "It can get pretty intense. If you’re the tail, you’re bent forward, which makes the back and neck sore. If you’re in the head, it requires both leg and shoulder strength. My arms start shaking."

Shibata has learned basic performance moves, including bowing. She also perfected the art of stacking, an acrobatic trick. Stacking requires the person handling the lion’s head to jump on the shoulders of the person acting as the tail.

"You can’t look down or you start falling forward," Shibata said.

She said she enjoys the physical challenge of the move. Shibata places her feet right against her partner’s neck, squeezing the person’s head below with her ankles and calves.

Although her activities may continue to change — she’s playing high school basketball — she said one thing is certain: She plans to remain active.

"My health is important," she said. "I don’t want to have to worry about diabetes and stuff like that."

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