Huilai Nine-Crocodile Dance

48.Huilai Nine-Crocodile Dance

Nominating Unit: Huilai County, City of Jieyang

Nine-Crocodile Dance is mainly distributed in Huilai County, City of Jieyang, and its surrounding areas. Its origin has close connection with deep love and respect of local Chaoshan people toward Han Yu, a magistrate in City of Chaozhou in the Tang Dynasty who once ridded the place of crocodile threats and promoted benefit for the local people. Legend has it that during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, a memorial temple and tower for Han Yu were relocated to both sides of Ying Nei Xue Palace in Huilai County, and during the memorial service for Han Yu on festivals and new years, paper money and paper-made crocodiles would be burnt. Sometimes children would pick up the remnant of the crocodile to play with, and it turned into crocodile dance or crocodile lantern dance ever since. This dance gradually became a unique nine-crocodile dance, and has become a traditional local custom during the New Year or Lantern Festivals.

Nine-Crocodile Dance is a prop dance. The crocodile prop has a crocodile head, fish body and dragon tail, and is made of bamboo strips. The whole prop is 1.36 meters long, covered with silk paper or just silk, and candles are placed in its belly that cannot be extinguished even when the prop is being moved about. There is also a wood handle roughly 0.6 meter long in the belly for the dancer to operate. The dancers all wear a hood on their heads and a green warrior’s suit and straw shoes.

During the performance, nine dancers each hold a crocodile prop and form a dancing formation. The leading dancer holds the lead crocodile, and the one at the end holds the tail crocodile. The tail crocodile would direct the movements and the changes of formation. Through various movements and dancing sequences such as “play”, “four corner fight”, “kissing”, “crossing”, “turning”, “jumping”,“jumping over the dragon gate” , a story of crocodile from being untamed and causing harm to the people first to being expelled, repent until turned into good at last is told, which expresses the good wishes of the local.(https://www.daowen.com)

Nine-Crocodile Dance uses percussion musical instruments such as giant drums, moon gongs and Su gongs as accompanying music. According to different performing rhythms, there are fast, medium, and slow beats. Since the accompaniment is very important for the locals, the band usually is large in size, sometimes reaching nearly 20 people.

Nine-Crocodile Dance features swift and powerful movements, strong colors and grand scenes. It also bears positive humanitarian connotations. The requirement for performing space is flexible, reaching from squares to streets. It is widely popular among the locals.

In recent years, Nine-Crocodile Dance is faced with a breakdown in transmission due to the development of market economy and impact of imported cultures. Urgent protective measures are called for.