I may not have this posted in the correct forum. But here goes.

When I practiced Kung Fu (13 years ago) one of the activities we did was perform the Chinese Lion Dance. I was wondering how many (if anyone) has experience performing the lion dance.

I've done it on several occasions, but I have no formal training in the dance and learned whatever I know from watching and listening. And I'm pretty sure this is in the right forum. Skill with the lion dance = skill in strength and agility (to me at least). Its fun and natural for me because I've always been fascinated with the dance and music since I was a little boy and after learning Kung fu my interest in it continues on, though I'm nothing spectacular when I grab hold of the head. But since its a huge part of my culture and I like it so much I blast that stuff whenever New Years comes around (which is soon!! YEA!)

i'm going to try and learn this year...

My friend Ernest Rothrock of Faan Tzi Ying Jow Pai teaches the Lion Dances. He studied it from his instructor Shum Leung. He has explained to me that the hardest part is to first learn the drumming, which is the key for the Lion performers.

yea...drumming is HARD and it has to be exact the very detail, but I wish I could learn off of someone because my concept of the drumming beats is completely off.

that's interesting victor. the guy i'm going to learn from says he teaches symbols first, then tail, then head and the drums last, since the drums are supposed to be most important.

When I was learning we learned the tail first, the head, then the symbols and the drums last.

Does the footwork in the Lion Dance correpsond in any way to forms? I had heard from a not always so reliable source that the Lion Dance was done partly as a way of covertly practicing fighting skills - just as like Capoeira was disguised as a folk dance.

I dont think theres anything covert about it, its a long practiced Chinese tradition. But if you're wondering if the footwork cooresponds to anything then yes. Many of the stances used throughout kung fu are also used in the dance, horse stance being the most basic and probably popular. Without a good stance you lack the strength needed in the movements to make your dance look good. The better the dance the better the kung fu and thats how its been looked at from public eyes since forever.