Beyond Pho – Dancing to the Full Moon in Hoi An

The people of Hoi An celebrate the full moon every month.  Perhaps that was how they kept the tourists engaged.  But on this traditional once-a-year Mid-Autumn Festival, the celebratory activities were much more elaborate.

We intended to have a walk in Hoi An that evening as we could never get enough of this quaint old town.  On our way we passed by a large restaurant.  The din of the drums and the gongs signaled that a party was gathering.

The dance troupe arrived in a fury.  As the performers unloaded cartloads of costumes and props, we entered the restaurant and found a good spot to watch.

To my untrained eye there was no difference between the lion dance of Vietnam and what I was accustomed to seeing in Hong Kong.  The front man, who played the role of taunting the lion, first tended a note of thanks to the gods by bowing with a burning incense.  Then the lion dancers proceeded to all sorts of martial arts movements.

The whole procession took place inside the restaurant, and that was what I have never seen before.  All previous lion dances that I have seen were in open areas.  The three lions whirl pooled within a very small space.  In an enclosed space, the movements seemed more coordinated.  The dance ended when the front man “fed” the lion with a fortunate child.  We all applauded to this point of humour.

Following the heels of the lion dance was the dragon dance.  I have seen very few dragon dances in my life.  The difference between a lion dance and a dragon dance is that the dragon has a long body, with a host of martial arts dancers each supporting a small section of the long body with tall stilts.  The dragon swirled within the restaurant.  The room brimmed with festivity as the dragon dancers proceeded in a rapid-fire motion.

Then the dragon dancers embarked upon the acrobatic part of the procession.  This part of performance showed an even more technical maneuver.  One by one the dragon ascended through a tall ladder, dancing to the full moon.  It looked as if the dragon has flown up onto the sky.  Fireworks lit.  The dragon spewed streams of sparkles, scintillating the night.

We went back to the hostel, and cut some mooncakes to conclude the evening.