The Awakening of the Dragons

A dragon boat race is part of an overall "Dragon Boat Festival" that technically, in the Chinese culture, is held on the 5th day of the 5th month of their calendar.  During this time, the forces of the universe, ying and yang, are considered out of balance.  One symptom of the unbalance can be extreme weather events (hmm, maybe there is something to this.)  One of the ceremonies held to get ying and yang back into balance is the "Awakening of the Dragons". (I am not of this culture, so if I misstated anything, please correct me.)

This is how the dragons awoke a week ago Saturday in Ithaca, New York and danced for us.  This was at a Dragonboat festival held in Ithaca, home of Cornell University, and a multi-ethnic population drawn by the university.

The "dragons" get ready to don their costumes, showing the beautiful art work that goes into these costumes.

Part of the costumes on the ground.

The ceremony begins with dignataries, including the Mayor Of Ithaca"dotting*the*eyes" of the dragons - actually the dragon heads of the racing dragon boats, which were unscrewed and brought to the platform.  The mayor is directly to the right of the person wearing a red hat and red shorts.  He is the youngest mayor in Ithaca's history andis ready to bring change. (One of his campaign platforms, for example, was making Ithaca a more walkable city.)

 
Then, the dance began.

Here, the the dancers still somewhat visible.  (By the way, it was warm and humid that day.)  The dance is accompanied by the clash of cymbals. I can't imagine how hot it was in those costumes.

I am not knowledgeable of the symbolism displayed in this dance, but I understand there is a lot, even to the number of scales on each dragon.

This is quite an art form - very athletic, and I enjoyed it very much.  Although, I must say, if Ithaca is to become a more walkable city, they really need to do something about those dragons (and the terrible traffic for a city its size, but that is a post for another day.)

We are fortunate that dragon boating is catching on in more and more cities - maybe one day it will reach the Binghamton, NY area where I live.

Row Well and Live

Today's quiz:  in what sport can a boat of 60 year old rowers win a race against 20 year old racers?

In Ithaca, NY on Bastille Day 2012, we were treated to a sport where that can happen.  The secret is coordination. The elderly team, if coordinated, will beat out the young ones, as a dragon boater explained to the crowd.

It's a sport where adults of all ages can participate and breast cancer survivors can make rude gestures at the obsolete medical advice that, after breast cancer surgery, they can give up activities such as carrying grocery bags. (More on breast cancer survivors dragonboaters later).

Maybe no more grocery bag carrying, but they sure can row a boat.  So can the seniors. 

Welcome to Dragon Boat racing.  Once something combined to certain countries in the Far East, dragon boats have caught on all over the country.

I've wanted to see a dragon boat race since I visited Philadelphia about 10 years ago, and the news shows were full of coverage focusing on the races to begin - right after I left.

It was love at first sight. Love as a spectator, that is. To my knowledge, there are no teams where I live in the Binghamton, NY area.

The boats are simple. 

In the front, next to the dragon head, a caller sits.  He or she beats the cadence (yes, like in that famous ship battle scene in the movie Ben Hur.)  Around 18-20 rowers are in each boat, along with a steerer.

Here is another view of the empty boats.

And, of course, there is the beautiful scenery of Ithaca, NY.

The names of the teams were amusing or inspirational.  My favorite was "Dragonboat Z" (Cornell's team), who won a bronze metal.  Other teams included the Puff Puff Dragons, the Wall Street Dragons, Big Red October, and Water Viper.

After the "Dotting the Eye" ceremony (more on that in another post), the breast cancer survivor team came  on stage and talked about their sport.  The speaker, a retired nurse in her 70's, had been an oncology nurse (ironically) and remembered the hundreds of post-mastectomy patients she had talked to, cautioning them about all the things they could no longer do.  Now, as a breast cancer survivor, she dragon boats.

I've blogged before about how my hackles go up whenever breast cancer is seemingly put ahead of other cancers.  My hackles raised when she talked about the fact that only breast cancer survivors could race on her team.  But my hackles lowered a little when I did some research about the link between dragon boating and breast cancer survivors. It's symbolic and I understand the symbolism (knowing several breast cancer survivors) although I could wish they would take other cancer survivors.


It does make me wish I could get my 80-something mother in law on a dragon boat team.

Have you participated in dragon boating?  Have you seen the festivals abroad, or in one of the many North American cities now sponsoring them?