The small workshop of artisan Bui Viet Tuong (residing in Dinh hamlet, village 2, Quang Bi commune, Chuong My district) is busy preparing lion and dragon head products for the 2024 Lunar New Year in the last days of the year.
This year's Lunar New Year is associated with the dragon mascot image. Mr. Tuong's factory has launched many new dragon models and has received many orders to serve the display and festival organization of many localities and businesses.
Mr. Tuong said that to complete a dragon product, if working actively, the group of workers would take about 10-15 days, and the quick sewing stage alone would take about 4-5 days.
Realizing that weather factors such as rain and sun can affect the quality of dragon products, Mr. Tuong has created a product model called "3D Reflective Scale Dragon", which is water-resistant, increasing the product's lifespan for many years.
From materials such as rattan, bamboo, iron, steel and waterproof fabrics, through the skillful hands of Mr. Bui Viet Tuong and his students, they have created unique dragon products that are durable over time. The motifs are mainly yellow, interspersed with red, imbued with Vietnamese tradition.
The most complicated step is making the dragon scales. Each dragon is nearly 20m long, with hundreds of scales attached to each meter, with a total of nearly 3,000 scales attached to the dragon. The dragon scales are made from reflective 3D decals, a material that is both water-resistant and maintains the dragon's majestic shape and softness when it undulates.
"Tailors also have to be very picky, not everyone can sew, they have to be used to it, bare hands can easily distort the shape, when put together the overall dragon must be consistent and round. In the beginning, when I tried it, I had to take it apart many times, there were times when I was discouraged but I still had to persevere to come up with new models to serve people," Mr. Tuong confided.
According to Mr. Tuong, a beautiful product on the face needs to achieve sharpness, looking at it, you can see the majesty and sacredness that are typical of Vietnamese dragons. The product "3D Reflective Scale Dragon" is available in all provinces and cities, used in theaters, circuses, festivals..., exported to many countries such as Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, India...
Up to now, there have been about 30 dragon products produced by Mr. Tuong's workshop to serve the Lunar New Year this year, many customers have come directly to the workshop to place orders.
Ms. Pham Thu Thuy (in black shirt) said that a few years ago, a friend introduced her to the workshop and she was quite impressed with the products here. This year, she decided to return to choose lion and dragon head products to serve the village festival in her locality at the beginning of the new year.
In addition to producing lion and dragon products with the hope of developing the art of lion and dragon dance, Mr. Bui Viet Tuong also organized a lion - unicorn - dragon troupe to perform in all provinces and cities, thereby winning many awards at home and abroad.
From 2009 to present, Mr. Tuong's lion - unicorn - dragon troupe has won many medals and outstanding achievements, certificates of merit from provincial, municipal and local units.
The front yard of the Cultural House of Village 2, Quang Bi Commune, Chuong My District is a familiar place where Mr. Tuong's lion-monk-dragon troupe often practices.
Having practiced traditional martial arts, Mr. Tuong guides his students to use martial arts movements with stances, body techniques and eye techniques to immerse themselves in lion and dragon dance performances.
Dragon dance requires the cooperation of about 9 people, requiring solidarity, memorization, coordination in each movement, softness to create curves, basic shapes such as stars, number 6, number 9...
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