Buddhist church seeks ways to stay relevant

A DRAGON is hoisted at Bell Church in Baguio City in preparation for this year’s spring festival and Lunar New Year celebrations. EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

BAGUIO CITY—Like many followers of various religions, devotees of Baguio’s Bell Church must come up with ways to be relevant to Chinese-Filipinos.

But traditions–like performing the lion and dragon dances–remain their most visible demonstration of spirituality among the youth.

More than 40 young men and women have been rehearsing since January for the annual spring festival performances that bring them around Baguio and other provinces to complete their mission: Bring luck and fortune to communities and encourage more Chinese-Filipino youth to embrace their beliefs.

“The dragon and lion dances bring fortune to business enterprises and families because they drive away bad [luck],” said Francis Brito, 35, one of three trainers who volunteer to coach youths belonging to Bell Church Athletic Club about the nuances and philosophy behind these traditions.

“Every New Year (which falls today, Feb. 19), these children would wear the lion and dragon [costumes] and dance beneath doorways where lettuce is hung [to signify the home’s readiness for cleansing],” he said.

The lettuce is part of an old Chinese story about lions and dragons, Brito said. The myth’s plot is simple: It details how the lion or the dragon is able to sate its hunger.

He said the dance steps vary when performers try to extend the story details. “For example, the lion could cross a river or climb a mountain to be able to get a leaf of lettuce that is being guarded by a monster,” he said.

Club volunteers are taught acrobatic stunts and rhythmic drum music to which they must match the steps of the dragon or the lion, Brito said.

“They are mostly students who rehearse with us every weekend. They first undergo kung fu lessons, and once they master the training, they are taught the steps made by the lion and the dragon,” he said.

In the 1970s, the popularity of movie star and martial artist Bruce Lee helped recruit volunteers who used to jump and prance around town while holding giant heads and bodies of the lion and dragon mascots.

“The training is difficult, and sometimes we have to let volunteers go when they cannot perform their tasks well,” he said.

They are in great demand during the spring festival holidays.

A Baguio businessman, who asked not to be named in the interview, said old Chinese wisdom dictates that the old and discarded need to be put away to free up space for luck that a new year brings to an enterprise.

The lion and dragon performers fulfill their tasks for free, but it brings them to many places that host a Bell Church, like Tabuk City in Kalinga and in Ilocos Sur.

They are occasionally offered donations, which they hand to the church to buy what it needs, or to buy a new dragon gear that costs P50,000.

Elias Ng, 78, the spiritual leader of Baguio Bell Church, said the lion is a symbol for the lord of the jungle which brings stability to a venture. Vincent Cabreza and EV Espiritu, Inquirer Northern Luzon