下周一，香港将用舞狮表演迎接猴年的到来。在中国新年，商场、酒店、政府大楼和居民住宅区都会表演被认为能带来好运和昌盛的舞狮。

　　“Traditional Chinese culture is very strong in Hong Kong and everyone loves to see lion dances,” says Jerry Keung who, with his two brothers, runs Keung’s Dragon and Lion Dance team, one of Hong Kong’s most successful dance troupes.

　　“传统中国文化在香港非常盛行，每个人都爱看舞狮，”姜伟池(Jerry Keung)说。他和他的两个兄弟经营着姜氏金龙醒狮团(Keung’s Dragon and Lion Dance team)，香港最成功的舞狮团之一。

　　The finale is choi tsing, “plucking the greens”. The lions rear up to snatch a red envelope containing money, wrapped around lettuce — considered a lucky vegetable because in Cantonese, “lettuce” sounds like “growing wealth”. Accompanied by pounding drums and clashing cymbals, the lion devours the bundle, spits out the lettuce, and claims the cash.

　　舞狮的压轴环节是“采青”。“狮子”后腿直立起来，抢夺用生菜包裹的红色利是封。生菜被认为是一种幸运的蔬菜，因为在广东话里，生菜听起来很像“生财”。伴随着锣鼓的敲打，“狮子”将红包一口吞下，把生菜吐出来，拿走红包里的钱。

　　This month Mr Keung’s dancers will perform more than 200 shows. It is their busiest period but “we are in demand year round”, he says. His team regularly performs at opening events for shops and restaurants.

　　这个月，姜氏金龙醒狮团的舞者们要表演200多场。这是他们最忙的一段时间，但姜伟池表示，“一年四季都有人请我们表演”。他的舞狮团经常在商店和餐厅的开业仪式上表演。

　　“The owners like to celebrate with a lion dance ceremony, because it signals the start of a successful business.” Performance fees depend on the scale and complexity of the show: a single lion costs HK$10,000 ($1,285). Elaborate performances involving several beasts start at HK$100,000.

　　“业主喜欢用舞狮表演来庆祝，因为这标志着生意成功的开端。”表演费取决于表演的规模和复杂程度：单狮表演的费用是1万港元（合1285美元）。更复杂的多狮表演起价是10万港元。

　　According to Mr Keung, the displays are popular in China, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia, where dancers study and perform in their spare time. But Hong Kong is “the only place where the industry is commercially well-developed, and lion dancing can be a full-time career”.

　　据姜伟池说，舞狮表演在中国内地、澳门、新加坡、台湾和马来西亚都很受欢迎，舞者们在闲暇时间学习和表演舞狮。但香港是“唯一一个舞狮业在商业上达到成熟的地方，舞狮表演者能够把这当作一份全职工作。”

　　Mr Keung, 37, inherited the business from his father, who ran a martial arts club — lion dancing has its roots in kung fu. “I started learning when I was six years old,” he says.

　　37岁的姜伟池从经营武术馆的父亲那里继承了生意——舞狮根源于中国功夫。“我6岁的时候就开始学习了，”他说。

　　During the 1950s and 60s, the scene was dominated by triad gangs and lion dancing gained a bad reputation: symbolic fights between competing lions often became violent and the Hong Kong government banned performances for a few years.

　　上世纪五六十年代，黑社会当道，舞狮也蒙上了恶名：斗狮的象征性打斗时常会演变为暴力，香港政府禁止了舞狮表演几年。

　　Now the dances are enjoying a mainstream revival. Mr Keung’s more contemporary style aims to popularise the tradition, with choreography that incorporates crowd-pleasing acrobatics. Pairs of dancers propel themselves between tall poles topped with small circular platforms, leaping and landing in formation.

　　现在，舞狮表演在主流社会得到复兴。姜伟池的舞狮表演采用了更现代的风格，旨在推广传统，其编排融入了大众喜闻乐见的杂技。一对对舞者在上面安着圆形小平台的高柱之间舞动，按照编排跃起落下。

　　Dancers are taught to make the lion expressive, “like a cat”. The beasts twitch their ears, bat their eyelids, paw the ground and tilt their heads with feline curiosity, “so the audience feels a greater emotional connection”.

　　舞者接受的训练是要让“狮子”活灵活现，“像一只猫”一样。这些狮子扭动耳朵、扇动眼帘、用爪子刨着地面，还会像一只好奇的猫那样歪着头，“这样观众在情感上更有共鸣”。

　　“We have also modernised the costumes,” says Mr Keung. Bamboo-frame heads are covered with neon-bright faux fur, sequins, paint, tiny mirrors and pom-poms. The props require significant investment: costumes cost up to HK$15,000 apiece and the steel poles more than five times that.

　　“我们把表演服也现代化了，”姜伟池说。竹制框架的狮头上覆盖着色彩艳丽的人造皮毛、亮片、彩漆、小镜子和毛球。这些道具需要高价投资：每套行头需要1.5万港元，而钢制表演柱的价格更是前者的5倍多。

　　On the rooftops of Hong Kong’s towering warehouses, the troupe practises for up to six hours a day, developing stamina and enough muscular strength to lift their partners above their heads.

　　在香港高耸的仓库的屋顶，舞狮团每天练习长达6个小时，锻炼将伙伴高举过头顶的耐力和足够的肌肉力量。

　　Students pay for lessons but those selected to perform receive a share of the fees. The company, which employs ten full-time teachers and administrators, also has more than 1,000 students enrolled in extracurricular lessons in high schools.

　　来上课的学生要收费，但那些被选去表演的人能够分到一部分表演费。姜伟池的公司雇佣了10名全职老师和管理者，同时给报名参加高中课外课程的逾1000名学生教课。

　　Adidas sponsors an annual competition in Hong Kong — a sign that the tradition is gaining a wider audience. Business is thriving. But Mr Keung says his primary motivation is love. “My ambition is to see lion dancing recognised as a proper sport one day.”

　　阿迪达斯(Adidas)赞助了香港的一次年度舞狮大赛——这是这项传统正获得更广泛受众的一个标志。这个行业正在兴旺发展。但姜伟池表示，他的初衷是对舞狮的热爱。“我的夙愿就是有一天能看到舞狮作为一项正式的运动受到承认。”