Traditonal dance and modern dance

Yesterday, when my friends and I were walking in Time square, we get a chance to see a lion dance in the mall. The lion dance was performed in front of the new shop that was just opened today. It surely was very entertaining as the performers performed very skillfully and it attracted a lot of people to gather there until it totally blocked the walking passage. Although lion dance is one part of my Chinese culture, I know a little bit about lion dance. As far as I know about lion dance, it is performed to bring good luck or prosperity and usually performed only in certain occasions like Chinese New Year or new shop opening ceremony like the one my friends and I saw in Time square. The incident remind me of past that I used to like traditional dances. I learnt Chinese fan dance, Sarawak dance and Zapin during my life in Institut Perguruan Temmenggong Ibrahim (IPTI). These dances are completely different from other dances. I learnt a few modern dances during school life and I notice most of traditional dance emphasize a lot on the feet. For example, when I learnt Chinese fan dance, I need to lift up my leg a little bit while walking in order to bring up the unique of the dance. Unlike modern dance, there is less emphasizing on the foot as long as the whole dance looks nice. However, there are also similarities between traditional and modern dance. Both dances emphasize a lot on timing. Almost all the time is used to get hold of the timing. After we get hold of timing, then we move on improving the dance. Teamwork is also very important in both dances. Audience tend to notice mistakes or bad aspects of the dance so if one of teammates make slightly mistake or not giving his or her full commitment, audience will notice them very easily and it would spoil the whole dance. Therefore, everyone in the dance should work together and give their whole commitment to the dance.