The Changes and Development Path of Lion Dance Folk Customs under the Background of Urbanization: A Case Study of Lion Dance in Yangdian Town, Xiaogan

From the perspective of urbanization, taking the folk custom of lion dance as the entry point, this paper analyzes the changes and development paths of lion dance in the process of urbanization at the macro level, and provides a reference for the research on the development of folk sports in China. The research finds that the folk custom of lion dance has typical traditional characteristics. However, after urbanization, the folk organization of lion dance keeps changing and gradually integrates with the market. The art of lion dancing emphasizes the expression of techniques and artistic modernity, moves towards competition, and begins to integrate with today’s information technology and entertainment media. In this trend, the folk custom of lion dancing presents a practical predicament, namely, the increasing dependence on modern culture and the neglect of the inheritance of traditions. During the process of urbanization, the gradual dispersion of lion dance organizations and people, as well as the change in the way of skill inheritance, have led to the lion dance folk custom always lagging behind the development speed of urbanization and being detached from the development process of urbanization. Under such predicaments and problems, it is necessary to analyze the development strategies of lion dance folk customs from multiple perspectives such as the national government, marketization, and competition, in order to address the current problems and predicaments of folk sports in China and take effective measures to solve them.