TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A video of a performer in a 2-meter-tall gorilla costume dancing frenetically at a temple festival in the scorching summer heat in western Taiwan has gone viral.
On Sunday morning (July 2), the Sihu Cantian Temple in Yunlin County's Sihu Township featured numerous performances by yizhen (藝陣), temple-based folk art performance troupes. Among the more eye-catching acts was a massive gorilla costume operated by a highly skilled puppeteer inside.
As can be seen in a Facebook video of the performance, the ape started by putting its hands together and bowing three times to pay homage to the temple's main deity, Guan Yu (關羽). It then performed a drunken monkey kung fu form of dance, before seeming to deflate and collapse to the ground.
The Monkey King character, Sun Wukong (孫悟空), then awakened it with a flick of his magic staff, and the gorilla reanimated and started dancing furiously to a rapid techno beat. The act finished with Sun Wukong and his troupe joining the ape in bowing to the four cardinal directions to more subdued music.
(Facebook, Sihu Cantian Temple screenshots)
The puppeteer inside the gorilla costume is a performer from New Taipei City's Luzhou District and was invited by the yizhen group of the Tianzun Shengdi Association in Mailiao Township, Yunlin County to take part in the grand event, reported TVBS. However, many expressed concerns about the artist inside the bulky costume as the highs that day soared to at least 35 degrees Celsius.
Wu Hui-pin (吳惠斌), chair of the Sihu Cantian Temple, told the news agency he happened to be busy when the gorilla started to dance, but when he heard worshipers exclaim that it looked like a real gorilla, I saw it interacting with everyone. Wu said it was the first time that he had seen someone perform in this sort of costume and he felt that it was very novel.
He said that the weather was very hot that day and everyone was afraid of getting heatstroke. Nevertheless, Wu said that the performer's moves were very professional and "I believe Emperor Guan Shengdi blessed him. He walked all the way from the street to the temple and he still had plenty of energy."
2-meter-tall 'gorilla' gyrates at Taiwan temple https://t.co/1zcnEgcVHy pic.twitter.com/8MbFCKj7YJ
— Taiwan News (@TaiwanNewsEN) July 5, 2023
