Charlie Smith

In the wild, koi are cold water fish who gain strength by swimming against currents. Many years ago, a huge school containing thousands of koi swam up the Yellow River. The colours of their well muscled bodies flashed in the sunlight making them seem like a million living jewels. All was going well until the koi reached a waterfall. Immediately, a large number of them grew discouraged and turned back, finding it much easier to simply go with the flow of the river. Yet, a determined group of 360 koi stayed on. Straining and leaping, each koi strove to reach the top of the falls. Again and again they flung their bodies into the air only to fall back into the water. All this splashing noise drew the attention of the local demons who laughed at the efforts of the struggling koi. Adding to their misery, the demons increased the height of the falls. Undeterred, the koi continued their efforts for one hundred years. At last, a single koi reached the top of the falls. The God’s smiled down in approval and transformed the koi into a shining golden dragon. He joyfully spends his days chasing pearls of wisdom across the skies of the vast and eternal heavens. Whenever another koi finds the strength and courage to leap up the falls, he or she too becomes a heavenly dragon. The falls have become know as the Dragon’s Gate and, because of their endurance and perseverance, koi have become symbolic of overcoming adversity and fulfilling one’s destiny. 

I used this legend to create my puppet, a dragon, for a parade with Cecil Green Arts. As well as creating my puppet I also designed all the smaller koi puppets and costumes that members of the public would make to be in the parade around my dragon. Below are some images of the koi/dragon section of the parade.