Lion dance teams connect family, community and culture for Lunar New Year
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Year of the Rabbit officially begins Jan. 22 but, as Asian-American communities celebrate, it will be another animal that takes center stage: the lion.
Lion dance performances have become part of a Lunar New Year culture which dates back centuries. The lion is a symbol of power and wisdom that can chase away evil spirits and bring good luck to neighborhoods, communities and businesses.
During the months of January and February, dance teams like Lion Dance Me in San Francisco's Chinatown are in high demand, performing 200 shows during the season -- sometimes eight shows per day.
"It gets really busy. Sometimes we are loading different buses for three teams to go all across the Bay Area," said Jayde Wong, a dance team member and organizer.
Wong, even at the relatively young age of 20, is one of the more respected lion dance performers in the Bay Area. She specializes as the lion's head when performing the "Jong," an acrobatic act in which a two-person team hops on a series of poles, balancing 15 to 20 feet off the ground.
"It requires a certain amount skill and flexibility and trust for me and my partner so we don't fall or get dropped," Wong said. "I think that part is exciting."
The roots of the Lion Dance Me teams stretch back as far as the 1970s with the Yau Kung Moon Association.
"My uncle and my dad started the organization for youth groups that has ties to Hong Kong," said Norman Lau, founder of Lion Dance Me. "We've been part of the San Francisco Chinatown neighborhood for years. We started here. I grew up here."
Along with a studio in Chinatown, Lion Dance Me also organizes lion dance clubs at five high schools in the city and, during the Lunar New Year, more than 200 of his students will be performing.
Lau says he takes pride to keep the tradition growing through a new generation of lion dance performers.
"I'm happy and proud to be a part of it and be a good community member," Lau said. "But I don't want to just carry on the tradition. I want to make it bigger, better and livelier."
Jayde Wong started as a club member at Lowell High School and she found performing with Lion Dance Me gave her a deeper connection to her Chinese culture.
"Before, I didn't feel the need to practice my Cantonese and there was always a language barrier with my grandparents but the lion dancing brought me closer to them and gave me something cultural I can now talk to them about," Wong said.
"We are happy to see Jayde perform the lion dance at this advance level. We are very proud of her," said Jayde's grandfather (speaking in Cantonese). "And, since she is so good, our family really feels proud and love and likes to see her performing."
The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade will take place Saturday, Feb. 4.
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