SYDNEY, Feb 5 (NNN-XINHUA) – With plenty of drumming and cymballing, a lion dance troupe marched through Sydney’s Chinatown, bringing joy and vitality to both businesses and passers-by.
On the three past Sundays, Sydney Choy Lee Fut lion dance team, performed in extreme heat or rain, in order to promote the Chinatown precinct and attract patrons to come back, as recent COVID-19 outbreaks in the state of New South Wales (NSW) subsided.
“The idea is that, the pandemic has taken everyone out of Chinatown, a lot of businesses everywhere have shut down as we know, and everyone’s spirits are a little bit low because of last year,” Sydney Choy Lee Fut director, Paul Numchong, said.
“So this is a way to uplift their spirits and also bring people back into Chinatown,” he said.
Choy Lee Fut, which runs Chinese Kung Fu, Qigong and lion dance classes, has been part of the Chinatown community for over 40 years. Numchong said, many people have come to it, to learn Chinese martial arts and developed love for lion dance, as the two were closely related.
“Traditionally, you train Kung Fu, which enables you to do lion dance, because the skill is all about the movement, the horse stance, and the footwork,” he said.
“Nowadays, we teach everyone because it is fun to do. It keeps you fit and healthy and strong. A lot of Westerners like it too,” he added.
Anna Lamont is a lion dance team member. She loves the lion dance and often volunteers to perform in her spare time.
“Since I was a child, I’ve always wanted to do Kung Fu … I’ve been training at the school since 2017, and then obviously lion dance pretty much straight away,” she said.
Lamont found learning lion dance is both challenging and rewarding.
“In the beginning, it was challenging, because your body is not used to moving that way. Apart from remembering the routines and the steps, it was also learning how to handle the weight of the lion’s head,” she said.
“But It’s so versatile, you could learn so many skills through doing lion dance … and the way everyone is here, it actually does make you feel like you’re part of a big family,” she further said.
Lamont, who was in charge of securing a grant for the performance, said, it is important for the local community, especially the business community to have the feeling that things will get better. “I think lion dance gives them that sort of cleansing bad energy and bringing good luck,” she said.
Steve Chen from China’s Taiwan agreed. Apart from cheering for businesses, he was glad that more people could get to know about traditional Chinese culture through the lion dance.
“To be honest, it’s very exhausting, but I think even for me as a Chinese, it’s a rare opportunity to get involved in the activity, and I’m honoured to participate in it,” he said.
“I think this is a kind of inheritance and I’ll stick to it.”– NNN-XINHUA
