Hello ! to get an easier time blinking the eyes and ears of the lion . There should be a big string and tie it to the string which controls the string which manipulates the eyes and ears of the lion . The big string should be tied into a loop , so that the lion dancer will have an easier time getting hold of the string , to blink the eyes and ears when the lion dancer is doing certain lion dance moves . Also the elbows can be used to support both sides of the head , while th back part of the head rests on the shoulders of the head player . The left hand can be controlling the chin bar area where the lion's mouth is attached to the lion's head . The right hand can be used to pull the string , which is tied to the string which manipulates the eyes and ears of the lion .The string should be tied i the middle part of the lion's head .

I remember when I was doing lion dance with the jung mo ( Chinese Physical Culture Association ) . There were times when I practice with the head , and I noticed the string which is attached to the string which manipulates the eyes and ears of the lion had a large loop to make it easy for the head player to grab the string when he or she plays the head . And the string was in the middle part of the head . This is just my way of doing it ,but there are probably other ways of doing it too . Take care.

Hello ! My way of making it easier for the lion head player to blink the eyes and move the ears . Is to tie a large nylon string to the string which manipulates the eyes and ears of the lion . The nylon string should have a big loop to make it easier for the head player to manipulate the eyes and ears when doing certain lion dance moves . The string should be tied in the middle part of the head . To make it easier for the head player to grab the string , when doing certain lion dance moves The lion head can be supported at both sides of the lion's head by using the elbows , the back part of the head can be resting on the shoulders of the head player . The left hand can be supporting the chin bar of the head where the mouth is attached to the lion's head . While the right hand can be used to pull the nylon string manipulating the eyes and ears of the lion . I notice this whole process when I was practicing with the lion's head wihen I was with the jung mo ( Chinese Physical Culture Association ) . And my good friend who had been doing liondance with the jung mo club , but now does lion dance with another club taught me the technique long time ago . Where you use the elbows to support the head both sides of the head . And letting the back part of the head rest on your shoulders , and using the left hand to control the mouth , while the right hand controls the nylon string to manipulate the eyes and ears of the lion . Take care .

Laine

Hi all,

George Chan wrote:

>There were more teams that entered this time. However the > accomadation
>that was provided was a bit rough (Ria Apartments)and > many teams were not
>happy about it. Genting apologise for that and > explained that there were
>just not enough rooms in their hotels, but > promise to have hotel rooms
>next time as there will a new hotel in > Genting soon. I think it is fair
>and good that the teams brought > this matter up as it is important for
>this competition to improve.

Well, I'm not sure what the Ria Apartments were like, but I believe that staying in KL is a very good alternative to staying in Genting. The hotels in KL are probably more expensive (but cheap by US standards), but much nicer. Of course, staying in KL means a 1-hour, 40-60 ringgit taxi ride up to Genting. But I find that the time and expense involved are well worth it.

>The competiton went more smoothly this time and it ended quite on
>time. However, There were no surpporting performances(like dragon
>dance) such as in 1998. It would have been great to have some.

Yes, I agree that the competition went more smoothly this year, although I feel there's still room for improvement. There was still too much waiting time for the audience, especially at the beginning of the day and during the midday break. Also, the extra entertainment that was provided this year simply did not fit in with the competition. I don't know who organized the extra entertainment, but I felt that it was totally unnecessary, especially since the judges seemed to have been done with their scoring before the entertainment started.

Greg

Yup, that's what I found to be the easiest way of finding the string too.

Si Si

>Well, I'm not sure what the Ria Apartments were like, but I believe that
>staying in KL is a very good alternative to staying in Genting. The hotels
>in KL are probably more expensive (but cheap by US standards), but much
>nicer. Of course, staying in KL means a 1-hour, 40-60 ringgit taxi ride up
>to Genting. But I find that the time and expense involved are well worth it.

The above option would be feasible perhaps if you have been to Malaysia a few times. But for first timers, Hotel Theme Park at Genting would work well if you don't mind the cool wind howling through the windows as the fog sets in at night.

>Yes, I agree that the competition went more smoothly this year, although I
>feel there's still room for improvement. There was still too much waiting
>time for the audience, especially at the beginning of the day and during the
>midday break. Also, the extra entertainment that was provided this year
>simply did not fit in with the competition. I don't know who organized the
>extra entertainment, but I felt that it was totally unnecessary, especially
>since the judges seemed to have been done with their scoring before the
>entertainment started.

Yes. I was also hoping for some Dragon Dance since this year(2000) is the year of the Dragon. The Dragon should have been unleashed.

Overall, it was a great experience to be a part of the total "Lion Dance mania"(so to speak). Anyone who has the "opportunity=time+money" to go to the 2002 "Lion Dance mania" should go and totally experience it first hand.

James
Camarillo,CA

for all of those living in the bay area,

the 2000 international wushu festival is going to be held on August 6 from 10am to 5pm. the parade will start in chinatown, SF, and there will be a fair in union square, downtown SF. the admission is free , there are going to be lion dances and kung fu demonstrations. apparently, there are going to be a lot of goups there, including Yau Kung Moon. however, i have two performances on that same day, so is there anybody out there that is involved in this that knows the exact times of the lion dances, so i know when to go?

Thanks,

Jimmy,
Loong Mah, SF

Will white crane be there? Since you're from loong mah, you should know eric (big guy) right? does he have email? I would like to get into contact with him. Loong mah won't be there? pity, i think you guys should be there. If you want to know, you should try contacting david lei. he's usually involved in stuff like this. he is on this list but i think he hasnt been keeping up with his emails.

Albert

Jimmy,

Hi ! How are you ? Anyway , do you know if the Gee Yung Club is going to be at the wushu festival or not ? I'm from the Hawaii branch of the Gee Yung International Martial Arts & Lion Dance Association . Infact , my good friend had recorded fro me the Year of the Boar San Francisco Chronicle Chinese New Year Parade . That's where I saw the Loong Mah group . Your group is good too . What style of kung fu does your club practice anyway ? You can e - mail me whenever you can , thank you and take care .

Laine

Jimmy,

Hi ! How are you ? Anyway , is the gee yung club going to be at the wushu Festival ? I'm from the Hawaii Branch of The Gee Yung International Martial Arts & Lion Dance Association ? A good friend of mine recorded the Year of The Boar San Fransico Chronicle Chinese New Year Parade . That's how I saw your club . Because the name loong mah sounds familiar when I came across of the lion dance 2000 International wushu festival . I remembered I saw your club in the chinese new year festival . Your club is good too , by the way what style of kung fu do you people practice anyway ? You can e mail me whenever you can , thank you and take care .

Laine

Laine,

Loong mah isn't a kung fu school, so I don't think they practice a certain style of kung fu. They are just non-profit lion dance dance club that's uses Malaysian Lion Dance Techniques and mix with others. Also Laine, since the year of the Boar, Loong has gotten extremely better with a lot more lions that include dozens of silver lions and dragon. The also got a neat drum cart that is on loan to them from Mr. David Thomas (a friend of mines). He made it and it looks so nice. Loong Mah themselves added a gong holder and two flag holders themselves. Also Laine, I took some pictures from this years parade (I was with Loong Mah this year and last year in the parade, they are bunch of great people in there). If you would go to http://www.oocities.org/gumloong/ I have pictures of Loong Mah and several others pictures from the parade. About Gee Yung, I don't think that they will be there as a performing group because they are not really well-known so I am in doubt of them showing up to be demos.

Albert Le

Hi Perry,

So what is the status on the ground formation conference? Did you get enough response to go ahead with the conference? It's been very quiet about this topic. Are people responding to you privately?

What do you guys think about this? I think it is a great idea and we should support it. The opportunity and chance to learn new liondancing skills are hard to come by. Even though I have to fly down to SF from Seattle, Wa., and maybe a few of my members are flying with me, I don't mind because I believe the gain out-weights the cost.

Perry, please update us on this whenever possible.

Thankx, Vo Minh Duc

Hey Jason & all,

I was at a conference in San Diego last weekend and as part of the attractions they showed a bunch of movie trailers, one of which was for The Art of War. The dragon dance scene didn't make it into the trailer, but the movie is due out in September. (That's only 2 months off schedule...)

Just thought I'd share in case anyone was interested.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Really? I found out recently that It's supposed to come out August 25th. I was fortunate wo see the first 10 minutes of the movie... Have a friend who works for the Distribution company for Nother American releases... It was... hehehe kinda illegal... but cool... Our scene was in the first 15 minutes... So I don't know now.. you're saying September and I'm hearing August... We'll see, I guess...

Jason

Hi,

I was just wondering... I'm still writting posts to the liondance@freud.et.tudelft.nl address. Do I have to Re-suscribe to the new liondacing .org mailing list? or is everything being forwarded? I'm not too sure on how everything works.

Thanks,

Jason

liondance@freud.et.tudelft.nl is obsolete but still functional

The subscription list of the old mailinglist was copied to the new one, so if you were a member already, you are now also a member of the new list: list@liondancing.org

No other action has to take place than using 'list@liondancing.org' instead of 'liondance@freud.et.tudelft.nl'.

Regards,

Serhat Sakary

HeLLo

i was just wondering.....how come in those world lion dance competitions......i dont ever see any vietnamese lion dance troupe??....im jus wondering....becuase my mom brought home this tape....it had some lion dance performance done by this group...dont know the name because i dont speak vietnamese......and they were pretty good....and did some stunts i never seen before....ecven better stunts than some of thopse singapore and maylasia(spelling??)....and i think they would probaly have a good chance to place if they enter.........so do yall know why vietnamese troupe never enter??...well thank you

bai bai
Mark

Hey Mark,

In 1998 and 2000 there has been a Vietnamese troupe that competed at the world champs in Malaysia. They are called Doan Lan Su Rong Nhon-Nghia-Duong TPHCM. I believe they are mostly ethnic Chinese, and they have been around for more than 60 years. Hey Duc or Thuan, can you shed some more light on this troupe? What does TPHCM mean...is it tha`nh pho^' Ho^` Chi' Minh (meaning they are from Saigon)?

I don't know too much about them, other than that they use Master Siow's system and equipment. I heard that Master Siow was very impressed with them when they competed in 1998 - very professional and friendly guys. On the 1998 vcd my friends translated for me that when they arrived in Malaysia, they suddenly realized that they needed to buy a new lion in order to compete. But they didn't have time to get matching shoes for their new lion, so they had to use the shoes they brought. Anyways, the new lion was silver, but their shoes were baby blue! Before my friends translated the interview for me I thought the baby blue shoes were their trademark or something...I thought it was kinda cute. But now I know.

Hehe.

Anyhow, the last two competitions they haven't advanced to the final round. I hope that changes soon! :)

Willy

Hi guys,

How many of you guys perform dragon dancing along with your lion dance? Even occassionally? I know of Corey Chan's group but I am interested in finding out who else actively participates in the stage/competition style of dragon dancing. Any tips on getting started?

Willy

ps - Since I am moving back to Houston in 2 weeks, I am no longer handling Chung Ngai Dance Troupe's inquiries. I am also sorry to say that our webmaster doesn't have time to make any updates to the website anymore, either (he's got his own web design company, so he's pretty busy). Sorry to all the requests for link exchanges. But I am working on a site for my Houston troupe and link exchanges are welcome when I get it set up. Thanks!

IS this the one that's on the beach? where they do backflips and front flips with the whole lion? And does it have, northern lions, southern lions and a dragon? if it was, i think i know what you are talking about because i have the tape. There was actually a lion dance team that was vietnamese in the competition but it wasn't the one on the tape (if we are talking about the same tape). in Vietnam,.it is a different style of lion dancing style except when they have choreography.

Albert Le

hello,

What troupe are you from in Houston? I hear from Thuan that you use to be in Vovinam martial arts? is that true?

Albert Le

Hey Albert,

Yes, I was in Vovinam for two years back when I was in middle/high school. But then I had to quit after I suffered a concussion because I landed wrong after a sweep! I don't know if Vovinam has national get-togethers, but my instructor was Master Trung Vo (short guy, has moustache), of the southwest Houston branch. Nice guy.

My troupe is called Lee's Golden Dragon Dance Troupe. It was started around 1975~6 by my uncle, Allen Lee. Actually, he used to be a member of Chung Ngai while he was out in California attending college (which is how I joined the troupe 25 years later).

I heard that two branches of Vovinam in Houston have their own lion dance troupe, but since I've been in California for the last 3 years I haven't really kept up. Are you still in Vovinam? I got up to dark blue belt, two stripes...but I've forgotten everything so it's not really worth mentioning! ;)

Willy

Wow that's been a while. Recently the Northwest Branch just had the 2nd Annual Tournament. Vancouver, Oakland, San Jose, Canoga Park(L.A), Tacoma and Seattle Vovinam branches participated. It was very fun and amusing although something serious happened. I'm at 3 strip blue but i've been like this for 2/3 or 4 years. I also temp. stopped going for football season, but i since been back in training with them. My little sister a black belt(just newly integrated, its higher than blue but lower than yellow). My sister is an incoming 8th grader and she's higher than i am. Vovinam Branches of Vancouver, San Jose and Washington have lion dance team, but they really need to work on their training still. The San Jose branch that I'm with is runned by a stubborn lady that doesn't have much emphasis on lion dancing and she doesn't recognize the practice that's needed for lion dance team. I have an uncle in Austin is part of lion dance team (he's old) and i think he runs it too, but im not too sure. Have you been to the SF new year parades and have you been one of those drummers on the float that Chung Ngai always do? This year before the parade, I was helping to do some maintenance of floats in the warehouse before i joined up with Loong Mah later that day and your guys float was there and i took a picture of it. Looking good and those new lions you guys got are also looking good.

Albert Le

OOoOoo.....on the beach.....ya ya i have that one too....i got that like 2 3 months ago.....the dragon was long....but na i wasnt tlakin bout that group...there this group in vietnam that is better......but they were good too....they had some good stunts.....well i hope we talkin bout the same tape.....hehe.......was the tape in somewhere in california??...well this will help us determine the tape better.....when it first started...all the lions are like sleeping on rocks and a buddha is walkin around waking them up ..thats the one i have..........choreography....what that??? o ya to respond to the dragon dance thingy....ya my group..perform lion dances wit dragon dances at the sametime......we suck totally so much wit the dragon.....we barly pratice it thats y...we mostly pratice the lion dance........blah our group is so disorganize rite now too......blah.....well im pretty sure yall dont want hear bout it so i wont sa anymore bout it. lee golden dragon dance troupe....since 1975-96??.....it was started in houston??.........well jus wondering well thats all sorrie for all these spelling mistakes and stuff but im tired and i jus came frm the gym....bai bai

Pk

We're doing a big lion and dragon dance for the Bing Gung Tong in Seattle's Chinatown, 8/6 around noon. We may have a female dragon too! That would probably be a first anywhere around here. There will be two southern, two northern and two (maybe three) dragons dancing. Should be fun!

Geoff

Hello....thanx to all that reply....and if more reply...i wont be able to reply for bout like probaly a week or less....becuase im gettin my comptuer fixed....it keep freezing on me and im sick of it....so im finnaly gonna get it fixed....so dont expect a response frm me til bout a week or so....thank you

Mark

I like to let you know there are two of those tapes. the 2nd newer tape has more neater stunts in which i never seen any of the malaysian or other teams done. yea the tape is from california. The sleeping lions on rocks was the first tape. It isn't as good as the 2nd tape. choreography means things like movement, stunts, music are all planned out. On the 2nd tape, they did backflips and front flips off those high competition poles, but the sound quality on the 2nd tape isn't as good.

Albert Le

Hi for those of you with pole sets I would like to know how you build them. What I mean is how you build them so that they're sturdy, reliable, and easy to transport. We do have a pole set right now, but they're constructed out of plumbing pipes and they're really heavy, easy to take apart but they're inconvenient. Not to mention all rusted. I see all these groups with these fancy pole sets, but how and where do they store em how do they transport them, and yet stay as rock solid as it was when it was built years ago. We've tried the 2x4's but those are a no-no so what else would you suggest?

Also, who builds these pole sets? The groups themselves? Is there like a manual out there that we dont know about? Do you center the building of the set around a routine you have in mind, or do you build it first then try out your routine? Thanks.

Hi ninja boy,

Usually the people that make Lion Heads, such as Sifu Siow in Malaysia builds them to competition specs. They dont build them to your routine, because when you purchase a Jong it's the standerd length. Alot of teams purchase two pairs, this way they can either make their Jongs longer for there routine our have configured in a different formation. Cost wise it is cheap to purchase in Malaysia, about $2400 us. but to ship to the states is very expensive, so you might want to have a welder at your home state to build one for you. The materials that they use so that it is sturdy for the base is I-beams (the same ones that they use to build buildings) it is very heavy, so you might want to have them construct a platform on wheels so that you can roll the base when you need to move it.

I-beams!? I always thought it was basic construction material that they used. I guess home built pole sets arent the way to go huh?

Wow. A female dragon??? What do those look like? Any interaction with the male dragon? Hehe.

Willy

Hey Albert,

Interesting how Vovinam is involved in so many activities. Hey, what's the name of your uncle? And his troupe? I have relatives in Austin, too...

I was in the SF parade the last two years with Chung Ngai. This year I was the middle guy on the float wearing the glasses (I heard I got some airtime on TV but I never saw the tape!). Thanks for the compliments but I really think Chung Ngai should take better care of their instruments...our stuff is nothing compared to say Loong Mah's nice stuff! I saw your pictures of Loong Mah's drums...where do they find the lazer paper to paste on the drums?

Willy

Hi Mark and Willy,

TPHCM means what Willy say: "Tha`nh Pho^' Ho^` Chi' Minh"...they are in Saigon. I don't know much about this team but I heard that they are one of the best team and a well respected team in Saigon. I got a chance to watch their team perform in a video tape called: Discover Vietnam. They were talking about Vietnamese new year and they did an extended interview of the group and they also follow that group to new years perfromances too. Go to some of the Vietnamese Music video store and ask for that title. (Cost ~$7-10) The cover is red with picture of a drummer, 2 firecracker string in the background on both side...it's narated in Vietnamese so get a translater when you watch it (that is if you do not understand Vietnamese).

Yes, they did compete in the 1998 competition...but I don't know about the competition that's just past....George, how did they do? Are they even in the competition this year?

Other then that, I do not know much about this group.

Vo Minh Duc

Willy,

Vovinam has been very active lattely. A number of branches has sent delegations to Vietnam to learn more. My branch went to Vietnam. My branch has done a lot of traveling, we visited branches in CAnada, Ohio, Southern California, and Washington for joint performances. Oddly enough I never knew my uncle's name, I always called him Duong (he is from my mom's side) I don't know his group name. I never get the chance to ask him. My dad or mom doesn't know much except he is in a lion dance team. Recently he just got me a new gold lion supposidely from china but I haven't recieved it yet because it is still at dock in texas. My uncle hasn't had the time to go pick it up yet. I'll check my tapes to see if you are on their. Loong Mah's first drum (the one that isn't on the drum cart), I really don't know where they got that one from because it isn't lazered paper but its silver sequenced material (Like on the Lion tails) Their newer drum is lazered paper which I'm taking a guess is from Jonie's Uniforms (since they got a lot of their stuff from there), but I checked their catalog, they have only red lazered paper drum and gold lazered paper drums (which are also nice) but I haven't seen any of the silver ones. I would try asking Jimmy since he's from Loong Mah. He should be able t o find out. I don't think they found lasered paper to paste on. I think they bought it like that. For the sequenced drum, i think they might have gotten sequence material and did it themselves but i think could've purchased it instead. I don't know that much detail.

Albert

Hi

im responded on my freind computer...the keyboard is hard to type....so really sorry for spelling mistakes....so there are two tapes??.....i want the second tape...it sold only in kali??....bakflips n frontflip off the pole..wit the lion head??.....well thats all for now

bai bai
Mark

Yea it's in California. its a two tape set because the other is peformance(paris by nigh like) it is pan asia video 29. on the 2nd tape. Yup, the whole lion. tail over head, head over the tail. its amazing to see.

Albert

Albert,

Hello ! How you doing ? By the way , where can I get a copy of the lion dance video that you and mark was talking about ? Because I think that chinese lion dance had a strong influence over the vietnamese lion dance . But the vietnamese had done their lion dance techniques probably in a different way . But you people been talking about it , mark said that you can get it from kali if I'm not mistaken . But if possible can you e - mail me the info on the sleeping lion on the rocks , thank you and take care.

Laine