Well, traditional lion dancing is what we call the "traditional foot-work" such as the horse-stance, bow-stance, lift-step, kneel-step,... and just basically stances and steps performed on the floor. Our routine was mostly done on the floor. Since we used a platform instead of the "poles", we didn't have much of what the other teams performed. All the other teams performed on the poles which are "competition" lion dancing while ours weren't... making it more traditional than competition dancing. I hope I explained it well. The breaking of the pots were just something different than just lion dancing on the poles and eating the cheng.

Well, our Sifu put the routine together mainly for the females team. He only made one routine and asked everyone to just practice for it. Our Sifu was seeing who could do it with dedication and actually doing it...And a month or two before the competition only me, Cindy, and two other guys stayed through with the practices. So that is why our Sifu entered two teams. If not, he would have just entered the females team. And since we had little time to practice (around 2 months, once a week) we only had one routine. So we practiced the same thing except for some minor steps. If you saw the competition, you would have probably noticed the routine was the same with minor changes. Also, the platform was made only two or three weeks before the competition day so we didn't have a lot of time to get used to it. If anyone saw the females performance, you might have noticed that there were two or three mistakes in there such as taking very long putting away the scroll and the ending part. Me and Cindy was like the 7th (I think) to perform so as we saw all the teams b4 us performing all the stacks and .... it was just SOOO impressive so we decided to add and change our routine a little to make it look a bit more impressive. The scroll idea was also added before the whole competition started so I kinda messed up on putting the scroll on the platform which made me slip on it when I jumped of the platform. Also at the end we when we bowed out and went back in the lion to run around the platform and go in front of the drum we were supposed to (this is what we also added) single-thigh stack and turn 360 degrees and THEN sit with a half-split, but Cindy forgot and just sat, so we left that part out. =( Actually, I think that we should have ended with a 360 degree spin with the spider!! Drats!! = ) BTW, I think we (me and Cindy) may be one of the first females to do the spider stack!! Oh well...

Greg, at the Marin County Fair, the other guy who performed on stage was the one who performed in the competition. Well, it didn't take me long to learn to single-thigh stack... but it took practice to perfect it and strengthen it. Yes, I think we get our heads through Sifu Lee. And yes, we are definately preparing for Chinese New Years... Every year we go around Oakland Chinatown Lion Dancing at the stores there for a whole day... =P Then there are also the grand openings then and the parades.... *sigh* *exhausting...*

Well, I've FINALLY made that "short story" of our competition routine including the guys'. .... You all can also see pictures of me!!! = ) You can see pictures of me practicing the spider... if any of you have ever done the spider before, please see the pictures and tell me what we need to do to perfect it (cause as you can tell it's not perfect...)

Well, to make this letter not too long, I'll stop now and say BYEBYE!! =}

~peace~

Dorothy

>HI THERE THIS IS DANIEL LOW
>
>I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT THE SPIDER STACK IS, SINGLE THIGH STACK, AND
>SITTING SPLIT?
>
> BUT I THINK I KNOW WHAT A SINGLE HIGH STACK IS, THAT IS WHEN THE HEAD
>JUMPS ONTO THE THIGHS OF THE TAIL PERSON, RIGHT?

Well, you've got the single thigh stack right... I call it the sitting split because it's like sitting down in a split (we used a half-split). In this case I sit down with a leg straight out like a split and the other leg is behind me...a half-split... well, that' s just how I call it. The spider is where (if you haven't seen the picture of me and this guy doing the spider on the web page) the head jumps up and wraps both legs around the tail's waist...making kind of a 45 degree angle... and I think the tail is supposed to lean back.... It's hard to explain... you'll just have to see the picture, although I know it's not perfect.

Ladies & Gentlemen:

It's been a while since I last posted news about getting a group started here in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Well, first lesson begins this Sunday with the accompaniment. The Lion is en route from HK...

First appearance will be at the World Trade Center in Saint Paul, ushering the "Capital New Year".(Saint Paul is state capital of Minnesota.) Next is Chinese New Year in January, to be followed by a Malaysian/Indonesian combined event in March. By then I hope we should have come a decent way...

Till then, have a happy, safe and enjoyable holiday season!

Choy Leow

I am trying to look for Chris Low's E-mail address.
Could anybody give me Chris's E-mail address?
I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks,

Thuan

Hi - I'm looking for a Praying Mantis or Northern Shaolin school or teacher in San Francisco. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Andy
akaps@selmed.com

> Hi - I'm looking for a Praying Mantis or Northern Shaolin school or
> teacher in San Francisco. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would recommend Sifu Tim Wong on Baker and Sutter. He teaches Bei Shaolin and Choy Li Fut (Lai Hung lineage) and some Praying Mantis. I don't have his contact information with me.

Wong Sifu is a well respected martial artists and also teaches Lion Dance.

Of course, if you want to go to Sunnyvale, I would recommend My Sifu, Wing Lam.

Stephen.