Chau Luen Athletics held a community performance at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver on Friday, February 9 for their Lunar New Year celebration. It was our first time performing in front of an audience of mostly children, but what motivated us most was to give these kids a performance that would elicit wonder and excitement and make them forget about being sick, even for a short moment.
Why Chau Luen Athletics chose to perform at Vancouver’s Ronald McDonald House
Ronald McDonald House is a non-profit organization that provides accommodation and meals for families of sick children. It’s located close to BC Children’s Hospital, the only children’s hospital in the province.
The entire audience was composed of sick children, along with their siblings and parents/guardians. Knowing this, we promised to ourselves that we would give it our all to make these kids smile.
Ronald McDonald House Lunar New Year recap
Kyle Hui, one of our instructors, first gave a brief history lesson of lion dance and explained why we perform it. From there, he and his lion dance partner Charlene got into the colourful blue lion and got to work.
With plenty of space and what seemed like an army of smiling kids in front of us, we took our time making our way through the crowd so everyone could see the lions up close. The kids really seemed to enjoy the tail wagging and the fluttering eyes, but one of the real highlights of the show for them was the lettuce.
Many had not seen a live lion dance performance before, so it was exciting to see all that green fly through the air.
Interacting with a young audience is always rewarding
What happened after the performance was easily the best part and made our day. As some parents thanked us for such an incredible show, we invited all of the kids to come and pet the lion, take photos, and ask questions.
So many of the kids came forward and asked for photos. Many touched the lion and were surprised with how soft the fur was and how gentle it was when they got close. A lot of them asked questions, many of whom were young girls delighted that Charlene was in the head.
It was truly heartwarming to hear so much laughter. We can only imagine how difficult life can be for these kids, and having just one day where they can forget about it all and just enjoy such a cool performance with their siblings, friends, and family meant so much more than doing a corporate Lunar New Year blessing.
Even though we were tired (we had visited 4 schools and done 4 full performances already), this performance was 100% worth it. As this was a community lion dance, it was heavily discounted as well – no amount of money can place value on what we felt that day.
If you have a community event and want to book us, ask us about our discounted rates. Our team would love to spread the joy of lion dances to spread awareness of our traditional culture and have fun.
We look forward to receiving your booking requests!
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