2008 Woodie Awards
Chinatown celebrates traditional New Year
Parades last weekend on streets near Emerson College campus usher in the Year of the Dog
Lauren Johnson
Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: Lifestyle
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A gold lion's head with eyelids trimmed in fur jutted above a crowd in Chinatown.
Its metallic body snaked onto a stage constructed at the intersection of Essex and Harrison streets, keeping in time with a gong and clanging cymbals.
Firecrackers popped as another lion joined and both lions snapped their eyes open and shut and shimmied before spectators.
As percussion players increased their drumbeats, the lions approached a small pile of cabbages and blood oranges arranged at the front of the stage.
When they grasped the offerings in their jaws, ripping them to pieces and flinging them into the streets, the crowd erupted into cheers.
"The key is to look graceful and powerful at the same time," said Connie Wong, a volunteer coordinator and dance choreographer for Gund Kwok, the Boston-based Asian Women's Lion Dance Troupe. "It's a challenge because of the weight of the costumes and the heavy lion heads. It takes a lot of conditioning to be able to do it."
Gund Kwok, the only official female Lion Dance group in North America, was among eight troops that helped Boston ring in the Chinese New Year on Feb. 5 with an all-day parade in Chinatown, just a few blocks from Emerson's campus.
The parade also featured dragons, which are bigger costumes that require several performers to wield.
Although dragons weren't as common in this parade because of space limitations, some did perform at the opening of the parade, which included appearances by Mayor Thomas Menino and Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi.
"There are a lot of physical requirements and so many of the dancers have also trained in martial arts," said Sam Wing, an instructor at the Calvin Chin studio. "The dances require a lot of jumping and deep stances."
The dancers, who rehearsed for months in advance to be able to perform the traditional ceremony, worked in tandem with two or more people per costume directing the movement of each animal.
Its metallic body snaked onto a stage constructed at the intersection of Essex and Harrison streets, keeping in time with a gong and clanging cymbals.
Firecrackers popped as another lion joined and both lions snapped their eyes open and shut and shimmied before spectators.
As percussion players increased their drumbeats, the lions approached a small pile of cabbages and blood oranges arranged at the front of the stage.
When they grasped the offerings in their jaws, ripping them to pieces and flinging them into the streets, the crowd erupted into cheers.
"The key is to look graceful and powerful at the same time," said Connie Wong, a volunteer coordinator and dance choreographer for Gund Kwok, the Boston-based Asian Women's Lion Dance Troupe. "It's a challenge because of the weight of the costumes and the heavy lion heads. It takes a lot of conditioning to be able to do it."
Gund Kwok, the only official female Lion Dance group in North America, was among eight troops that helped Boston ring in the Chinese New Year on Feb. 5 with an all-day parade in Chinatown, just a few blocks from Emerson's campus.
The parade also featured dragons, which are bigger costumes that require several performers to wield.
Although dragons weren't as common in this parade because of space limitations, some did perform at the opening of the parade, which included appearances by Mayor Thomas Menino and Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi.
"There are a lot of physical requirements and so many of the dancers have also trained in martial arts," said Sam Wing, an instructor at the Calvin Chin studio. "The dances require a lot of jumping and deep stances."
The dancers, who rehearsed for months in advance to be able to perform the traditional ceremony, worked in tandem with two or more people per costume directing the movement of each animal.
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