Lion dancers making rounds of S.F. libraries
It comes only once every 60 years, and San Francisco’s lion dancers twirled, twisted and turned to make the most of it.
The Chinese New Year is set to start Jan. 28, and in preparation for the Fire Rooster Year — which hasn’t happened since 1957 — lion dancers made their rounds of public libraries across the city Saturday, as they do every year.
It was the second week in a series of performances at San Francisco library branches. Saturday’s show started at the Ocean View Branch Library on Randolph Street.
A crowd of about 30 parents and kids watched the professionals from Jing Mo Athletic Association showcase martial arts moves, play instruments and don the traditional lion costume.
Long Duong smiled throughout the performance as his 4-year-old daughter, Olivia, too tiny for her own seat, sat on his lap to watch.
“It’s great for the community,” Duong said after the show. “It’s great to bring the kid out, get into the spirit.”
The audience, wooden chairs just a couple of feet away from the performers, looked on as the show began with swift martial arts kicks, sword spinning, and a dance with a folding fan.
Lorraine Yee, a performer with the athletic association for more than 20 years, told the audience the story behind the lion as they awaited the finale.
The tradition began thousands of years ago in ancient China, when an evil beast destroyed livestock in a village. Every year the monster would wreak havoc, so the villagers decided they would come up with a creature to scare it off, Yee said.
There were no lions in China, so they created a lion of their own with a beautiful horn, eyes that glow in the dark, a big mouth to bite the beast and a long beard, because a beard is a symbol of age, and with age comes wisdom.
But the most important part of the lion is the mirror right at the top of its head, Yee said. When the beast looks at the mirror it sees evil, and when evil sees its own face it becomes so scared it runs away and never comes back.
All of a sudden, the bright green lion came to life and began shaking its tail, blinking its eyes and strutting about the library as performers played drums and clashed cymbals. It gobbled up the lucky lettuce, spitting bits out at laughing spectators. Then it spit out traditional Chinese candy with shiny red and gold wrappers, much to the delight of children scrambling out of their seats to grab some.
Within half an hour, the show was over, and parents and their children stuck around to clean lettuce off the library floor. Joyce Chan said the event was the perfect way to celebrate the New Year with her 4-year-old son, Jayden, and her 1-year-old daughter, Joline.
“It’s really one of the great events,” Chan said. “You just want them to explore more of the culture they normally don’t get to see.”
At the end, Jing Mo Athletic Association performer Yee awarded the library a small sculpture of a rooster before they ran off to seven more shows for the day. Those wouldn’t be their last, with Jan. 21 performances scheduled at the Presidio, Glen Park, Potrero and Mission Bay libraries.
Why libraries? Yee said literacy and education begin behind their walls.
“We really do it for the love of the community,” Yee said. “We’re always continuing to spread our culture. The whole goal is to be a citizen of the world. To give back.”