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22nd London New Year's Day Parade 2008
We were Honoured to represent the London Borough of Harrow in the parade. We designed a 5 minute sequence for 4 lions
to perform over the 2 mile route of the parade, which starts at Big Ben and finishes by the Ritz in Piccadilly.
We were very pleased when it was announced that Harrow had won a special award for the display at the parade. We look
forward to next year's parade.
PAUL MERTON IN CHINA TV Series Launch
The team provided a lion dance for the launch party at Rex Theatre which is part of Planet Hollywood in Soho. Guests
were greeted at the entrance by the lion as they arrived to the party of the new 4 part TV series.
Yi Dao Lion Dance & Wushu Competition 2007
We will be holding a troupe competition for our new members to enter and to prove who is the best in the troupe. There
will be a choice of basic and intermediate routines for particpants to compete in. The competition will be held Main Stage
at Oriental City onSunday 20th May 2007 at 1.30pm.
Chinese New Year 2007
The troupe welcomed the year of the pig with their busiest ever CNY. With bookings at an all time high, 3 teams
were needed to perform at the same time at 3 different locations. The team also added the Bayswater area to their
performances, Bayswater is like a mini Chinatown in the heart of West London.
FANTASTIC FOUR PHOTO SHOOT
Yi Dao members were dressed up as ninjas for a photo shoot in London, for publicity shots of
the upcoming Playstation 2 version of The Fantastic Four. A short fight sequence was also filmed as part of the promotion
and the members got to play on the game to see what moves the characters use to fight.
Launch of "Uniquely Singapore" Yacht - 16-03-05
The troupe particpated in the launch of the Yacht which was held at the historic St Katharines Docks in London.
The yacht will represent Singapore in the Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race.
At the event 2 of our lions escorted Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong to the yacht, where he then officially named the yacht
“Uniquely Singapore”. Which was immediatley followed by a short performance by the troupe.
NATIONAL DRAGON & LION DANCE FESTIVAL
We participated in the National Dragon & Lion Dance Festival which was held in Leicester Square, Central London.
The day kicked off with Nam Yang performing a Dragon Dance and then was followed by our lion dance on the benches &
table routine, which was very well received by the audience.
We also made up some paper flags based on the design by Derek Yip at the top of the page. So there was many a Japanese
tourist wandering around Leicester Square with an Yi Dao paper flag
Several Lion dances were performed which included the Big Buddha head teasing the lion and also a snake formation qing
which uses a spear to represent the body of the snake 2 oranges the eyes and 2 swords the fangs.
The troupe also performed a wushu demostration which for many of the troupe members was their first time performing in
front of a large crowd. The Festival was an enjoyable experience and we hope it will be repeated on an annual basis.
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| Yi Dao & Hero Lion Dance Team Members |
EYE OPENING CEREMONY IN BRISTOL
On the 21st July, Sifu Vincent Hopkins and members of the Yi Dao Troupe went down to Bristol at the invation
of Sifu Matthew Ng of the Hero Lion Dance Team. The Hero Lion Dance Team have just acquired 2 brand new lion heads and the ceremony was to dot
the eyes and bring the spirit in to the lions. After the eyes were dotted a splendid drum performance was given by Sifu Ng and his young protégées. The ceremony
was also part of a 4 session program to introduce local youths to lion dance.
Sifu Ng is a student of Sifu Hopkins, he has a strong background in Fatsan Style lion dance but was very keen to change
to the Hoksan style of lion dance. He has set up the Hero Lion Dance Team in association with his brother and
close friends. To our knowledge they are the only Hoksan team in the West of England.
Our Best Wishes go to our Brother Association Hero Lion Dance Team.
CNY 2004 In Summary
The year of the Monkey really marked the beginning of a fresh start for the team with the team aqquiring
new equipment and a lot of enquiries from people interested in learning. The youngest of those interested is 3 years
old and the oldest and already signed up with a keen interest in the drum is a 52 year old female.
The response to the team's performances has been highly favouable with the martial arts going down
very well with audience and organisers.
This year we will be running a beginners course to separate the beginners off from the advanced students.
We will also merge the Martial Arts, Dragon & Lion Dance into one class and will re-introduce Chinese Acrobatics
into the curriculm with a focus on hoop diving and flag dance.
Beginners Courses 2004
We will be runninng a Beginners courses teaching wushu & lion dance. The course
will focus on basics and a certificate of completion will be awarded to those who complete the 10 sessions. There will be
1 session a week and you can choose to come on either a Tuesday or a Thursday.
Courses start on:
Thursday 19th February
Tuesday 24th February
Times: 6.30 - 7.30pm - Children
7.45 - 8.45pm - Adults
Cost: £50 if paying on dao of first session
£30 if course is paid before 17th
February 2004
Venue: Oriental City, 399 Edgware Road, Colindale, London NW9 0JJ
Eye Dotting Ceremony 1st Feb 2004
We will be dotting the eyes of a new lion on the 1st February at Oriental City as part of the Chinese
New Year Celebarations. This follows on the dotting of the eyes of our new Dragon and 2 lions on the 28th December 2003 at
Oriental City.
New Year Parade
On a bleak and rainy New Year's day, the team was out in Central London performing as part of the
18th London New Year's Parade. The parade which has over 10,000 performers and attracts 1 million specators plus millions
more through TV and radio coverage. The parade started by the Houses of Parliment as Big Ben struck 12.00 and the team
proceded past Downing Street, Traflgar Square and finished in Piccadilly by Green Park. We used our Dragon which appeared
briefly on the news and also had 2 lions which was performed by the children team. We are looking forward to performing
at 19th London New Year's Parade.
2003 Summary
It's been an interesting year with the lion dance team performing at a record amount of shows and
enquires coming in as far a field as Spain, Dubai, India. Also some interesting shows for Harrods, The Mayor of London, A
Hat Musuem and a packed casino at 2am in the morning. The lion dance team have improved tremoundsly with many new members
swelling the ranks from as young as 5 years old.
The Wushu team performed at the Nationals and placed well with 1 gold, a few silvers and bronzes.
Also it is rumored that one of the members might be in the next Jackie Chan film (fingers crossed). Team members are also
involved with a planned theatre production that is in the planning stages now.
We are still training and are ready for 2004 so if you are interested in a performance or would like
to join us please email us..
We would like to take this oppurtunity to wish all our members and supporters
A MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR
Buddha's Birthday
The troupe was proud to have performed lion dance on the 18th May in Leicester Sq &
Chinatown. The troupe had a 20 player strong team, with the majority of the team under 16 years of age. As with the 2
previous celebrations, there was rain before the performance started, to cleanse the streets and then was rewarded with
sunshine which brought out the crowds to watch the lion dance and buddhist ceremomnies performed by the London Fo Kuang
Shan Temple. I would like to thank the Fo Kuang Shan Temple for asking us to perform at the celebrations. 23/05/02
CNY - Year of the Horse
I would like to take this oppurtinity to wish everyone
good health and fortune for the forthcoming year. After the celebrations of the new year have died down there will still be
the excitment of the Genting competition to be held during July. Everyone will be waiting to see KSK C team's new routine
and the team from China will they finally start challenging Malaysia for the Championship.
On the Home front the UK championships
are going to be held this year with the date yet to be fixed. So it looks like it's going to be a busy but an enjoyable year.
"Keep Dancing" 08/02/02
The 5th World Lion Dance Championships
The Genting Championships will be taking place in July 2002. Whether the team
will be going or not is another question, as we will be taking part in the Hawaii competition in March 2002 and this will
put a strain on team members finances. that is unless the team can find a sponsor to cover the air flights, which is the biggest
obstacle for the team. 21/10/01
We have had a surge in new recruits and are receiving a lot of enquires, with people particular interested in wushu &
lion dance. We are now making some of the classes invitation only, so that we can keep standards high. If you are interested
in joining, please fill out the "join us" form (layabouts need not apply). 18/10/01
DUE TO THE TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANCES ON THE 11/09/01. THE CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL MARCH 2002.
1ST U.S. INTERNATIONAL LION DANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The team will be leaving for Hawaii in October to compete in the competition.
The team will be up against stiff competition with the top teams from around the globe competing. The team will be performing
a similiar routine to the one performed in the Genting 2000 World Lion Dance Championships (Malaysia). The routine will have
a London theme with the decorations for the jongs (poles), using big ben, tower bridge, millenimum dome, nelson's column and
the london eye. 03/09/01
LION DANCE JUDGING COURSE
The UK has 20 newly qualified judges, the judges were taught by Grandmaster Eu Choong
Seng. The judges came from all over the country. They are now qualified to judge at BCCMA competitions.
01/07/01
YI DAO SETTING THE TREND AGAIN
Vincent Hopkins passed the Exam to become an International lion dance judge held in Malaysia
(April 2001). He is the first & only European to have passed the International Dragon & Lion Dance Association exam.
This will benefit the UK lion dance scene greatly.
01/05/01
THE GRANDMASTER IS COMING
Grandmaster Eu
Choong Seng will be arriving in the UK on 14th June. He will be the Head judge at the Oriental City Lion Dance Cup and will
also be giving seminars on lion dance judging and Hung Kuen Kung Fu. Contact us for details about seminars.
01/05/01
ORIENTAL CITY LION DANCE CUP 2001
The U.K. National Lion Dance Championships will take place on the
24th June 2001 at Oriental City, Edgware Road Colindale, London NW9. The competition will start at 12.00pm and will bring
team from all over the U.K. to compete. Admission is free and there is a free multi storey car park attached to the shopping
centre.If you would like to enter your team please e-mail us (the closing date for entries is 4th May).
01/03/01
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