Saturday September 29, 2007
We know how to mark an entrance and draw a crowd. Or at least a couple of Chinese Lions and a drumming team knows how to draw a crowd and make an entrance.
We performed at Westland Market Mall in Spruce Grove today for Grove Travel who was hosting a travel event in the mall. We were there to promote China (of course!) and to introduce a speaker who represented travel to China. Anyway, we started at one end of the mall, and marched through it to a cozy spot outside of Grove Travel where we settled in on the hard floor to begin our dance. It must have been quite the sight to see, especially for people who have no idea what a Chinese Lion Dance looks like. Needless to say, there was a minor amount of confusion at the beginning since the Lions lay down to begin and the lettuce was still packed away. I can only imagine the suspense building as Master Brinker and Sifu Robertson went running for the lettuce while Zhan Fei and Hau Yuanjia were lying on the floor asleep. So anyway, where was I? Oh yes, we were spectacular if I do say so myself. Not that I could see anything being in the tail and all, but just how we approached this dance made it memorable.
The team of the day included Sifu Davies and Silhing Harrigan in Zhang, Sifu Clements and I in Hua Yuanjia, Master Brinker on drums, Sifu's Freitag and Dennis on Gong and Cymbals, and Sihing Dennis pulling the drum and taking the awesome pictures.
It was a perfect dance that just might be tough to beat, let alone duplicate. I can't wait to do something like this again!
Tania Wilson
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Run for Life 2007
Sunday September 16, 2007
Rotary Run for Life Lion Dance
Today I embarked on the coldest Lion Dance I have ever performed. However, it went quite well.
We - being Sifu’s Brinker, Freitag, Dennis, Robertson, Davies, Davies, Sihing Harrigan, and myself, arrived at about 8:30 am at Exhibition Park. Silent River Kung Fu performed there last year as well, so we were not going in blind, which was nice.
We drove in, having to dodge a wide assortment of runners - very dedicated people if you ask me. I am not sure that I could get myself motivated to run outside in the cold for anything, well maybe for a cause like this. Maybe. Once we had our gear stored inside the arena, we went to have a nice hot breakfast. Complete with hot coffee and hot chocolate. Mmmmm.
The dance started at 9:35 so we had considerable time to pass. Did I mention that it was cold? I did find however that wearing sequined pants over top of Kung Fu pants is actually quite warm, not to mention very fashionable. Once our time was near, it was time to be brave and discard the couple of sweaters I was wearing and bare my arms in my t-shirt. Okay, we all had to bare our arms...
The dance began and went quite well. The cold was actually not a factor in our performance, and perhaps made it better. The head stack with myself and Sifu Davies was perfect on our first attempt, and no one slipped on any stray lettuce. And from the crowd’s applause and Woo Woo’s, I would say it was a huge success.
While I am not a fan of the cold, this dance was one to remember. The dedication of the runners, who raised money for Mental Health, was inspiring and I am in awe of them. I hope to be a part of this cause for years to come as Mental Health is something that is highly overlooked, and under treated. I like to think that by doing something like a Lion Dance, even though it is a small something, I am making a difference.
Sihing Tania Wilson
Rotary Run for Life Lion Dance
Today I embarked on the coldest Lion Dance I have ever performed. However, it went quite well.
We - being Sifu’s Brinker, Freitag, Dennis, Robertson, Davies, Davies, Sihing Harrigan, and myself, arrived at about 8:30 am at Exhibition Park. Silent River Kung Fu performed there last year as well, so we were not going in blind, which was nice.
We drove in, having to dodge a wide assortment of runners - very dedicated people if you ask me. I am not sure that I could get myself motivated to run outside in the cold for anything, well maybe for a cause like this. Maybe. Once we had our gear stored inside the arena, we went to have a nice hot breakfast. Complete with hot coffee and hot chocolate. Mmmmm.
The dance started at 9:35 so we had considerable time to pass. Did I mention that it was cold? I did find however that wearing sequined pants over top of Kung Fu pants is actually quite warm, not to mention very fashionable. Once our time was near, it was time to be brave and discard the couple of sweaters I was wearing and bare my arms in my t-shirt. Okay, we all had to bare our arms...
The dance began and went quite well. The cold was actually not a factor in our performance, and perhaps made it better. The head stack with myself and Sifu Davies was perfect on our first attempt, and no one slipped on any stray lettuce. And from the crowd’s applause and Woo Woo’s, I would say it was a huge success.
While I am not a fan of the cold, this dance was one to remember. The dedication of the runners, who raised money for Mental Health, was inspiring and I am in awe of them. I hope to be a part of this cause for years to come as Mental Health is something that is highly overlooked, and under treated. I like to think that by doing something like a Lion Dance, even though it is a small something, I am making a difference.
Sihing Tania Wilson
Trade Show 2007
Right, so.
The dance and demo for the Tri-Municipal Trade Show (held at the Tri-Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove) is an annual event for us at Silent River Kung Fu, though it seemed this year it seemed as if circumstance was conspiring against us.
The Trade Show opened on Friday with a lion dance, so we all dutifully gathered at the school before leaving for the Tri-Leisure centre. However, it seemed the car I was driving had a flat tire. This particular car was my mother's, and she apparently drives around a jack. Right, not a problem--I did have a spare, and Sifu Frietag offered up her jack. Hers, however, was too small to lift the SUV to the necessary height. Ok, fine, no problem, we hopped in her car and drove to her house, where we procured the 'big jack'. My first reaction, as well as that of Sihing Harrigan's when we got back to the school, was: "that is a big jack". Tire succesfully changed, only to find that the spare had a slow leak in it. I could drive on it though, so that's all that mattered. The dance went well...especially that noone dying during it seemed good by comparison. Sihing Harrigan was in the head, with myself in the tail, Sifu Frietag on drums, and Sifu Dennis on lettuce duty.
On Saturday we all managed to get there in one piece, though it wasn't over yet. The lion dance, with Sifu Frietag again on drums and Sihing Harrigan and Ms. Kosterman in the head and tail, respectively, went excellent if you were looking at it from the front. However, the strings that connect the lion's head to it's body began to tear off, until Sihing Harrigan was completley exposed to one side. Fortunately , said side was only populated by us from the school, and we already know what he looks like.
Secondly was the children's demos, who all performed superbly--a payoff of all the hard work they had been doing in preperation. During the Little Lepords/Tiny Tigers demo, however, Sifu Frietag took a step too far back while preparing the tunnel and fell off the stage. It was a only a short drop though, and as she said, that's what breakfalls are for.
I was slated to perform a three sectional staff demo, and for about 20 seconds I was. To my suprise my weapon came apart, and I was forced to improvise a form involving an escrima stick in one hand and the world's largest pair of nunchuks in the other. Nevertheless, we were redeemed by Sifu Edge's Lao Gar and Sifu Player's ever dramatic spear form.
So for next year, I'm going in for new tires, crazy gluing the lion together, and begging my staff to not turn on me again during a demo.
-Sifu Robertson
The dance and demo for the Tri-Municipal Trade Show (held at the Tri-Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove) is an annual event for us at Silent River Kung Fu, though it seemed this year it seemed as if circumstance was conspiring against us.
The Trade Show opened on Friday with a lion dance, so we all dutifully gathered at the school before leaving for the Tri-Leisure centre. However, it seemed the car I was driving had a flat tire. This particular car was my mother's, and she apparently drives around a jack. Right, not a problem--I did have a spare, and Sifu Frietag offered up her jack. Hers, however, was too small to lift the SUV to the necessary height. Ok, fine, no problem, we hopped in her car and drove to her house, where we procured the 'big jack'. My first reaction, as well as that of Sihing Harrigan's when we got back to the school, was: "that is a big jack". Tire succesfully changed, only to find that the spare had a slow leak in it. I could drive on it though, so that's all that mattered. The dance went well...especially that noone dying during it seemed good by comparison. Sihing Harrigan was in the head, with myself in the tail, Sifu Frietag on drums, and Sifu Dennis on lettuce duty.
On Saturday we all managed to get there in one piece, though it wasn't over yet. The lion dance, with Sifu Frietag again on drums and Sihing Harrigan and Ms. Kosterman in the head and tail, respectively, went excellent if you were looking at it from the front. However, the strings that connect the lion's head to it's body began to tear off, until Sihing Harrigan was completley exposed to one side. Fortunately , said side was only populated by us from the school, and we already know what he looks like.
Secondly was the children's demos, who all performed superbly--a payoff of all the hard work they had been doing in preperation. During the Little Lepords/Tiny Tigers demo, however, Sifu Frietag took a step too far back while preparing the tunnel and fell off the stage. It was a only a short drop though, and as she said, that's what breakfalls are for.
I was slated to perform a three sectional staff demo, and for about 20 seconds I was. To my suprise my weapon came apart, and I was forced to improvise a form involving an escrima stick in one hand and the world's largest pair of nunchuks in the other. Nevertheless, we were redeemed by Sifu Edge's Lao Gar and Sifu Player's ever dramatic spear form.
So for next year, I'm going in for new tires, crazy gluing the lion together, and begging my staff to not turn on me again during a demo.
-Sifu Robertson
St. John's Lion Dance
Chinese New Year demonstration at St Johns Boys School
March 21
Lion dance team: Master Brinker, drum
Sifu Frietag, gong
Sifu Hayes, cymbals
Sifu Clements, head
Sifu Robertson, tail
Lion used: Kwan Kung
In honour of chinese new year, Silent River did a demonstration for the students at St Johns Boys School (Riverborn kwoon). The demonstration began with the drunken monkey form, preformed by Sifu Robertson. This was followed by an escrima/bokken fighting sequence by Sifu Playter and myself (Sifu Davies). The blackbelt candidates also preformed their musical demonstration (Sifu Turlock, Sifu Wetter, Sifu Davies and Mr Prince were involved). The demo ended with a Lion dance which went perfect! It even had a stacked roll!
There were, of course, a few gliches during the course of the evening. The demo was moved from the gym to the cafeteria at the last minute and all of the mats had to be hauled over. The drum sticks were also temporarily lost (I mean misplaced and it took a bit to get everything organized. Overall, however, the demo went really well and lots of pictures were taken so have a look!
-Sifu Tiffany Davies
March 21
Lion dance team: Master Brinker, drum
Sifu Frietag, gong
Sifu Hayes, cymbals
Sifu Clements, head
Sifu Robertson, tail
Lion used: Kwan Kung
In honour of chinese new year, Silent River did a demonstration for the students at St Johns Boys School (Riverborn kwoon). The demonstration began with the drunken monkey form, preformed by Sifu Robertson. This was followed by an escrima/bokken fighting sequence by Sifu Playter and myself (Sifu Davies). The blackbelt candidates also preformed their musical demonstration (Sifu Turlock, Sifu Wetter, Sifu Davies and Mr Prince were involved). The demo ended with a Lion dance which went perfect! It even had a stacked roll!
There were, of course, a few gliches during the course of the evening. The demo was moved from the gym to the cafeteria at the last minute and all of the mats had to be hauled over. The drum sticks were also temporarily lost (I mean misplaced and it took a bit to get everything organized. Overall, however, the demo went really well and lots of pictures were taken so have a look!
-Sifu Tiffany Davies
Rotary Run for Life
Well today, September 17, Silent River Kung Fu performed a Lion Dance at the Rotary Run for Life. Master Brinker, Sifu Freitag, and Sifu Dennis were on the drums, gong, and cymbals; Sifu Robertson was busy skipping around as the six-foot-something Little Buddha, and Sihing Davies and I were in Zhang Fei.
We arrived at the exhibition grounds at about 8:30'ish, in a tired state (performing a Lion Dance early in the morning is not fun... unless you are fueled by coffee, energy drinks, some other form of liquid fuel or courage, or just plain insanity), and carried our equipment into the building. From there, Sihing Davies and I (who were wearing the spiffy pants), were met with stares and the occasional inquiry about our pants. We then sat down to a breakfast, courtesy of Master Brinker.
As we waited, I began to notice one thing...ITS FREAKING COLD!!! Probably the bouts of shivering and puffs of crystalized breath clued me into this pretty quickly. Also, I learned that doing a dance barefoot on a concrete floor, when its cold out, isn't such a good mix. Random people fiddling around with expensive and fragile Lion Dance equipment also doesn't add well to the mix.
At about 9:30 or so, we finally began our dance. From my perspective, we did a pretty good dance (yet my perspective was from within the Lion). Although our feet (and hands) were relatively numb from the cold (which impaired our stepping patterns), we carried out the dance quite well, without any trips, slips, or other accidental bumblings.
Joe Harrigan
Long Whistle CRASH
We just celebrated Canada day at the multi-cultural center. A fun day, spears, lions, jugglers of questionable mental balance. It was even complete with a wipe out by your's truly on the first bow.
*Note to self: grass + untested, although stylish footwear = slippery hilarity in a downward direction
Myself and Joe Harrigan were in Zhang fe, sifu Edge did her spear form, sifu Robertson did Drunken monkey, sifu Playter did nunchaku, sifu Dennice did Tai chi, Mr. Hebert, Ms. Maitlyn , Mr. Jansen, and sifu Edge together did a four person demo complete with weapons, yelling, and good choreography.
All around it was a good day...minus my mishap of which there is unfortunatley no picture available.
Ben Davies
Farmer's Days 2006
Well today, June 3 2006, Silent River Kung Fu participated yet again in the Farmer’s Days parade. Among the Lion Dance crew (in no particular order), was Master Brinker, Sifu Freitag, Sifu Dennis, Sifu Playter, Sifu Davies, Sifu Edge and Sifu Robertson; along with Sihing Davies, Ms. Wilson, Ms. Kosterman, and I. Others aided us in the parade, which was a huge help (especially for those in the tail of the Lion). This parade was unique from other parades, in which we enjoyed sunny weather, although it was windy (which I’m sure frustrated those in the Lion, as it obscured the tail’s vision and pushed the Lion head around quite a bit), and we weren’t bombarded by water gun fire. Oh yeah, did I mention that Silent River won 2nd place for clubs & organizations in the parade? Allow me to say…BOO-YAH!
I have to say that the crew did exceptionally well, from my view at least (which was limited due to being in the lion). The crowd seemed to be quite energetic and delighted by the lions, the weapons, the Kung Fu, and of course, the candy. Of course, there was the occasional spectator that did not enjoy our performance (small children and pets seem to be quite intimidated by the lion).
After the parade, we packed the Lions into Sifu Gilbert’s truck and waited several minutes for Mr. Lietz’s ride. Eventually, we headed back to the studio with 2 hours to kill; with Mr. Lietz in tow (did I mention how fun it is to ride in the back of a truck?). Still waiting for Mr. Lietz’s ride, we went to Spiros for lunch, courtesy of Master Brinker (thanks again for lunch). After razzing Mr. Lietz about his plight, and the eventual arrival of his ride, we departed for the performance at the Multi.
Unfortunately, the Lion Dance crew arrived just as the Farmer’s Day event at the Multi was winding down. Before our presentation, there was an exceptionally talented musician performing, as well as a performance by Parkland Dance. We closed the event with a Lion Dance. With Master Brinker on the drum, Sifu Freitag on the gong, and Sifu Dennis on the cymbals, Sifu Davies as the Buddha, and Sihing Davies and I in Fu Hsing, we pulled off a good performance. The wind died down considerably although it got quite hot underneath that lion. The crowd seemed to enjoy the performance, yet I have to admit, they were impolite with the other performers during their performances.
It was during this performance that I discovered some of the perks of performing…free food. We were given a voucher for a free hotdog and pop. Also, the performers in the lion are obscured underneath the lion, and get to wear snazzy pants (although it causes us to be the brunt of several Liberace jokes).
All in all, we delivered several performances which entertained the audiences.
Joe Harrigan
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