Happy New Year!
Hello friends,
As you probably know, today is the start of the two-week “spring festival” that marks the Chinese New Year. We are lucky enough to have an excellent lion dance troupe in town, and I’d like to propose a little class outing to watch them together on February 9th.
But first, the usual logistics.
Classes continue as normal, but this is a reminder that we’re taking the week after Feb 9th off. So the full schedule is:
Qigong on Mondays at 2pm, skipping Feb 10th.
Taiji on Tuesdays at 10:15am, skipping Feb 11th. The last class in the current session will be March 4th.
Taiji on Thursdays at 5:45pm, skipping Feb 13th. The last class in the current session will be March 6th.
The next taiji session will probably start in the first week of April, pending confirmation from the venue.
Then on to the new year. One of China’s major new year’s customs is to have lion dances, first in a public square and then visiting business premises. Friendly businesses offer the lions oranges or cabbages for luck, and set off firecrackers to scare away evil spirits. It’s a big, loud spectacle and everyone is welcome to watch. Sometimes there are also dragon dances, with a long puppet held up by many people, but these are less common because they need so many people to make them happen.
Victoria’s venerable (50 years old!) Wong Sheung Kung Fu Club has a great lion dance program, and on February 9th they’re going to put on a show with 8 (!) lions and a dragon dance. My office happens to be just outside Chinatown, so I’d like to invite you to join me to watch and then use the office as a quiet space for tea and snacks after.
Details:
Meet at 11am at theDock, 722 Cormorant Street. It’s an easy spot to get to by bus or bike, and on a typical Sunday morning there’s car parking right in front - though that might fill up because of this event 2 blocks away.
Walk over to CRD Square, which is just across Government St from the Gate of Harmonious Interest, to watch the lions and dragon.
After about 30-60 minutes head back to theDock.
I’ll make gongfu cha for everyone, and we can share some snacks.
Bring earplugs, and any kind of sharable food.
If you haven’t been to a class recently, you are still welcome. It’ll be nice to catch up.
Bring a guest if you like, but please let me know so I have an idea of numbers.
If you’re interested, just reply to this email. Please include your phone number (I should have it already but just in case), and any dietary requirements, which I’ll share with whoever else is coming.
If you want to join us a little later I’ll do my best to coordinate that, but it may be hard to find each other in the crowd.
And I’ll repeat this part because it’s important: bring earplugs.
If you won’t be able to make that time, you may also be interested to know that a couple of the lions will be parading around Chinatown until 3:30ish, and they’re doing another performance in Esquimalt the weekend before.