Ahead of Lunar New Year, a lion dance team based in Vancouver’s Chinatown is going viral after posting a series of videos online aimed at introducing a younger audience to the ancient art.
Chau Luen Athletics’ Gen Z social media team started engaging Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube users with a combination of memes and creative content focused on keeping the traditions of lion dance and Kung Fu alive.
A post from earlier this month captioned “Our lions have been training hard to bring you their best performance yet for the Year of the Snake,” shows a Chinese lion working out on the treadmill at the gym.
https://www.instagram.com/chauluenathletics/reel/DFCGF6uRw0k/
Another recent video offers tips on “How to impress your girlfriend’s Asian parents this Lunar New Year.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/DEeC-34RPjr/
“It showcases a more playful aspect to Kung Fu,” Chau Luen Athletics instructor Andrew Wong told Global News. “It’s kind of just building our community up as more fun and inclusive rather than strict and like gatekeeping.”
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Wong said he took up Kung Fu and lion dance for fun as an eight-year-old 13 years ago after he walked past Chau Luen’s club in Chinatown and saw its members training.
Growing up, Wong said the martial art helped bridge the gap between him and the older generation, including his parents from China.
Now he’s helping to bring in the next generation of students.
Rémi Landry Yuan said connecting with the community through Kung Fu’s rigorous discipline and the art of the lion dance intrigued him.
“It’s excitement,” Yuan told Global News in an interview.
“It’s exciting being able to share that culture and also be a part of that culture …something that has such a long sort of storied history and feeling like I’m a part of that legacy.”
Chau Luen Athletics’ social media manager said she’s proud of the posts which are resonating and introducing lion dance to a global audience.
“We’ve had more than one video hit a million views which is just kind of amazing to think about that many people watching,” Chantelle Lui said.
Lui said the exposure is strengthening the cultural fabric of Vancouver’s Chinatown while it’s interesting to see how traditions evolve over time.
“I think our ancestors thousands of years ago would have never thought that there’d be videos online and also being inspired by memes so I think it’s nice to see how the younger generation kind of takes it and makes it its own,” Lui told Global News.
Head instructor Michael Tan started practicing martial arts when he was 14, and remembers taking transit from Surrey to Chinatown to hone his skills each weekend.
About one-quarter of Chau Luen Athletics’ 20 lion dance team members are Gen Z.
“If I’m not helping pass it along who will right? And I’m really glad to hear and see that there are so many young people now taking it up,” Tan said in an interview during a recent practice.
The team will be performing in the Chinatown Spring Festival Parade on Sunday, Feb. 2 in Vancouver.
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