On December 31, 2008 our lion dance troupe participated in the First Night 2009 celebration in St. Louis, Missouri. This was the fifth year that we have participated in this celebration. Generally our performances are outside and the weather and wind can be brutally cold. This year was cold but not as windy and we even had one show indoors which was a welcome change. This year there did not appear to be as many people out enjoying the performances and activities for First Night.
This year most of the team members, including myself, where not as motivated as in previous years. Our team does not have very many members any more and so the same people perform every show. They have all given up their own opportunities to celebrate the new year with family and friends for the past five years and I feel that it is unfair to them to do so. I hope that we will take a break from the First Night performances for a year or two.
First Night traditionally marks the start of our busy season for lion dancing. Generally our busiest time of year is from between New Year’s Eve and then end of the Chinese Lunar New Year. I think this season will be long and difficult on the team members. We have many shows scheduled and only a handful of members able to perform these shows. This season really wears out our lion dance team members and by then end of a season can really affect the morale of the troupe. If we had more members we would be able to utilize different members for each show preserving their energy and keeping morale and energy high. Hopefully throughout the next year we can encourage some new members to join the lion dance troupe.
