February 25, 2005

Evergreen-area youth celebrate Chinese New Year with Joi Ying

Many Evergreen-area children and teens perform with Joi Ying, a lion and dragon dancing group, specializing in Chow Gar Kung Fu. During Chinese New Year, they travel around San Jose, Milpitas and Newark to perform in the many celebrations.

Sam Luu and a team expertly maneuver the Chinese dragon. Photo by Alex Ho

Alex Ho, a senior at Silver Creek High School, joins his brothers Kenneth and Sam, his little sister Irene, his cousins Kathleen and Steve Ho and his neighbors Bryan Tu, Justin Tu, David Cao and Brian Thanh in the Joi Ying group, as well as others outside of Evergreen.

Each performance begins with the lion and dragon teams performing carefully rehearsed movements. After that’s finished, the members of the group perform Kung-fu, which is practiced for hours every week in preparation for the performance.

An advanced lion routine follows the Kung Fu, and then Sifu Chuck Luu performs his famous pole-climbing skill with a lion. The ceremony ends with lions dancing around firecrackers, and the group travels off to another place to perform.

You can find more pictures and videos at their Web site, http://joiying.org.