Happy Lunar New Year! Lion Dance at Ca’t Tuong Herb Shop in White Center
Story and video by Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now
Au Lac Vovinam, a High Point-based martial-arts team, sent their Lion Dance Team to White Center this morning. Vanessa Nguyen, owner of the Ca’t Tuong Herb Shop, sought out the group for the annual ritual. According to Team Leader Doan Dinh, their group is open to young adults 14 years and older. (Au Lac is one of the ancient kingdoms of Vietnam and Vovinam is a lesser-known Vietnamese martial art.)
The video tells some of the story of a Buddhist monk charged with escorting the fierce, evil-spirit chasing lion-god from the street to the back of Nguyen’s herb shop, which she has owned for 19 years. Once the lion has done a thorough job of frightening all the dark spirits, the path of the New Year being celebrated during this month is made clear for the patrons and the shop. At last, the shop owner and the monk reward the lion with a head of lettuce and a small tip for the Lion Dance Team.
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January 29th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
Thank you so much for covering us! Cat Tuong has been a very big supporter of our team and it was our pleasure to perform. We hope you can catch more of our performances next year!
http://aulacvovinam.org
http://www.facebook.com/AuLacVovinam