The Bamboo Bridge Chapter Seven: The Shaman Crane

Near the Peak there had been a small patch of Bamboo. That patch started to grow and grow until it invaded the neighbors yard. On social media people cursed the owners of the property and bamboo in general because they said it was am invasive species. The put up sighs that read "Boo!!! Bamboo!!!" And various soccer moms and bake sales were set up to organize against people growing bamboo in New Jersey.

Nonetheless the bamboo grew and grew until it was a bamboo forest and the group mind if the bamboo forest connected with the bamboo bridge.

The portal to the bamboo bridge became a bamboo hut and in the bamboo hut lived the Crane Shaman, who also went by Kong Ming. This just didn't look like much but it was so powerful that pretty much everyone could see it and it attracted a lot of attention. Kong Ming taught fortune telling, Feng shui, and swordsmanship while his wife taught Tai Chi and Jiu Jitsu. All sorts of people began to study at this bamboo hut.

In fact the Kung Fu teachers that had taught at Plum Mountain had originally come out of this school. Of all the things that they taught, lion dance was not one of them. And so after a while, someone reached out to me about teaching lion dance at the Bamboo hut.

Joyce was excited about this, especially now that we had the Black Lion, and wanted to recapture here early days of lion dance with a sisterhood of Asian female lion dancers... and me drumming. 

But at first none of the women would sign up. Some were interested but didn't have time. Some had time, but openly said to Joyce that lion dance was unwomanly. 

So we extended the class to all Asians.

A lit of Asians said they already knew lion dance and that they were already part of 4 C lions with Kai and Mo Yung...and that there was a co conflict of interest. Others said that lion dancing was for children. Othe world asked who was teaching the class. Then they said openly in Mandarin what a woman and a white guy knew about lion dance? I responded that I was half Chinese. And they laughed that that was not possible.

Finally one woman and one man did join. The woman was Chinese and we spoke in Chinese which was difficult for Joyce. During the first class we used a practice head that had been a hand me down.

"Do you have a black head?" Asked the woman.

"Yes... actually we do."

"Would you be willing to bring the black head to do a lion dance for me in Brooklyn? I have a business there. And I know a lot if the business owners on our street."

I had a long excited conversation with her.

The man was a white man who was so interested in Chinese culture that he took every class at the bamboo hut.

Eventually the woman dropped out saying she was too sore after the first class and was concerned that lion dance might make her look too bulky, but that she would help set up an lion dance for us on Brooklyn.

" We will need to gather a team of at least 10" Joyce said. "Doing this rag tag stuff in NJ was one thing. But I don't want to embarrass ourselves in front of people that actually know what lion dance is. Then we could never eat dim sum or go shopping there again.

We began to teach and train our team of one. He was tall and had a lot of potential but picking up the moves was difficult for him. Because of his height, people often thought he was the leader of our group, which I found funny but Joyce did not. But teaching Jack... we began to call him Jack of all trades because he studied all of the classes at Bamboo Hut...meant that Joyce and Jack could be in the Black Lion, I could drum... and my children could play gong and cymbals. In other words... we had a team. An adult team with am adult head. 

Kong Ming set up a bunch of lion dances dor us and this Chinese New Year we had a schedule. It was a schedule so packed that we wouldn't even be able to travel back to Boston. Kong Ming had connections to all these companies and Schools on the Bamboo Bridge. A section of the bridge we had never even walked before. Granted, they didnt really know about lion dance or what to feed the lion but at least we were an actual team.

The Bamboo Bridge Chapter 6: The Three Warrior Merchants

If you have never walked the Bamboo bridge, it is a bridge of the group mind. A connection like Social media or yogic meditation where one can purchase the mystical, for a price. The truth is there are many places to buy drums and masks and costumes. But to gain access to a true head... you must walk the Bamboo Bridge.

Joyce and I brought the children and walked to a place where their was a whole city of people selling things from their boats. We hopped from boat to boat buying Tong Sui, Baos, Boba Tea, Dim Sum, and all sorts of treats that were the spirit essence of people who walked the Bamboo Bridge.

Nara and Jinn were getting bored of the boat city so we promised them we would stop at only one more boat... then we would go back to the bridge. You see children can walk the bridge... but after too much time over the waters on which the bridge goes over they will start to become water and fish food.

We came  to a boat where there was an old man fishing.

"I'm looking to get a lion head. Do you know where I can get one?"

"I have a ton of lion heads.... but right now I am fishing. I will be done in an hour.... you want to check out the boat City first?"

Unfortunately  we had to go... and so we did not buy a lion head from the first Warrior Merchant. For that was what anyone who had a boat along the bamboo bridge had to be. A warrior to defend from sharks and sea monsters and a merchant to make a living.

We walk along the Bamboo bridge again, which is a maze that always magically leads s you home when it is time. 

We saw a drunken sage balancing  on a rope that was tied with one end on the bridge and the other on a far pier. 

We called out to him. But then a fog came and we lost sight of him. We continued to walk and talked loudly about wanting to buy a lion head when it just so happened that there in front of us stood an actual lion. A horned lion, a Zhang Fei lion.

"You want a Zhang Fei Lion head like me?"

Yes I answered. Though Joyce was as yet unsure what a Zhang Fei Lion was.

"I am left over from another time and I am getting old. If you pay me. I can come to your house with a drum and an old style Kei Lun Gong as well. It would be a one time deal."

With that we paid and returned home.

Soon enough one morning a black lion head lay on our doorstep. No longer alive as a full lion. For lions cannot live in our world as they do on the Bamboo bridge before they have been awakened. 

But now we had the lion head we needed to do real dances during the next Chinese New Year season.

The Bamboo Bridge Chapter Five: Eighth Avenue

We got a chance to go into Brooklyn and believe it or not, we even caught some lion dance there. It wasn't their main parade day and we new that this was the same day as Super Saturday in Manhattan's Chinatown. We saw some people just finishing up on poles and we saw what appeared to be younger members of well established teams. If I were to guess what was going on, I would imagine that the Manhattan teams trained their JV team by sending them to parade in Brooklyn first. Then if they could handle that, then they would be good to go in Manhattan next year. In fact, I talked to some of the older women who gave me a soccer mom vibe and indeed these teams parading in Brooklyn were based out of Manhattan. They had a lot of people... but so didnt Plum Village Chinese School. And with a whole group of drummers that I was training for double ten next year with Kai and Mo Yung....I would have enough people to do Brooklyn. The sidewalks were wider.... it appeared that you didnt really need to send in an application the way you had to in Manhattan. Don't get me wrong I had done Manhattan as a teenager with one of the family associations and was itching to do it again.... but maybe Brooklyn was a good start. We would be able to raise the people...if only we would be able to get some sort of connection with this community.

The next week we did finally the way back up to Boston to participate in our old team's parading.... even if we only got to stay for a couple of if hours before heading home. There is a difference between watching and actually participating. And there is a difference between participating with a rag tag team and a real team that was your family growing up.

And then the season was over. February became March.  We watched a St. Patrick's day parade... spring became summer...and we started training the drumming group at our house. Before long it grew into a pretty large group. I realized that although you could only teach so many people Kung Fu in a small space...and that people would say they didnt have space to do kicks or forms in their living room....drumming took up virtually no space at all. Kai and Mo Yung tried to get everyone to purchase expensive drum pads but I nipped that in the bud. 

"Let's save our money for the equipment" I said. I had created a whole system. Instead of belts the way the Japanese systems had, the ranking system would be by the type of drums sticks you had. Starting out you had your own rolled up newspapers. Then you had cheaper wooden sticks..then more expensive wooden sticks...and then the butcher knives often used in a Cantonese Restaurant. The highest level would be the Wu deep do..  butterfly knives....but I had to buy those online and I saw that they were actually quite expensive.

You see. The way of the drum would be a martial art after all. But for now... it was just drumming.

Slowly a restaurant themed  team began to form in my head. We e went to Brooklyn almost every weekend in the summer and began to reconnect with our culture a bit.

"You know," said Joyce" we can't bring those ratty heads to Brooklyn. "And that drum just doesn't sound right. We need to get our own stuff. And we need to start our own team."

"We have our own team in the basement."

"If you think those parents are gonna let their kids to lion dance in Brooklyn you are in for a surprise. That group is just for double ten and then you'll see, even though you gave them all your time they want follow you anywhere. They'll make excuse after excuse. I bet you they won't even buy any equipment for you like they said they would."

I asked Kai about purchasing heads in Taiwan but noticed he was often silent when I asked for something, and was absent for all the rehearsals at my house. But I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and see if he would out uo the equipment. He had collected the money already for the year.

Eventually I half gave up on that little basket with eggs and began to look for a new one.

"Okay so where do we buy a head?" I asked Joyce.

" We go to Brooklyn every week, doesn't anyone their sell heads?" 

The Bamboo Bridge Chapter Four: Northern Heads

I took a deep breath as I looked at the old dusty Northern style heads. Now to be fair, these were cool. And could I teach these kids something? Sure. But was it my specialty? No not really. Not only that I quickly realized that the Kung Fu teacher was still going to be here for another month and I was just going to have to make something up on the side with two of the assistant instructors with heads I was not used to using. In fact this was sort of like an interview if sorts and nobody really thought I knew what I was doing. They saw a white guy. Which to tell the truth, is probably not as bad if I had been a straight up full blooded Cantonese guy because I am damn sure my Sifu would have taken on look at these Nothern heads and said, "Can't help you."

Instead I went over to the drum first and started playing Northern Chinese beats I had learned from my Chinese Dulcimer teacher. In fact, I had always wanted to use these beats somehow in l IP on dance. In fact, hadn't I talked to my Sifu about what we could do visually for these beats that didn't match the Southern style lion dance? Maybe this curveballs was a blessing in disguise.

I drummed.

And people over in shock.

I could feel it. Now that they had heard me drum... even though they didnt know the difference between drum styles or lion heads from this region or that. They knew that I knew what the hell I was doing.

I showed these kids basic head movements but respected the Kung Fu theybhad already learned. I showed them some jumps rolls and spins but allowed them to freestyle as well. This was the first of three classes. A crash course to be sure. But as long as I was the one that was drumming, it would he okay. 

Gau Duk hui.

Good enough.

The Chinese New Year performance day came and everyone commented on the lion dance. 

"That was incredible" people would say to the performers. "We didnt know you knew lion dance. And who was that white guy? How did he learn to drum like that? Is he in a rock and roll band?"

I should tell you about my children's performance and Joyce's performance in the show... but to he honest, we arrived at Plum Blossom Chinese School and just went out separate ways. When I was there I was a teacher and couldn't care about whatever activity they were doing at all.... which to be honest... turned out being what they preferred. They were happy to get me off of their back.

After the show was over and people were preparing for the dinner portion if the evening I saw Athena walking towards me fla led by two men. They introduced themselves...trying to assert themselves as more important than Athena. Which I sensed was not the case. Not only this, but Athena was not annoyed by this or submissive about this but simply seemed to be watching... amused.

"I am Kai. Kai Polk." Said an older man that reminded me of a bank manager that had once been my supervisor in Chinatown. He was a man I only sort of got along with but had respsected, "This is Mo Yung Tai.... so you know the lion dance"

I shook hands and was nodding while being bombarded by questions.

"We are from Central Chinese Community Center. I have eight lion heads and the drum. The other kind. You know how to.play the other kind? And the head too wr have the new kind. You know that one? Ok good. Can you teach our school instead? We have the better equipment."

"Uhhh. My kids already enrolled here in Plum Mountain and they are paying me" I glanced over at Athena who gave a slight nod, "In fact they are paying very well" Athena smiled at me as I continued, "and I'm not trying to run around all crazy to teach lion dance all over New Jersey. But you guys cab join my class if you like and then go to Central and teach your kids."

"Oh no... haha I don't... I'm too old. But we have a lion dance teacher... but nobody to teach drum. Our teacher is volunteer. For society and for culture heritage. We want to have a drumming for Taiwan National only Day for Virgin performance. If you teach then I can collect the fee and get the drums buy in Taiwan. "

I wanted to say no.... but then...I thought about that lame performance I had done a month ago. A year from now I wanted to have a real team of teens performing in Manhattan's Chinatown the way I had once done as a teenager. Maybe these guys had ties to the some organizations there who could sponsor us.

"If I teach can we go to Chinatown and do the parade?"

"As long as Double Ten they can do it then any other performance as long as the parents have time that is up to you. You provide the teaching and I will organize to collect fees and provide the equipment."

We shook hands.

Lions of Bamboo Bridge: Chapter Three. Athena Chu

Lac and Sakura, though seemingly not overly impressed with my children's lion head... the head or the skills, had talked to people I would later find out. 

I got a phone call which I first thought was some sort of scam. 

"Where did you get this number?" I asked trying to sound as nice as I could say in the words. You know where I'd you get this number.....out of curiosity. Not where did you get this number...cause I hate you and wish you would die. 

"Oh I am a friend of Athena's. Athena Chu...she mentioned she had had a friend of a friend that knew lion dance.. and lived on The Peak..."

Well did live on The Peak and I did know Lion Dance... but how would anyone know that. The woman in the phone didn't know  Lac or Sakura either. She knew Athena... whom I had never met.... but whatever I decided I would just go with it.

And that brings us back to the ending of my little lion dance where I ended with a speech and an Kung 5 lakes 4 oceans salute which didn't mean anything to anyone in the audience except that they too had watched Kung Fu Panda. And left as quick as possible  to reward my children with the food that was promised them if they just listened to me throughout the performance ( which they had)

Somehow a woman in the audience, out of all the people in the audience, caught my eye. Not the way a pretty woman catches your eye. But the way that someone who has a gravitational pull of spirit catches your eye and you are pulled to their gaze whether you like it or not. 

She stopped me as I was walking out.

"Athena Chu" she said with a firmness thatvwas also soft, offering her hand to shake.

"Peter Zhang" I spat out out of breath and sweating profusely.

"Can you teach as well?".

"I can."

"You seem to be good with children."

"I am better with children that aren't my own."

Joyce was gesturing violently for me to hurry along. In fact, later in the night she would be frustrated to the point with the children and spilling of lo mein and misplacing of equipment that scolding became a beating on the side of the road. 

Which made all of us never want to do another lion dance ever again in New Jersey, to burn our heads and drums and take up softball or whatever the hell it was that people in New Jersey did. 

But that was ten to twenty minutes after meeting with Athena. At this moment, sweaty as I was I appeared to be somewhat in control of a lion dance team. Even if it was a team with baby heads and ratty outfits. 

"I'll contact you shortly... are you teaching at Plum Blossom Chinese school? You are friends of Lac and Sakura right? I have children that study there as well. We will be in touch." She smiled which ended the conversation with out a doubt and was back in her seat on the bleachers almost instantaneously.

The next time I went to Plum Blossom I was presented with two Northern Style Lion heads and Northern Style drum. 

Lions of Bamboo Bridge Chapter Two: The Peak

I think I should take a few steps back for a moment. You see its not as if I had a lion dance fall out of the sky at me the second I moved to New Jersey. First of all, my family moved to New Jersey first. Joyce and the two kids. And I was in Boston having various adventures on my own. Parents will say how they truly kiss their children and I thought I would too. But the truth is, once they were out if sight, they were out if mind. I had been away from true traditional lion dance in the old ritualistic sense for almost as long as my children were alive. You see left to my own devices, I was off creating my own heads and creating my own rituals, mixing magic and religion and self affirmation. Joyce thought I had absolutely gone insane. In fact watching my children play and imagine and worship childhood creatures in the moving altar of a screen had also made me question and unpack rituals. When Nara was very young, we had made her brush  her teeth in the bath tub, and out of convenience, gross or not, Joyce had used the bath water to wet the tooth brush, tapping the bottom of the tub. Later when Nara could brush her teeth on her own, she had started to tap the floor outside of the tub in some sort of ritual and was fanatically upset when we tried to explain to her she had misunderstood the original purpose behind the tapping of the brush on the tubs bottom ( to wet it). To her it was doctrine and cursed be those who would dare to interfere with this sacred tradition passed done to her by her parents. Even it was those self same parents. 

Needless to say I began thinking of when I first learned lion dance in Boston's Chinatown. When first ordering a head from a paper catalogue I had pointed at a black Kei Lun.

"You like that one? That's not a lion head it's a kei lun...we don't play those ones." My Si Hing had explained. And also gone on to explain how the Zhang Fei Head, the black head with the beard cut short. Was a problematic lion to have. It wasn't really useful for weddings and store openings as most people would not want it. And on New Year's it was a fighting head. The point of this digression is that I had always wanted a black lion head. In facemt even before all this my first memory of lion dance is ducking under a table with my mother believing that a Zhang Fei head travelling to the kitchen of a bakery was there to eat me. (You see, some business owners did like, ir atleast accepted, the Zhang Fei head.)

Fast forward to New Jersey... I was part of no school and had baby heads that had been given to me by a friend from another school whose students had outgrown them for ten years I had travelled around Boston with my kids like a one man circus telling stories and entertaining small children with my own version of lion dance.

We had moved because there were better jobs for us in New Jersey and better schools and Joyce's childhood home on The Peak. A neighborhood named after the prestigious Hong Kong district. Except since it was New Jersey the houses were bigger and cheaper. It wasnt all HK people. Madoff's Liuetenant had owned a house down the street one way, and an Italian Mob Boss had owned the house a few blocks down on the other side. 

The first year I had to walk to our bus stop, which was annoying because the street did  not have a sidewalk. I tried to practice Kung Fu all day. But mostly I avoided Joyce's mother until they actually moved out, and the. I would watch Netflix all day. I felt isolated. I would then pick up the kids and walk them home where they would play in the yard. It was one day while in tha basement on a sunny day with the children laughing outside that I had the sudden urge to blow my brains out. Except of course I did not own a gun. But I could feel the deep sinking feeling and indeed have been the outlet for many a wandering soul as a meditation and Kung fu teacher, I knew what it was, this darkness. And so immediately texted a friend, who ended up putting me in touch with someone she knew in NJ. Her name was Athena Chu.

I was introduced to her as someone who knew lion dance and she told me that she would like to talk to me at some point, as she had a school that might be looking for a Kung Fu and lion dance teacher in a few months.

That doesn't exactly sound like a support system. But it was something to look forward too.

The next day walking back from the bus, I noticed that there was a bus stop that passed our house, and the man waiting at the stop looked Asian. As did the child getting off the bus.

"Nara who is that?" 

Jinn answered, "Oh that's Miroku. I think he's Japanese. We play soccer together."

I noticed the man waving at me and we walked over.  In talking he mentioned Jie Jie getting off the bus soon.

"Are you guys Cantonese?" 

"Oh actually yes I am."

"Jinn, why did you say they were Japanese?"

"Oh actually, my wife is half Japanese  and half.... well white and I am Cantonese... but my family is from Vietnam. Confusing I know." 

Actually I wasn't confused at all but I just smiled and nodded. 

"My name is Lac" he added.

"Peter" I said. "Peter Zhang."

"Oh? I thought you were white... but now that you mention it."

I continued to smile and nod.

I guess I should add here, albeit randomly that yes the Zhang fei of the Zhang fei black lion head is indeed the same as my family name... another reason. Perhaps for my obsession.

Lac saw my baby lion heads and saw me try and get the kids interested in them. And Helen...the Jie Jie older sister mentioned earlier came.over for this children's party, called a play date in neighborhoods like these, as did Sakura, Lac's wife. 

Sakurs spoke very quickly. And you wouldn't really know she was Japanese by looking at her. She looked more Mediterranean. And she suddenly bowled me over with questions. 

"So do you guys speak Chinese at home then?" Sakura asked. "Because we send our kids to Plum Blossom. Actually it started off as a Chinese school but they decided to expand. The text books are just an app on the phone and it's more about getting together, talking in whatever the target language is. They a couple of us that try and learn Japanese too. We just watch anime and read Manga. That one is adults and we aren't that serious.  Ut they are looking for someone to teach Kung Fu because the teacher they have now is going to China."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah would it be okay if I gave them your number?"

And pretty soon after that Joyce and I were gad enrolled our children in Plum Blossom. Joyce even signed up for Tai Chi class and I had begun teaching children Kung Fu. They had mentioned that at some point they may have lion heads that would be available for me to use as well as a couple  of teenagers to learn it for their Chinese New Year Gala.

Lions of Bamboo Bridge Chapter one: Petals in the Stream

We arrived at the high school dressed in silky Han style uniforms. We could have stepped off of the set of a Kung Fu movie. Only we would have been playing some rebel group hiding out in the mountains because the clothing, once crisp and clean, had become somewhat ratty and ill fitting. Wrinkled, buttons falling off, a little short in the sleeves, and with mismatched belts....we looked fine, until another team in bright laser graphics of dragons came idly walking in. I tried saying hi to them but they kept walking like I owed them money. Their Dragon was new. Their drum was expensive looking. They said they didn't understand English... and then seemed not to understand my accent, and then the kids that were born here just shrugged and didn't want to talk. Theybdid their routine quite well. They paused at all the right moments, holding for applause. You could tell they had rehearsed often with a strict teacher giving instructions and corrections. There was a crispness to it. ....at the same time it was very much a folk dance choreographed routine. They had a drum, but loud music was piped in and the dance was timed to the recording with the drum trying it's best to sync up with it. It was off because it is extremely difficult not to be, and there is a reason why that is  not how its traditionally done. But if your audience doesn't know any better...

And then it was our turn.

Our drum did not look expensive.

Our lion heads were nice enough, but they were children's heads. And when people see cute... they don't necessarily acknowledge skill.

I started off speaking in Cantonese which shocked some of the Chinese members of the audience. Did I mention I look white? I am half Chinese and Nara my daughter looks Asian as does my more or less fully Asian wife. (Though she never spit in a vile for a DNA test the way I did so who really knows?) And my younger one Jinn, my son, is as Asian as his older sister....by he also looks white. The go figure.

One could say NJ one of this matters.....unless you are doing a traditional Chinese dance. This is why Joyce my wife told me to do an intro in Cantonese even though most of the audience was white. We had to look like we knew what we were doing before we started. So I made a big show as if I just stepped off the set of a TVB period piece, with hand gestures and a booming Wuxia male voice... cause why not?

 Our baby lion heads were little Liu Bei Lions, and ironically had white hair. They had been gifts from another Sifu in Boston whose students had grown into men and women. I had used them at many a library, school, and children's performance around Boston's Chinatown and other Boston Neighborhoods. Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Downtown, Copley, and the Common. Nara actually had pretty could head movements. 

The tails were short. Like short short. Slew had another red lion head that we had used that had seen better days, and we had made the tail to that one longer by seeing some cloth from IKEA which had happened to have the 喜喜  wedding pattern all over it.

Anyway, I pulled that off the red head, which I still used for classes and teaching and put it onto the little Liu Bei head so that Nara and Jinn could do a proper lion dance with the tail a decent distance away from the head without falling out or being cramped.

Joyce played the other head with nobody as her tail. It was short enough so that but didnt hit the ground. We looked fine. If you hadn't expected a real lion dance team we looked great. The problem I guess was that we WERE a real lion dance team. But this is what we had and who we had. Our family and volunteers from the audience which I would teaching right now. Not minutes before I went on stage, but as part of the show...after I went on stage. In fact, as you may recall, I was on stage right at this moment. 

We had the drum propped on a wooden box like structure. It was actually a base to some sort of statue. You see, we had left Boston because of work/school/money.  Yeah that's it. In theory we had also moved to be closer to Joyce's parents in their old age. But what actually happened was they kind of fled when we moved in, like we kicked them out of their house. But that is a different story isn't it?

The house was filled with many treasures and creatures from across the world. But all of them like second rate treasures. Oh were you looking for the holy Grail to give you eternal life? No we don't have that. But we have the Grail of bitter mouth wash that will make your teeth actually have more plaque...but for up to three days tou will be able to strike an enemy (or friend  if you weren't careful) dead with a single blow from your left hand.

Oh were you searching for the questing beast? Well here are a pair of Nian monsters that fit I to the palm of your hand. (These were good actually because they ate compost and dust and seemed to be happy with that. They didnt take much maintenance. In fact we didn't even realize they were living with us. Once I reopened an altar they came to pray by the incense and started living properly. Joyce's mother had neglected these spiritual creatures really, and failed to realize they could actually guard the house small as they were.

Oh were you looking for the wordless book from Heaven? Well...we have a wordless crumpled up note pad that various deities use to give us "prophecies" mostly they are jokes. I mean some of them are pretty funny, and I guess if I were a deity, I would want someone to communicate with that could just appreciate my sense of humor too instead asking for all this nonsense. I mean the well meaning prayers are the most difficult of all. Peace on earth and good health for everyone... that's even harder than asking for a new car if you think k about it. For a new car you can just encourage them to work for it and it is a real possible goal you know?

Anyway. That's what I mean by second rate treasures. I mean they were one of a kind...but also kind of worthless to an thief or something. Even potentially dangerous. So there were Ll these knick knock andnstuff too. Statues all over the house. Not displayed nicely but dumped next to cans of bamboo shoots leftover from before the Cultural Revolution, and soap and toothpaste and records from some other neighbor who hoarded too, and then died. 

So among these things, we found a little box to put our little boyish drum on. It looked good for display honestly. The box was a nice color, the drum was a nice color, it sat at a good height to play the drum so long as you got into a front stance first. All was well. Well... sort of. Ehh you'll see.

"The drum is the beginning. When you hear the beat of your mother's heart when you are first conceived and coming unto existence it is this beat. Dudum du dumb dududm. And from their you get that basic lion dance beat. But to do our lion dance we will need more than that. We will need the crashing of the cymbals and the playing of the gong. Let's clap it first. CHAHNG chahng Chahng. Pause! CHAHNG chang Chang. 123 123. Yes good now stop."

I had the whole audience clapping and then repeating the drum beats. Duc doo g chahng duc doing chahng.

Then they would sing it back.

Duc doing Chang chahng chahng

And they repeated

You know its very interesting. None Chinese will always jump right in and do this. As will Chinese Americans raised by immigrant parents from the South, those that speak English as a second language, if at all. In fact most of them already sing these words. But the second English becomes their first language, it is as if speaking with those tones has somehow become taboo. Not just foreign, but forbidden. Something to be ashamed of and not repeated especially if you are immersed in white culture. 

Well anyway the whole gym of mostly non Asians was booming these words at my instruction at the moment, as was the case every single time I did this.

I found people who could play cymbals and gongs. Actually I went through several rounds giving people volunteers from the audience a turn. Honestly, if we stayed on this section of the performance and never even did lion dance their might not even be any complaints. If I had nobody with me and made the audience dance with the head the only complaint would be that they didn't get a turn, or two turns, or three turns on the lion head. Really we could just stand on the precipice of lion dance without actually doing it for three hours and the children would think the event was great. I guess the real reason we did the lion dance was because I wanted to do it. 

After a few rounds of drum playing I began to tell the story of the Lion Dance.

Gu Doi yee cheen
Yau yiew gwai giew lean.
But long but fu yau si jee mean
Leen leen do lei
sic yeh sai lei
di yan lee mai san serng bei yut bei.
Yau yut yut hai teen lock lei
do hai giew leen
Bo wu ngau dei
Leen leen yee hau
Jing fahn see tau
Da lau gu ehrng siew jerng pau
Leen moh gung
moh duc sahng mahng dee
Bai mun hou hing jook sun leen
Sahng uee hing long
Sun tai geen hong

現在鼓ooooogle Translate My song...

(Then I played the drum in a more hip hop inspired beat. some people didn't like this. But... this was my drum and my show.)

In Kingdom 月 there was a village

That the Nian monster would come and pillage.

He came every year

and out of fear

People hid up in the mountains crying tears

Until One day, Came a new Nian

Becoming the village guardian. 

Later, Paper, Bamboo and paint, Cloth body tail sculpted into the shape, 

of a head of a fierce horned lion with flames, walk on divine light, like a white crane! Ramming Horn Strikes! Twisting Waist Might! The lion's roar is ready to fight! A paper Mache moving meditation, The drum sings the heartbeat of a nation! Grasping the Sky from the earth to Rise, the sun and moon have Organized...

Groundshaking firecrackers exploding red paper and smoke, spring couplets penned by old folk. 

Now don't blink an eye and watch what we do, when we dance the lion dance Hei Gu!!!

And then we were lion dancing.

I played that little drum... which wasn't all that little. It didn't look like a toy, but compared to the nicely finished drum of the Dragon team before us, which looked like it was one solid piece if wood hollowed out instead of a barrel of several pieces glued together... well the drum didn't really compare. But the main difference was, I knew how to drum... not just play some beats on the leather but to really create the sound and the atmosphere. I wasn't a student, I was a Sifu.

Embarrassingly, the drum fell from the makeshift stand. It wasn't even a stand but a pedestal. I had used a stronger more stable dolly at home. But that didn't look as good. Now I was stuck trying to fix my drum with one hand and continue the beat. So much for being a Sifu. Now I looked like a clown. 

This is what I have become 

This is freaking pathetic. 

The high school kids who had volunteered to gong and cymbal looked on in horrified sympathy. 

"Should we start over?"

But no... you can't. It's not like a piano recital. Lion dance is more than that. Or should be. At least when it is done right and with the right equipment.

The drum found its balanced point and now the beats carried through that gym. You couldn't tell the drum was so small. To be honest... be cause I hit the center of the drum and because I struck with purpose and as a leader of the gong and cymbals instead if trying to sync with a Karaoke machine....this tiny drum was louder than the one that had played for the dragon.

The lions did their dance. Nara finished up quickly and both heads bowed three times.

I gave  a speech about how we were new to the state of New Jersey and how we were teaching at Plum Blossom Chinese School and how we would be better as our team grew.

I met with some people who inquired about classes and even possibly future performances....really? After that? But it's true we had shown skill despite failure and embarrassment. We needed more people. And to get more people I would have to train more people.