Tuggeranong Festival - 30 November 2008

It was the last day of spring and Mother Nature showcased a beautiful spring day with mild air temperatures, some scattered fluffy clouds and a refreshingly cool breeze. This was the perfect weather for a performance at the Tuggeranong Festival.

Arriving to prepare behind the stage, PMLD found a nice shady spot to get into our gear and psych ourselves up. Before we knew it, a slight change in program meant that we were on abit earlier than scheduled – but we were ready to roll!

Lead onto the stage by Elvis (the MC), the percussion team positioned itself and our boy started off stage. The cool breeze offered the percussion and moreso the lion team respite from the hard work of the performance, which enabled us to play louder and perform better.

Unfortunately, we were not able to take any photos of the performance, but there were a few cameras clicking in the crowd!

 

Zen Restaurant Grand Opening - 23 November 2008

The Dickson Tradies invited PMLD to be part of an invitation-only grand opening of their new yum cha restaurant, Zen.

Arriving at the restaurant to prepare, the restaurant was beautifully decorated with traditional, yet contemporary designs. After scoping the place out, we set up for the first part of the performance, which is to escort the guests into the restaurant.

After a brief break, we then commenced the main performance to the excitement of the seated guests. As our boy made his way around the restaurant, his job was to scare off evil spirits that maybe lingering around, including food preparation areas and the busy kitchen.

Finishing the formal part of his job he tucked into a juicy piece of lettuce, dangling from the top of the ceiling. When we finished the performance, we walked over to Dickson for some tasty Chinese BBQ goodness.

Tamsin and Alistair's Wedding - 22 November 2008

Today PMLD performed its first ever wedding. The asian-themed wedding was held at the beautiful Lanyon Historical Homestead, which was a first for us as well!

Entering the grounds of the homestead, we put our cars (and our bums) through some painful unsealed gravel road through the country-side, which included a small herd of cows munching on their lunch.

As we got dressed in an old stable out the back, we all took turns playing the weatherman as the morning took a battering of rain. In the lead up to the performance, we hid ourselves out of sight of the wedding guests until it was time to perform.

When we heard our cue, the percussion team raced to the designated area and started the performance. Along with the guests, the bride and groom were shocked as they had no clue about our performance because it was secretly arranged by the mother of the bride.

Because this was our very first wedding performance, we wanted to do things right the first time. Following the initial bows to the bridal party, the newlyweds each handed the lions lucky red packets and the lions thanked them with another three bows.

Our boys then returned the kind gesture by presenting the newlyweds with a specially made wedding hamper filled with lucky fruits. There was then a photo opportunity during the performance where they crouched in front of the bridal party.

Finishing off with a final three bows, the lions then escorted the newlyweds to the reception marquee where the lion and the percussion teams had the honour and privilege of taking a group photo with the newlyweds.

Living in Harmony and Citizenship Celebrations - 7 November 2008

A Department of Immigration and Citizenship initiative celebrating the unity and multiculturalism Canberrahas to offer. The program for the night was varied and exciting with performances ranging from songs from a senior Italian choir to traditional dancing from Vietnamese girls in their fantastic costumes.

PMLD got things started with a percussion welcome at the entrance of the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre, sending our loud percussion beats to the streets and turning heads.

After the formal proceedings, the entertainment started flowing commencing with traditional didgeridoo song then a karaoke lead by our Minister Jon Hargreaves, which included songs like “Waltzing Matilda” and “Clip Goes the Shears”.

With scrumptious food from so many cultures and spectacular acts from the Korean drumming and Vietnamese dancers it was going to be tough to impress the wonderful crowd. Following a surprise birthday cake and song for one of our biggest supports,  Nic Manikis, it was showtime!

The performance was well received from the very first beat, it was wonderful to see the kids jump around in excitement and the eyes of the adults light up in youthful appreciation.

Queanbeyan Cancer Fundraiser - 25 October 2008

PMLD was invited to a wonderful charity event to raise funds for cancer research. This fundraiser was a huge and culturally diverse event held in the evening at the Bicentennial Hall in the heart of Queanbeyan.

When PMLD arrived, there were hundreds of spectators and amongst them stood out numerous performers in their beautifully crafted cultural costumes. Following wonderful acts like songs from potential Australian Idols, rap dance acts, traditional dancing and live instrumental it was time to perform!

The performance started with the percussion team on stage and our lion at the back of the stage scaring spectators from behind – it was great! Working the crowd as he made his way to the stage he stopped to be patted by spectators young and old.

After showing some choreography and jumps to the crowd, it was time to wind up as the program was falling abit behind. When we finished our performance, we received a very warm show of appreciation, which was a good end to our tiring day of performances.

Dragons Abreast Annual Dragon Boat Regatta - 25 October 2008

Today was going to be a tiring one with two fairly big stage performances – Dragon’s Abreast Dragon Boat Regatta and the Queanbeyan Cancer Fundraiser.

Arriving mid-morning at the yacht club we were greeted and surrounded by a nostalgic atmosphere of colour, marquees, dragon boats and people in bright coloured lycra!

With the commentator calling the races over the PA, it felt like we were at the races with fantastic water views. Before we knew it, the main area was cordoned off to make way for our 2-lion performance.

All warmed up and psyched the percussion team broke interrupted the race caller to draw masses of competitors from the waters edge to watch our performance. Performing with our two futsan lions, the boisterous two took every opportunity to get up close and personal with members of the crowd, and boy did they love the attention!

When our performance ended, we were rewarded with a round of applause and cheers, followed by a mass exodus to the shore where the decorated dragon boats awaited their paddlers.

As the sun shone stronger, we were glad we weren’t out there paddling in the hot sun so we packed up and headed off to lunch – yummy Vietnamese beef noodle soup!

World Music Highlights Concert - 23 October 2008

Over the past few months we’ve welcomed and trained with students from the World Music Highlights class. Throughout the semester they have been exposed to and learning various instruments from cultures around the world.

So it’s crunch-time, where their hours of ractice are finally shown to the public in a concert-style arena. With some beautiful instruments already set up on the stage, the percussion and lion teams had a fun time going through the obstacle course.

When the percussion started, it was scary – the acoustics in a concert hall sounded so rich and the lighting shining onto us on the stage felt so… warm. Though the attendance was mainly comprised of friends and family of the performers, it was just as rewarding as performing in front of hundreds.

After the performance, we had the opportunity to mingle with the fellow performers and members of the audience. Performing for a musically inclined audience, it was really fun sharing our culture on a concert stage as well as learning about the various unique instruments the ANU Music Faculty has to offer.

JWK / CYL Lion Dance Training - 12 October 2008

After a hard night of karaoke-ing, it was time to sober up and sweat it out with some serious training. Henry and Willis invited us to their JWK training headquarters to learn some essential and fundamental skills.

Accompanied by a fresh-looking (un-hung over) Hong De crew, we watched them in awe as they played their percussion routine as we warmed up. By then, the awesome Khuan Yee troupe had arrived followed by members of CYL and JWK, and before we knew it, the training hall was abuzz with lion dancers! 

So we showed our fellow lion dancer brothers and sisters our 2-lion routine, and we had to say it was very humbling. Maybe it was the long day and hard night had by all the day before, maybe it was the Hennessy in our blood stream and the presence of so many pros in the room – but we tried our best and finished it.

Straight after our demo, we were rushed into groups to brush up on our skills – percussion, lion head and lion tail. It was wonderful to watch the brotherhood of lion dancers sharing the knowledge and skills freely despite our greenness. 

Before we knew it, 3 hours had passed and it was time for a break and some food. As we cooled down, Charles Nee from Khuan Yee sat us down and briefed us about his plans for an Australian Lion Dance Association – the peak body for all lion dance troupes within Australia. Charles also talked about the 8 martial virtues of lion dancing and the importance of them to sustain the ancient art. 

After the insightful and inspiring talk from Charles, we all headed to Bankstown for so hard earned Vietnamese Pho noodle soup! After the delicious and hearty lunch, we reluctantly said our farewells to CYL, JWK and Khuan Yee and headed home to Canberra.

PMLD would like to sincerely thank CYL and JWK for their warm hospitality over the two days. The LionFest was truly an eye opening and motivating experience for each of us, and not to mention the karaoke and awesome training!  

Thank you Willis, Henry, Charles, Lokman and Homan for their time and comradery – we can’t wait to see what LionFest 2009 has to offer!

 

20th Anniversary & Mid-Autumn Festival - 13 September 2008

PMLD had the honour of performing for a very special occasion recently. The function room of the Italo Club was packed with dinner guests in anticipation of a great night and wonderful food. Dignitaries were a-plenty from the past and present, including Mr Nic Manikis from the Office of Multicultural Affairs as well as John Hargreaves, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Housing and Multicultural Affairs in the ACT Legislative Assembly.

As we set ourselves up we snuck in a couple of cheeky photos to help with our anxiety before our performance. And before we knew it, it was showtime! So we huddled and pysched ourselves up for another great performance!

Due to injuries and limited PMLD resources, we weren't able to provide some performance photos or videos, but we can say that it was an awesome performance! The percussion played until their hands cramped up and ears rang, while the lion team strut their stuff showcasing the new elements they'd been working on.

After the performance, we thanked the crowd with a humble bow and proceeded to our table to enjoy the wonderful entertainment and company. We thank ACTCAA for the opportunity to perform and be part of such an auspicious milestone!

 

Canberra Multicultural Summit - 30 August 2008

Already warmed up from the performance at ANU Open Day, PMLD was treated to a light snack of butter chicken, beef curry, chow mein and cold meats upon our arrival at the Rydges Lakeside Hotel.

We had abit of time to before our performance so we chilled out (and stuffed ourselves) and plotted our performance strategy with the help of some useful (and tasty) props. After a slight delay to the program, we welcomed the guests back from their afternoon tea with a performance in the main function room.

As our boy made his way around the room, he was warmly greeted and patted by many multicultural icons. The performance soon ended as the guests of the summit were eager to continue with the workshop.

After the performance, the boys from the troupe still had abit of energy left in them so we hit the basketball courts of Ginninderra College - what an exhausting and awesome way to end an afternoon of performances!

ANU Music Open Day - 30 August 2008

PMLD arrived at ANU Music for a performance for the Tertiary Open Day with the place already abuzz with a radio station playing music, sausage sizzle and a brass ensemble playing some really classy tunes.

When showtime came, we started at the fifth floor and welcomed the guests dining at Cafe Biginelli. We then made our way down to the ground floor (percussion taking the lift) and our lion team taking the stairs and entertaining those who pass him.

We arrived downstairs with a mass of people in front of us and that made our boy even more excited! Having fun with the audience was easy for him and the percussion pumped out some serious beats, appreciated by many with music in their blood.

After the performance, the exhausted team had a quick drink and rest then headed off to the next performance - the 2008 Multicultural Summit at the Rydges Lakeside in civic.

Olympics Closing Ceremony at UC - 24 August 2008

Just as quick as the countdown to the start of the Olympics had begun, the day of the closing ceremony was fast approaching. The night of the closing ceremony was to mark the end of a magnificent 15 days of premium sporting action in Beijing, and the University of Canberra kindly invited PMLD to perform for the Olympic Games closing ceremony celebrations.

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) joined the University of Canberra in celebrating the closing of the Olympics by setting up a big screen projector viewing of the ceremony in the refectory and plasma screens in the dining areas for all the guests.

PMLD arrived with some time to prepare for the performance, and it gave us a chance to scope out the performance stage ahead of our two performances for the night. Some of us had some ideas with percussion as well as the lion performance so the empty refectory gave us a chance to try a couple of things out.

Unfortunately, just minutes from the start of our performance the lion team had a fall and both were injured. But this didn’t dampen the spirits of the lion team and troupe! With lots of ice, massages and words of strength we started our first performance despite the swelling and stiffness felt by the lion team.

The night’s proceedings started with a warm and inviting speech from the honorary Sam Wong AM and the UC Union General Manager, Tony Loneragan, followed by a wonderfully soulful Er-hu performance on stage.

Soon enough, our boy made his presence felt with the help of the very loud percussion team on the stage. Boy was he excited – he loved the attention of the young crowd! After jumping off the stage, he headed straight for the crowd, playfully kicking chairs and nibbling on the limbs of the guests. It was great to see his excitement spread to the student audience and they shared his energy by patting and playing with him as he made his way through the audience.

By the time he found the vegie, he had worked up quite an appetite and he wasn’t shy about ripping abit of the stage in order to get to it! After the performance, PMLD was privileged to watch a very talented group of hip-hop dancers on stage strut their stuff and perform a fantastic and energetic routine. This awesome performance gave PMLD added strength and excitement to do the second performance at 9pm.

At 10pm our time, the closing ceremony proceedings had started in Beijing so we all huddled closely in a cosy spot to watch the colour, spectacle and magic of the orchestrated performers in their fantastic costumes.

Emmaus Christian School - 15 August 2008

PMLD was invited to perform a lion dance for Emmaus Christian School's Olympics and what an honour it was!

Excited and energetic students held flags of different countries around the world and quickly filled the gymnasium in anticipation.

We started with a brief spiel about lion dancing then started our performance with our percussion intro, echoing the gym and bringing smiles to the students' faces.

Our boy performed the start of the routine which included bows and blessings before getting up close and personal with the wonderful students. Thankfully, they were not scared of him as he sniffed and nibbled on the children, actually I think they liked it!

When the performance drew to a close, the students and teachers clapped in appreciation and we thanked them with a humble bow before cleaning up the mess left behind by our boy.

After our performance, we met with some of the students who thanked us for our performance and also told us they've seen us perform before in Dickson - Thank you Emmaus!

Belconnen Labor Club - 8 August 2008

Right after second performance at Harvey Norman we headed straight to the Belconnen Labor Club for another Olympic games opening night celebration!

After a quick walk through with the troupe, security personnel and Duty Manager it was time to make some noise!

And didn't our boys make an entrance! The crowd cheered and welcomed our energetic twins while they made their way around the club busily blessing all the evil spirits away!

Little did they know that while they were having fun with the guests we planted the the lettuce for the twins nice and high again!

When it came to meal time it was clear that one was hungrier than the other!

After the performance, we all sat down for a hearty meal at the eatery til about 10pm when we headed off home to watch the telecast of the opening ceremony! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - Oi! Oi! Oi!

Harvey Norman - 8 August 2008

It was a very exciting lead up to the performance as it was our first of a few performances to celebrate the opening of the Olympic Games!

Harvey Norman, Fyshwick, invited us to perform 2 performances for their 08-08-08 sale and we totally grabbed the opportunity!

Before we knew it, it was time to perform! We started with the lion outside to bless and clean the door of negative energy, then he entered and wasn't our boy excited to explore his new surroundings!

To make things abit more interesting, we put the lion's vegie nice and high while he wasn't looking, hehehe!!

After a sniff and look around, he did eventually find it so off he went! 

After the performance, we cleaned up the lucky lettuce and had the chance to see the Dyson vaccuum in action!

Next, it was off to the Belconnen Labor Club for our next performance!

Prime TV: The Saturday Club - 17 July 2008

Hey Clubbers!!PMLD was invited to help Prime TV’s The Saturday Club promote the Beijing Olympics by spreading the word about lion dancing and giving Prime Possum a hard time!

Arriving at 9am, we were given the opportunity to sit in on the shooting of the episode hosted by Mel Ross and Prime Possum. After filming their bit, they let us set up get acquainted with the film crew and studio.

First up was the interview, where each of the PMLDers had the chance to answer the host’s questions about lion dancing. Some took abit of time to get used to being in front of the camera, while others had nerves of steel and did it in one take!

After the grueling interview, we took a breather from the hot lights and prepared for promos. The promos were 10 and 20 second snippets featuring Mel, Prime Possum and our lion advertising the upcoming episode of The Saturday Club.

When our boy finished terrorising Prime Possum, it was time to make some noise – our favourite bit! The lion and percussion teams started with some warm ups and dry runs, and we soon found out that our proud percussion was making an appearance on tonight’s weather with Daniel Gibson (sorry Bendigo).

Showing the film crew everything we’ve got, it was exhausting stuff but we had the time of our lives! It was only because some of us had to go to work we couldn’t stay back to hang out with the cool crew and bless the Prime TV building.

After reluctantly farewelling the wonderful Prime TV film crew we went for lunch at Lido Café where we scoffed ourselves on the extra-hearty offerings!

Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival - Sunday 30 March 2008

It was a breezy welcome for PMLD at the Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival held at beautiful park area on Lowe St, Queanbeyan.

Arriving partway through the day's celebrations, there was non-stop stage performances by the strong European community.

While we prepared for the performance, we took the opportunity to welcome the warmth of the sun on the oval - it was a beautiful day for it.

The Katiki African Dancers preceded our performance and did an excellent job bringing colour, dance and energy to the Queanbeyan crowd. Before too long, nearly everyone in the crowd were on their feet dancing and singing along to the very addictive rhythms of African music.

We had a small team so we performed with one lion, but with a new trick - firecrackers!

Thanks to our lovely friend John Gunn, the firecrackers added that extra touch of Asia to our performance. The crowd loved the up close and personal experience with our lion and many saying that they had never seen such a performance in their lives.

Living in Harmony Celebrations - Saturday 29 March 2008

Another first was PMLD's participation in the annual Living in Harmony celebrations. This special calendar event is celebrated throughout Australia to raise awareness of Australia's diversity and multiculturalism, and most importantly embrace it by celebrating!

PMLD started the day with a performance outside the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre and then led the crowd into the main function room to commence the formal proceedings.

Throughout the day, we did some training and some adhoc performances outside the centre drawing the kids and parents to have a play - it was great!

Unfortunately, no photos were available from the event.

National Folk Festival - Sunday 23 and Monday 24 March 2008

PMLD attend it's first National Folk Festival event. This annual event fills Canberra's Exhibition Park with all forms of music and entertainment staged across several pavilions simultaneously throughout the day.

There was plenty to see and do with dancing around the marquees as well as food and craft stores along the enclosed streets.

Day 1

Unfortunately, due to a clash in programming PMLD performed on the street instead of the Piazza Marquee - it worked out better that way, too! So with abit of a musical intro PMLD instantly drew a crowd and paraded down an enclosed street for its performance.

Armed with only 1 lettuce between the two, the boys had to fight it out!

Day 2

Before the performance, we got confirmation that we were on the street again - woohoo!!

The second day was no different, we drew a crowd instantly as we setup, but this time the boys worked out a modified routine to suit the crowd better.

Again, with only 1 lettuce between the two, they prepared to fight it out again. This time, our black one won it but decided to share it!

We don't have any photos, however, we have a clip of the performance on YouTube: 2-lion performance at the National Folk Festival.

University of Canberra: Living in Harmony - Wednesday 19 March 2008

PMLD was invited to celebrate Living in Harmony Week with the University of Canberra.

This small but important event showcased the different cultures at the UC Refectory, and PMLD did it's bit to promote Chinese culture!

Unfortunately, no photos were available from the event.

Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) Chinese New Year Function - Tuesday 18 March 2008

PMLD arrived nice and early for this performance at the Federation Ballroom in the Canberra Hyatt to celebrate a belated Chinese New Year with VIPs, businessmen, ministers and ex-patriots.

The Mount Ainslie Room was our green room to prepare and we shared it with the talented chinese traditional musicians. Unfortunately, we didn't have anyone to take photos of our performance so the best we can show is the ballroom and our green room.

In summary, our performance was generally well received. They were a tough crowd, and anticipated it as many of them would have seen many lion dances before in asian countries - but the important thing is that we, as a troupe, tried our best in delivering a high quality performance.

At the end, a very nice man kindly gave us some freebies like calendars and photographs of Hong Kong, which we appreciated very much.

Annual Dragon Boat Regatta - Saturday 15 March 2008

PMLD was invited by Canberra Dragon Boat Association (CDBA) to perform at the Annual Dragon Boat Regatta held at the Canberra Yacht Club in Yarralumla. Interstate and corporate teams competed in this event to showcase their hard work and celebrate this ancient tradition.

It was a fine and beautiful day, more on the warm side and there was activity everywhere we looked - with dragon boat paddlers coming back to base, others heading to the water to race and the excitement of the race commentating over the loudspeaker. It had a great atmosphere with lots of colours and team synergy!

When we PMLD arrived we were advised that there were approximately 800-900 competitors and spectators - our biggest crowd yet!

Soon, it was time to perform. We followed the trophy presentations and we started with our Intro (Our first time performing it in public).

As the lions worked the crowd, we received numerous cheers of appreciation and this made us work even harder to please the audience.

Before we knew it, our performance was drawing to a close. This gave us a chance to show our Outro (Also the first time performed in public).

After our performance, we were swamped with people thanking us and asking us questions about lion dancing - it was fantastic and we are so appreciative of the interest and compliments we received.

Due to work and social commitments, many of the troupe members couldn't stay back to enjoy the energy and the excitement of dragon boat racing, but we hope to be invited again next year to deliver a bigger and better performance!

Goulburn Youth Lion Dance Workshop - Sunday 24 February 2008

PMLD made its first interstate road trip to Goulburn to conduct a lion dance workshop for the youth of Goulburn. When PMLD arrived, it was clear to see that the Goulburn youth had simply outclassed PMLD by making their own lion! And to add icing on the cake, there were 9 other lion cubs welcoming PMLD into the Lieder Theatre!

We were amazed by the effort and detail on the lion and cubs - they were simply beautiful!

After some welcoming handshakes and introductions, PMLD performed a 2-lion performance to introduce lion dancing to the youth of Goulburn as not everyone had seen a performance in real life.

When the performance finished, we quickly broke off into 3 teams to commence workshopping - the percussion team in the other room, the lion team and 9 cubs in the main room.

Before we knew it, it was time to go. But not til each team performed a demonstration of what they learnt in the few hours. Everyone enjoyed watching each team perform and the kids loved showing off what they had learnt in such a short amount of time.

PMLD ran out of time this workshop, so they will return next Sunday to choreograph a routine for all 3 teams to unite in preparation for the upcoming Goulburn Multicultural Festival on Saturday 8 March 2008.

Annual Lantern Festival - Saturday 23 February 2008

It was a beautiful evening's weather for the annual Lantern Festival on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin. PMLD was one of 3 acts to perform on the night, which included traditional chinese musical ensemble and girls from a dance academy.

The crowd was a little bit more intimate this year as it fell on the same weekend of the Canberra Show. But PMLD was happy to perform for any sized crowd and for this performance we used the gold lion as this was also our first time performing for the Lantern Festival.

During the performance the crowd, especially the kids, reached out to touch the lion as he made his way around before feasting on the delicious lettuce. PMLD also noticed a family with two baby-baby lions and they came to life as our gold one came closer to them.

After the performance and the judging of some very high quality home made lanterns, our lion led the parade as part of the closing ceremony. As dusk set in, the lanterns glowed in so many different colours all in a line following the lion to the sound of the percussion team.

By the end of the performance, the lion team was exhausted but they had the look of satisfaction as they saw how much the crowd loved the lion. PMLD thoroughly enjoyed the night and we hope to back again next year!

ANU Chinese New Year 2008 - Thursday 21 February 2008

PMLD received a last minute request to perform a lion dance at ANU's Bruce Hall to celebrate Chinese New Year and Orientation Week (aka O-Week). Even though the notice was short, troupe members were keen and willing to give a great performance!

PMLD was welcomed by a packed hall filled with red and yellow balloons, and students in eager anticipation. We setup, walked through the performance and gave the nod to commence.

During the performance, the crowd watched in amazement as our black lion performed its routine. Midway through, our lion took the time to visit each table and enterain the crowd.

After the performance, organisers and members of the audience showed their appreciation to PMLD. We thoroughly enjoyed the performance!

Chinese New Year 2008 in Dickson - Sunday 17 February 2008

PMLD was given the opportunity to perform at Canberra's annual Chinese New Year Celebrations as part of the ever-popular Multicultural Festival.

The troupe assembled at 9:30am to what will be their longest day of performances yet! With thanks to the CNY08 committee, PMLD had a stall to call home for the day where we stored our gear, drinks and our precious lions!

The first performance was for Canberra's ABC Radio, which included a live broadcast interview with David followed by a small performance and photoshoot.

The festival was also a special event where PMLD's twin Chinese New Year lions will be dotted during the ritual Eye Dotting Ceremony on stage. The twins will be dotted by honourary guests Chief Minister John Stanhope and CFMEU Secretary Sarah Schoonwater.

Sydney-based Jow Ga Kung Fu Academy was invited to perform at the festival, showing us how it's done by an established professional lion dance troupe. It was an honour to perform along side Jow Ga and we have so much to learn from the Jow Ga troupe!

PMLD was also fortunate enough to perform Canberra's first Meet and Greet Ceremony with Jow Ga Kung Fu Academy. The experience was a first for our troupe as well as spectators and we hope the ceremony officialised the good relations between PMLD and Jow Ga.

After a few shop performances along Woolley Street, it was our turn to perform on stage. We had made a couple of changes to our routine, which included a stage dive and New Year message.

And before we knew it, it was time to close the festivities. We were sad to see the festivities draw to a close but at the same time we were relieved as the day had certainly taken alot out of us. After the confetti sprays were shot out, PMLD lead the parade to the Dickson Tradies for the handover to the evening program.

Above is a photo after our very last performance for the day. We were so exhausted and some were a little sunburnt, but we were still hyped up from the events, memories and laughter from the day. Well done, troupe!!

Chinese New Year Eve in Lyneham Temple - Wednesday 6 February 2008

PMLD performed after the firecrackers at the Lyneham temple at 9pm. There was a fairly big crowd of approximately 1000 people to make their new year prayers and watch the lion dance performance. This was our first performance with our brand new paws our Queen of Stiches put together - they look fantastic! The performance went well without a hitch and everybody had fun!

Chinese New Year Eve in Dickson - Wednesday 6 February 2008

PMLD performed the first of a series of free public demonstrations in Woolley Street, Dickson today. There was actually more people watching our performance, but they didn't quite make into the photos. The performance saw the debut of our newest lion team and they did very well!

Chinese Community Chinese New Year Celebration Dinner - Saturday 2 February 2008

PMLD was invited to perform and dine with the chinese community at the function room of the Italian Club, Forest. We performed a 2-lion routine, which was our very first two-lion routine outside of training.

The troupe was psyched and ready to give it all they got. We performed a run-through with soft music and no lions prior to the main performance.

The performance went for close to 20 minutes as both lions spent time playing with guests at every table before eating their own vegie. The crowd was caught totally off-guard when the lions sprayed the lettuce onto them and their tables as a gesture of good luck!

All in all, the troupe worked very hard, performed very well and enjoyed themselves during and after the performance - fantastic effort team!

Canberra Multicultural Festival Launch - Friday 1 February 2008

PMLD performed alongside latin singers, circus acts and african dancers in Garema Place to launch the annual Multicultural Festival for 2008. Due to the time of day, we performed with the gold lion only and did not get any performance shots but this was our first public performance and everyone did very well!

Our second lion - Wednesday 30 January 2008

This black fur, silver futsan lion is the second lion for the PMLD troupe. During the Eye Dotting ceremony, it was raining heavily while bolts of lightning lit the sky and thunder shook the ground.

We could feel the lion come to life as we performed the ceremony. We will be using these two lions for upcoming performances in Chinese New Year 2008.

PMLD Launch performance - Wednesday 28 November 2007

Our very first public performance launching our troupe, which included a ceremony to give life to our very first lion. The performance was at the Dickson Quality Inn / Tradies Club courtyard.

Our very first lion

This gold fur, gold hoksan lion is our very first lion for the PMLD troupe. We each contributed a portion to purchase this very special lion.

The foundation troupe