despite budget cuts, the show must go on ~ dragon boat festival 2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009
Posted by

LEI ANN in Blogging, Blogs, Chinese Martial Arts, KFFs, Kung Fu, Wah Lum

We had gotten the notice a few weeks ago that that long-time, down by the Charles River on the Cambridge side annual tradition...also known as the Dragon Boat Festival...was in trouble. Trouble, you may ask. Yes, as in financial trouble. Like my wallet, the rest of the economy, the DBF Committee likewise was having problems procuring enough funds to hold the festival this year. I'll have to admit, I have been so busy every weekend with other kung fu stuff, I was kinda relieved to hear that. No festival...meant no lion dance and no kung fu performance by us which we have done for the past...oh...what...20 years? No lion dance and no kung fu performance meant I GET A MINI-VACATION!

Silly rabbit...it's never that easy *especially* for me. Another few weeks later, we heard that all was a go. The festival was still ON! Oh goody gumdrops...

The day of the DBF was gorgeously sunny and warm, a little too warm for my liking. That's okay, like I said, we've entertained at this festival for decades. A little bit of lion and kung fu action...all under the big tent. All under the shade. I nary even work up a sweat.

Soooooo...imagine my surprise when I head out to the festival site and I can't see the tent. The tent they always use for the festival is huge...where the heck was it? So, I go over and take a gander, a looksee to check out the scenario.

Well, lack of funds or not...that did NOT prevent the Dragon Boat show from going on. Budget cuts, however, did mean one thing...tents are expensive and the festival organizers couldn't afford a tent this year. Oh FML.

I hates performing under the full-on heat of the sun. The heat that causes those awfully ugly stains under your pits and at your low back. The bright sunlight causing me to squint the whole time and give me premature crow's feet. Ughhh...wrinkles...goddamn wrinkles! Good thing I wore SPF 75 that day!

But, enough about the things I don't like. Tent or not...our usual 50x30 elevated stage now substituted by a 20x10 piece of plywood on the ground, the show must go on! It doesn't even faze me. It's kung fu, man...you learn to adapt, you roll with the punches (so to speak), you STFU and get to work.

And got to work we did...our usual 8-10 minute lion dance sets...complete with plenty of orange tossing, lettuce flinging and single-legged pick action. After a little intermission and letting some of the other acts of the day have their turn on the "stage", we continued on with our usual 20-30 minutes of varied kung fu spectaculosity. The kiddies went...the intermediate students went...the senior students and instructors went...the demo team members went...I went. I did my thing...like I do every week, every weekend, every year...I did what I always do. Even with that hot annoying heat from the sun beating down on my face, dehydrating my skin and contributing to sunspots and wrinkling...even with the bright sunlight glinting off my gim, blinding me, making me have to squint & tear up...even with some piss monster kid running onto the stage, when the audience was warned of flying, spinning, sharp objects (good job watching the boy, there parents!)...despite all that, we pulled off another great show in splendid fashion!

last two photos courtesy of Carol Leung

technorati tags: Dragon, Boat, Festival, Boston, kung, fu, lion, dance, martial, arts, demonstration

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