Dance of the Golden Lions

Singapore Chin Woo (Athletic) Association is one of the earliest martial art schools in Singapore with 100 years of history. The first pair of Northern Lions were brought in from He Bei province in 1932. The lion head is made of yellow clay, with a cape of green hemp. Weighing 10kg each, those lions were heavy and resulted in lion dance moves that looked clumsy, lacked agility and fell short of perfection. The lion dancers had to be strong and muscular to maneuver the movements and dance with it. Through many years of transformation, it now weighs a total of 6kg, including both the lion head and cape. This vast improvement enabled the troupe to portray an elegant Golden Lion. These techniques of the Golden Lion Dance were fused with the art of Peking Opera on stage. Since then, the Golden Lion Dance was integrated with gongs, drums, and the suona.

The Chin Woo Lion Dance team has performed In many countries. They were previously invited by Singapore Airlines to perform in inauguration flights to new destinations like Darwin, Christchurch, Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town and more. Besides that, they were also invited by Singapore Tourist Board to perform in Pasadena Rose Parade, Osaka Rose Parade, ITB Berlin Fair, 1988 World Expo, ASEAN Tourism Forum, among others.