The CCCNJ Youth Lion Dance Troupe meets every Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. during the months of September to June to practice and preserve the Chinese art of Mo Si, or the lion dance. The lion dance is performed at many Chinese celebratory functions to bring good fortune. Our performers work on different choreography based on the different celebratory events, interchanging their roles as dancers and musicians, working with traditional Chinese cymbals, gongs and drums. Our past performances have included Chinese New Year festivities at CCCNJ and other local locations in or around Bergen County, including libraries, senior centers, and heritage events.
Our lion dance members commit one hour every week to work on endurance and techniques in order to have a successful performance, with lots of fun, team spirit, and comradery.
If you’re interested in joining the Youth Lion Dance Troupe, please email advisors at Liondance@cccnj888.org.
Starting age 10+
| Aaron G. | Eric H. |
| Aaron H. | Evangeline S. |
| Alex F. | James E. |
| Alexis H. | Kenneth C. |
| Alyssa H. | Lucas C. |
| Benjamin C. | Marcus D. |
| Benjamin L. | Miles N. |
| Cordelia S. | Naomi G. |
| Deric C. | Nathaniel L. |
| Dylan C. |
Alumni:
| Brian C. | Evan T. |
| Casey L. | Jordan T. |
| Courtney L. | Kayli H. |
| Emily H. |
Our Sifu (Instructors) 師傅:
Samuel Siu
Originally from Hong Kong and raised in New York City, Sifu Samuel’s experience in martial arts began in high school and continued through college, where he dedicated himself to learning Kung Fu and Lion Dance. Although life’s demands, academics and a busy career, necessitated a long hiatus from training, Sifu Samuel never lost his connection to the discipline. Now, he’s proud to return to his roots as one of the instructor for the CCCNJ Youth Lion Dance Group, where he’s committed to inspiring the next generation and preserving the rich cultural heritage of lion dance.
Hector Garcia
Sifu Hector learned Hung Ga Kung Fu & Lion Dance from 2001 – 2003 under the guidance of Sifu Clevon Morrisey and SeGong Pedro Yee. He performed with them in Chinatown during that time. In 2019, Sifu Hector started assisting CCCNJ’s Grandmaster Sifu Phillip Tse with the Youth Group. With a growing interest from our younger students, CCCNJ Youth Group Jr was developed & Sifu Hector became the Sifu to the students who were below the age of 9. He taught them basic Kung Fu skills & introductory to Lion Dance.
Josh Keller
Sifu Josh, a 5th generation disciple of legendary kung fu Master Wong Fei Hung, began his formal martial arts training in 1996, under Master Pedro Cepero Yee, Senior disciple and legally adopted son of Grandmaster Frank Yee, at Yee’s Hung Ga Kung Fu Academy in Clifton, NJ. He studied Hung Ga Kuen, a traditional Southern Shaolin style of kung-fu, which has incorporated lion dance into its training for generations as a way of conditioning the body and strengthening stances. During the 90s and into the early 2000s Sifu Josh was a familiar face at the New York Chinatown lunar new year celebrations performing in NYC Chinatown in Manhattan as well as Brooklyn and Queens Chinatown’s respectively. In 2001 Sifu Josh was a member of the team that went to Taishan, Peoples Republic of China, to perform in front of 3,800 spectators. He was also a featured performer at the ancestral home of the art, Wong Fei Hung (Huang Fei Hong) Museum in Foshan. When Sifu Josh was asked to volunteer at CCCNJ, he did not hesitate to accept and was overjoyed at the opportunity to help train a new generation of lion dancers. Sifu Josh continues to train and assist in teaching under his Sifu, at Yee’s Hung-Ga Kung Fu Academy, Clifton.
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