Chinese New Year Lion Dance

To welcome in the Chinese Year of the Monkey, Asia House will open its doors for our traditional annual Lion Dance 舞獅.

The Lion Dance 舞狮 is a folk-art steeped in Asian tradition. One legend traces it back to the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD). Legend has it that a Tang emperor had a dream one night in which a strange-looking animal saved his life. The next morning the emperor described the dream to his ministers. One minister told the emperor that the strange animal resembled a creature from the West, a lion. Since the strange animal saved the emperor in his dream the lion quickly became a symbol of good luck throughout China.

At Chinese New Year, the dancing lion chases away evil spirits and brings good fortune and happiness for the year ahead.

The special Lion Dance parade, performed by the outstanding Shaolin Fists Lion Dance Troupe from London’s Chinatown, will start outside the Asia House’s red doors and wind its way through the building to the beats of drums, cymbals and a gong. This will be followed by story-telling, adding wishes to a tree and origami (paper-folding activities) for children until 12.00.