Having moved to live near Orlando, Florida since 2009, I have been to a few of CNY celebration shows. However, I find this year’s CNY celebration presented by Mei’s Supermarket on East Colonial Drive has been the most spectacular program I have ever seen! A three hours Lunar New Year Celebration with Asian Cultural performances, and lucky draw. The event hosted by Mei’s Supermarket – the Largest Asian Grocery Store located at East Orlando, and co-hosted by Asia Trend Community Learning Center.
Although the sky was a bit overcast, by 1pm the sound of a lit firecracker and drum has drawn the attention of the spectators to two lively lions dancing around the entrance of the shop! These two lions not only danced outside but actually went inside the supermarket and danced in between the aisles of commodities! The lion or dragon dance has always been the highlights in Chinese celebrations to bring prosperity and good luck to the business! During the lion dance there is an event where the owner of the shop would feed the lion with some lettuce; because the Chinese word for ‘lettuce’ sounds similar to the word for ‘wealth’! So the lion will eat the wealth (lettuce) and spit it back out to the owner and audience to give them prosperity! It also signifies there will be an abundance of everything in the coming year.
The Wah Lum Martial Arts not only perform this brilliant lion dance, the students also demonstrated free hand Kung fu and with different types of Chinese weapons such as sword, long spear, three-section-stick, etc. What an eye-opening show to some people! Following the fantastic martial arts demonstration was taiko performance by Orlando Taiko Dojo students – and they are always a big attraction and have a lot of fans! The taiko (Japanese) drums produce a strong and majestic sound; and the rhythm is quite different from that of Chinese and Western music. The last of the outdoor presentation was by HanQing Tai Chi Culture and Art Centre. They demonstrated free hand tai chi as well as using a sword with the movement. As far as I understand, Tai Chi is a form of Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training and its health benefits!
Moving indoor into the supermarket as it started to drizzle, there were still two presentations by two dance groups:- one is the Devyani School of Culture Arts (Indian dance) and the other is Thuyen May Productions (Vietnamese dance). The two Indian dances were performed by small kids and teenagers and fully demonstrate the happy and quick movement – really lovely and cute! One of the Vietnamese dances was in a style with a slower and elegant movements of birds and butterflies; where as the other dance demonstrated the happiness of the people from northern and southern Vietnam when they get together and have a good time! The Thuyen May group also presented a third dance with which Mr CK Lau (the MC for the day’s programs, photographer for the event) played the saxophone a Chinese music named ‘The Moon Representing My Heart’- again the soft and beautiful movement fully fit it with the pleasing tune of the music! Well, the day’s celebration only came to an end after Mr CK Lau graced the audience with a couple more melodious selections with his saxophone!
A BIG THANK YOU to Mei’s Supermarket for a fantastic entertainment to celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Tiger!
Mei’s Supermarket
Address: 10681 E Colonial Dr, Union Park, FL 32817
Phone: (689) 208-1888
