Southern Chinese Daily News
12/24/04
The USA CHEN TAI CHI FEDERATION was invited for a charity benefit performance on December 18th in George Brown Convention Center. This event was sponsored by the office of Sheila Jackson Lee, member of US House of representatives, specifically for more than 3000 low income high school students and their families for the spirit of Christmas. The donations from Houstonian were also distributed in the event.
The 18 feet golden
dragon from USA CHEN TAI CHI FEDERATION attracted much attention in the convention
center lobby. Before the performance started, the golden dragon and the performers
were introduced to Representative Lee as she arrived. Representative Lee welcomed
the dragon and the performers and took pictures with them. The performers include
Jason Hunt, Helen Lee, Victor Guo, Jerry Rong, Dylan, Lijuan Cheng, Rosa, Huijuan
Cheng, Manyi Cheng, Danny Ng and Tu Hanh. Representative Lee shook Master Cheng
Jincai’s and team leader Danny Ng’s hands, appreciated their coming. She also
took photos individually with Cheng and Ng and wished everybody have a merry
Christmas.
The event started around 10:40 AM. Representative Lee was seated in the police
car and slowly sent to the front stage. Everybody gave her warm applause. Representative
Lee then stepped down the car and walked to the stage, wished everybody Merry
Christmas and gave a speech about the event.
Around 11:40 AM, the performers from USA CHEN TAI CHI FEDERATION, led by Master
Cheng, started the dragon dance. Master Cheng led the team with cooper gong,
followed by the double lions which were played by Dan and Anthony Tu brother
and the 18 feet golden dragon. The loud drum stimulated every audience’s nerve.
The director or USACTCF council Lauri McDonald and Manyi Cheng documented the
whole show with video cameras.
As the golden dragon dancing from the center of the hall towards the stage, it raises, dives, turns and spins in all directions. All the audiences were impressed and excited. Finally, Master Cheng led the dragon onto the stage and held it in the “Golden dragon spiral around the post” position. All the reporters and photographers shot pictures at the same time, trying to capture this precious moment.
After the show, many students were still excited and curious about the dragon. They came close to touch and took pictures with the dragon. It sure was one of their most unforgettable Christmas events.
The USA CHEN TAI CHI FEDERATION got this short notice on December 14th. It is really difficult to organize the performance in such a short time. Fortunately, Laurie McDonald, the director of council of USA CHEN TAI CHI FEDERATION, was efficient and able to organize the whole show in time.
Since the USA CHEN TAI CHI FEDERATION was established in March this year, it has played important roles in several national and international martial art tournaments, the Houston Asian Festival and the Houston Thanksgiving Parade. With the effort of President Jincai Cheng, Director of Council Laurie McDonald and Ju-Huang Chan, the mainstream society has started to notice this glowing star. Recently it has been getting difficult to schedule more performances because of the increasing invitation. Master Cheng has really achieved the goal to promote the traditional Chinese culture to the mainstream American society.
