By Rick Madewell
Assistant Editor

Ancient Chinese culture will be brought to life under today’s American spotlight when elements of the traditional Chinese New Year celebration are performed at the Senior Center in St. Cloud Tuesday.

The performance, set for 7 to 10 p.m., will feature the magical and very spiritual Lion Dance.

According to Jeanie Wu – also known as Madame Wu – the Chinese New Year celebration, which runs this year from Feb. 3-18, is a huge holiday for Asians, comparing it to the American holidays of Christmas, New Year’s and Thanksgiving all rolled into one. The Osceola T’ai Chi Player’s Association, which Wu founded at the Senior Center two years ago, will host the event and the Lion Dance team will be coming from Orlando.

“We will have the most important and perhaps most dramatic act that any genuine Chinese New Year’s celebration can boast – the presence of a professional team of authentic Lion Dancers,” Wu said. “Akin to many Americans eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, it is considered by the Chinese to ensure good luck throughout the year to see at least one of these dances during this holiday.”

The Lion Dance dates back to very early China. Wu explained that before the “lions” (two martial artists in each lion suit) begin their first dance of the year, they humbly approach a specially-appointed person. While bowing before this person, the person takes a paintbrush and dips it into some black paint and carefully paints in the pupil of each eye of each “lion.”

This ritual, she said, dates back to the “dawn of time,” when Chinese artists painting dragons, tigers and lions used to stop when their paintings were done except for painting in the animal’s pupils. It was believed that when one paints in the pupil, that officially enlivens the image and, if done before the painting is finished, the animal might leap off of the canvas.

Wu, who has been a tai chi teacher in the area for the past seven years, said this ancient ceremony is then performed to bring the spirit of the lion into the costume/and the martial artists animating the beast. She added this is done all over Asia, not only for the Lion Dance but also for the famous Dragon Dance.

“Many Asian businesses, both here and abroad, hire Lion Dance teams to come dance for the continuing prosperity of their enterprises each and every year,” Wu said. “As they are especially in high demand at this time of year, we are very lucky indeed to have some world class Lion Dancers on our roster of performers who will ensure our continuing good luck by their very presence.”

Many Chinese, Wu said, will take at least some time off work to celebrate the new year, which this year is the year of the rabbit. Here, however, she believes many Chinese restaurants will stay open through the event and offer some special treats to their customers.

Wu said she could not begin to guess the numbers of Asians who actually live in Osceola County. She did point out, however, that there were nine Chinese restaurants in the area, so the number could be fairly significant. Census data indicate just over 3 percent of the county population – or about 9,200 people – is Chinese.

The cost to attend the event is by donation only. According to Wu, even a penny will get people through the doors, and everyone with an interest in Chinese culture is invited.

The St. Cloud Senior Center is at 3101 17th St. For more details, call the center at 407-957-7392 or Madame Wu at 407-738-7001.