rss feedPolice officers + Lunar New Year = Lion dance troupe? Yes, in San Francisco
Chinese lions are popping up with Lunar New Year celebrations in the United States. This is a LEGO model, made in 2008. While San Francisco police officers have their own lion dance group, this model is not related to their activities. Image source: "Big Daddy" Nelson's Chinese Lion Dance photostream on flickr
I was scanning the online photo gallery at SFGate of Saturday’s Lunar New Year parade in San Francisco when one caption caught my eye.
It sat under a San Francisco Chronicle photograph of a blue-and-gold Chinese dragon making its way down Kearney Street for the city’s annual event.
The caption referred to the “San Francisco Police Department Lion Troupe.”
In 2001, it was the only lion dance group that was associated with a police department in the United States, according to an archived article by reporter Heather Knight.
That’s probably the case today – but please let me know if you’ve heard of any other police agency in the country that has its own Chinese lion dance troupe.
My thought: Check this out.
From Knight’s article:
The group formed in 1988 as a public relations gesture and has since gained members from the Colma Police Department, the U.S. Park Police and other local law enforcement agencies.
She noted that the dragon is 150 feet long.
She also quoted Sgt. Phillip Wong, who was the group leader in 2001:
At first, people look at us and they don’t think we’re police officers….But then they see our T-shirts with our emblems and they say, ‘Oh, you guys are cops?’
The group performs at up to 50 shows each year.
I like it.
If you haven’t seen my recent posts about Lunar New Year – that is, celebrating in Seattle – have a look. I also like Chinese dragons.
And I posted some details about how the lion became popular during Lunar New Year celebrations in China.
Speaking of SFGate, be sure to read the review of “Deep Creek,” a book about a sad slice of Chinese American history. William Wong, my uncle, wrote the review.
UPDATE: I forgot to say. If you like the Chinese lion head made from LEGOs, here’s a link to “Big Daddy” Nelson’s work.
And if you really like LEGOs, have a look at artist Nathan Sawaya’s work – in fact, he’s willing to sit down with you and, well, make you.
In that link, there’s another link – so many, these days – to a Raiders of the Lost Ark clip, of course, done in LEGOs. Sean Kenney is another LEGO artist.
Finally, if you like LEGOs and the Matrix, the movie, and haven’t seen Trinity in plastic brick form, you’re in luck.
Note: This animation does have some violence.
OK, I think I’m going to stop talking about LEGOs – for now.
Um, I spoke too soon. There’s a LEGOs Star Wars movie, too.
If you’d like a more serious topic, I recently typed the word, derivative.
