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Chinese lion dance gives
students creative outlet
By Diane Broderick
Staff writer
A lion’s face looms large as its
large eyes slowly blink and its mouth
snaps open and shut, its body moving
to the pulsating rhythm of drums.
But it’s no cause for alarm; the
sight isn’t a menacing one. According
to Chinese tradition, when the lion in
question is dancing, festooned with
colors and requires the aid of at least
two people for successful operation, it
brings blessings.
It is a practice that has been in
Chinese folklore for centuries, said
Celine Robertson, who teaches
Chinese and English as a second lan
guage at Lincoln High School and
sponsors a group of lion dancers there.
“When you do the lion dances,
you drive the evil spirit away,”
Robertson said.
Originally from China and raised
in Taiwan, Robertson and Gary Yuen,
both affiliated with the Asian
Community Center at the time, helped
bring the art to Lincoln in the early
’90s shortly after the organization
formed.
Back from a trip to Taiwan,
Robertson had learned the art of the
lion dance and with Yuen’s help in
training people, her vision of bringing
the lion dance to Lincoln became a
reality.
Robertson and Yuen worked with
a group of about 100 people - includ
ing students and members of the com
munity - to present a troupe in 1993’s
Star City Parade. The venture was
such a success, the group won the
parade’s Best Specialty Unit Award.
And its success pointed to another
aspect of what Robertson hoped to
accomplish.
“One of our goals was to bridge
the cultures,” she said.
Both Asians and non-Asians per
formed in the event, and that interac
tion served as a learning experience
for everyone involved, she said.
The lion dance troupe continued
through the Asian Community Center,
but it was not until 1997 that Lincoln
High got its own troupe started.
The school’s sister city in Taiping
City, China, presented Lincoln High
with two lions, a drum and other
equipment. Then, in the summer of
1997, Robertson visited China and
purchased a larger lion in Canton.
She was able to start her own
group at Lincoln High that fall.
“I like to initiate things,”
Robertson said. “New things.”
Though Robertson sponsors the
group at Lincoln High, she said once
they learn the basics, students take the
lead. )
“The kids kiiid of take over,”
Robertson said. “They are very cre
ative. They can create their own stories
or movements.”
Jeremy Jewell, a Lincoln High
senior, is the student leader of its lion
dance group. He said the group’s per
formances usually run about five min
utes.
“It’s high-energy. People get tired
really quick,” Jewell said.
Martial arts techniques and
strength are required to correctly per
form the lion dance, she said. During
the dance, the performer must hold the
Please see LION on 13
RickTownley/DN
ABOVE: LINCOLN HIGH SENIOR JEREMY
JEWELL performs the Lion Dance. The
Canton-style Lion he holds was purchased
in China. Teacher Celine Robertson said
the head cost about $600 when it was pur
chased in 1997.
LEFT: CEUNE ROBERTSON has been teach
ing the Lion Dance since 1993. She teaches
Chinese and English as a second Language
at Lincoln High. Having made several drag
ons herself, she said, “I broke my sewing
machine making them, but it was worth
while.”
Former dance director returns with show
■ Charlotte Adams and
Tenth Street Danceworks will
hold workshops and a concert.
By Liza Holtmeier
Senior staff writer
When Charlotte Adams began choreo
graphing “Abandoned Summer,” she said to
herself, “I need a bathtub.”
So, she borrowed a 500-pounder her
landlady happened to have in her garage.
The prop became the center of a funny,
yet poignant piece about being alone.
Basing the piece on a story she read in
The New Yorker, Adams choreographed the
movement to revolve around the bathtub.
Throughout the piece, the dancer uses the
tub as an escape from the heat of a New York
summer.
The quirky foundation and use of the
unexpected in “Abandoned Summer” typi
fies the work performed by Adams’ compa
ny, Tenth Street Danceworks.
Based out of Arizona, the company
returned to Lincoln this week for a series of
workshops with Arts Are Basic.
Tonight, the company presents an infor
mal concert of its work at the Wagon Train
Project.
Adams, the former dance program
director at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, now teaches at the University of
Iowa in Iowa City.
For the past few years, as a professor at
UNL and now Iowa, she has dealt with the
physical distance between her and the com
pany.
While the changes have been difficult,
they have helped Tenth Street continue to
evolve.
“Any time you have an artist out there in
the world,” said Paulette Cauthom, a compa
ny member, “you will see their work
inspired by new things. Charlotte has
brought her growth in Iowa back to the com
pany.”
The company’s composition has also
evolved since the last time it performed
Adams said many of the older dancers
did not want to perform as much because of j
the time and energy required from rehears
ing, traveling and performing. In their place,
Tenth Street has taken on several new
dancers whose youth has already begun to
Please see DANCE on 12
Courtesy Photo
KNOWN FOR
QUIRKINESS and
improvisation, the
Tenth Street
Danceworks per
formance troupe
brings ex-UNL pro
fessor Charlotte
Adams back to
Lincoln.
