The Chinese Lion Dance Association (CLDA) is one of the premier lion dance clubs located on the island of Oahu. CLDA, having been founded in 1988, has since been perpetuating the Chinese culture through performing and teaching the southern lion dance, providing Gung Fu lessions, Wushu training, and recently added TaiChi lessons.
Their home base is located at Lanakila School Cafeteria, 717 North Kuakini Street where they have formal lion dance practices every Friday evening from 7PM to 9PM.
On Saturdays, they provide Gung Fu practices taught by head instructor and sifu Jeffrey Lam from 10:00AM to 12:00PM (noon), which are typically done in the middle pavilion of the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Chinatown.
Sundays for CLDA during the hours of 2:30PM to 4:00PM are home to a wide variety of practices in the upstairs gym of the Sun-Yet Sun school also located in the Chinese Cultural Plaza.
The Chinese Lion Dance Associaton is known to be excellent jong, or high pole performers as they are known to be the first group to bring the exciting sport to the Hawaiian Islands. The Association hosted the First Hawaii World Invitational Lion Kings Competition in October, 2002, as well as the Second U.S Hawaii World Invitational Lion Kings Competition of Champions in August, 2004, at the Neal Blaisdell Center. In addition to this, they have been competing around the world in international tournaments such as the World Hong Kong Luminous Dragon Dance & Lion Championship and the Genting World Lion Dance Championship, honors that are unrivaled within the Islands.
These people specialize in several forms of entertainment, such as daring southern lion dance displays and routines on the poles as well as tables and chairs, the world renowned 9-man dragon performances, martial arts demonstrations, and feats of drum displays.
They are professionals and have performed at countless weddings, birthdays, retirement parties, graduation parties, grand openings, good luck blessings, and can be seen all over the island during the Chinese New Year season.
Additional information can be found on their Facebook page & Youtube account:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chinese-Lion-Dance-Association/122843337764301
http://www.youtube.com/user/CLDAHAWAII read more