Canberra Dragon Dance is the professional performance arm of our academy and combines self defence displays with wushu, lion dance, dragon dance and chinese percussion as part of an interactive show for audiences around Canberra and surrounding regions.
The Chinese dragon is a symbol of power, wealth and wisdom and the dragon dance has been performed since the Han Dynasty 1800 years ago in festivals and celebrations around the world.
It requires strength, co-ordination and team work and it showcases the style of the kung fu practitioner. We have 9 multiperson dragons - Bruce, the Little Dragon is gold , Jackie, a kid's green dragon, Donnie, our 14 metre long illuminated red fire dragon who has been great for night time performances, Mulan our 10m blue illuminated dragon, Night Fury our black and gold teenage dragon and our red and yellow brother and sisters Fame and Fortune. The longest dragon in Canberra is our 9 person pink competition dragon made in Singapore. His name was Jet but since he was reborn with a new head and tail for the ROAR for Canberra show in 2020 he has been renamed Fearless. Donnie has now retired from working at night but will still be seen during the day, and has passed on most of the LED work to our newest long 7 person dragon, Aurora, who is gold and red. We also have 8 solo dragons included an LED one for night time.
We have been blessed to have the eyes of Donnie dotted in an awakening ceremony by the Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye and also by the Vice Chancellor of the Australian National University and Noble Laureate Brian Schmidt. We were equally honoured when Fearless had his eyes dotted by Ms Carmela Pavlic Searle, the producer of the Where You Are Festival by RISE Canberra.
Our students love training in dragon dance which involves not only the dancers themselves holding the dragon, but also the bearer of the Pearl of Wisdom and percussionists who symbolise the heart beat of the dragon. Have a look at the photos of our recent performances on our dedicated Canberra Dragon Dance Facebook Page.
We also train in and perform lion dance and our team of 26 lions have been handcrafted in China just for our academy. Each lion has a name and personality and we pay tribute to the many cultures which made up our academy with names such as Katana, Zhang Ziyi, Wakanda, Purple Rain, Pikachu, Phoenix and many more. Our lions have vibrant colours whilst our LED lions change colour at night time shows. We use Hoksan, Futsan, hybrid Futhok and Traditional lions and we even have a white northern lion named Pearl. We also have kid's lions for kids not only to train in but to perform in. Lions are frequently used to bless businesses and for celebrations to bring good luck. As much as possible we combine dragon, lion and kung fu performances although sometimes we perform only one of these disciplines if a client requests.
Our dragons and lions are available to perform for events such as festivals, openings, fetes, fairs and private celebrations including being there on your special day - your wedding - to bring you good luck and fortune.
We also run workshops for the public and for schools to introduce and teach all of our disciplines of martial arts, lion and dragon dance and chinese percussion.
Our Clients have included:
Morshead Home, Lyneham Bruce Sports Medicine UC College University of Canberra Department of Human Services Tasting China, Canberra City Momoda, Canberra City Wild Duck, Kingston Foreshore Majestic Princess Cruise Ship Guardian Early Learning Centre Bruce HSBC Canberra Centre IKEA Majestic Mushrooms, Murrumbateman RSL Lifecare Page RIFL Holt Weston Asian Grocery ACT Police National Multicultural Festival National Multicultural Festival Parade Flowing Festival, Jindabyne Enlighten Pegasus Open Day National Museum of Australia Maribyrnong Primary School Dragon Boat Festival at FCCCI Australian National University John Paul II College Canberra Moon Festival Canberra Vietnamese School Moon Festival Ms Ba Co Canberra City Floriade Floriade NightFest Opals vs China Basketball Match Murrumbateman Field Days Braddon Busking Festival Chaki Chaki, Braddon Woolley Street Night Markets Two Sisters Lao Thai, Dickson Dendy Canberra National Dinosaur Museum Campbell After School Activity Centre Coles Canberra Centre Soi Noodle Bar New York Nails and Spa Madam Lu Ming's Pantry Commonwealth Bank, Bruce Little Penguins Early Childhood Centre UC Vietnamese Students Society Lunar New Year Festival Daramalan College Radford College ROAR for Canberra for Where You Are Festival City Renewal Authority, Canberra Expert Orthopaedics CoCo Fresh Tea and Juice Biang Biang Noodles J&R Bakery, Rivett Urban Jungle, O'Connor IGA O'Connor Kids Club Rivett Kangara Waters Bright Minds Academy Merici College Lantern Festival YMCA Early Childhood Belconnen Taserman Short Film Cooma Multicultural Festival Riverside Plaza Lunar New Year Festival, Dickson Australia Day (Events ACT) Canberra Day (Events ACT) Charlie Wan Productions (Canberra Theatre) Eucalyptus Montessori ELC Gungahlin YMCA ELC Subsdance Dance Studio Yum Cha CBD Canberra Raiders Ausdance ACT Canberra Gunners Goodwin Retirement Village, Monash Orana Steiner Spring Fair Immersia at ANU Westfield Woden Westfield Belconnen Target Belconnen Breadtop Belconnen Malatang Belconnen Workwear Belconnen Elegant Beauty Nails and Spa Kopiku, O'Connor Department of Finance Accenture Canberra SAGE ELC YMCA ELC Jamison Wattle ECC Sutton Bonfire Sutton Country Markets Gorman's Florist, Belconnen Smart Dollar, Woden Tiger Lane, Canberra Centre My Nails and Beauty Australian Defence Force Academy Australian National Busking Championships National Portrait Gallery
Please contact us if you would like to book a performance or would like to join our team