Boston is home to what is believed to be the only Asian women's lion dance troupe, the Gund Kwok Asian Women's Lion Dance Troupe. Founder Cheng Imm Tan recounts the group's origins, the history and symbolism of lion dancing, an earlier Boston women's dance troupe and shares what it is like to be in the troupe.

Please visit their website at www.gundkwok.org

Storyteller: Cheng Imm Tan

Video Footage: Mike Blockstein, Victor Fong, Jackson Hau, Eun-Joung Lee, Jeremy Liu, Peter Pang, Kim Szeto, Andrew Tong, Kathy Tran, Carol Wong, Kim Wong, Johnny Yong

Interview: Mike Blockstein, Eun-Joung Lee

Images courtesy of: Chinese Historical Society of New England Chinese Historical Society of New England, Gund Kwok Asian Women's Lion Dance Troup & Kim Szeto

Producer: Mike Blockstein

Editor: David Lawrence

A Chinatown Banquet is a series of short educational films about Boston Chinatown, sparking learning and dialogue across generations, disciplines and geography. The Banquet offers an unprecedented glimpse into the history, culture, and character of the neighborhood. This multimedia project highlights the Asian American experience and Chinese culture in Boston and was created as an educational tool by youth in the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC or AsianCDC) Young Leaders Network (YLN) which has grown to become A-VOYCE (Asian Voices of Organized Youth for Community Empowerment). These "courses," offering a rich view of the forces that shaped and continue to influence Chinatown, consist of audio and video interviews with community members and others who offer insight into specific issues, interspersed with contemporary and historic footage, images and information, music and ambient sounds. As a part of the Chinatown Heritage Project, the Banquet is a compendium of Chinatown's history, political struggles, culture and physical environment and living conditions.

http://www.chinatownbanquet.org/index2.html
http://www.asiancdc.org/heritage/home.html
http://www.asiancdc.org/ (less info)