Chinese lion dance troupe leaping into Lunar New Year

The students at the Choy Lee Fut martial arts school have been sweating it out, training in traditional southern Chinese lion dance technique ahead of Lunar New Year.

Paul Nomchong is the director and instructor of the school based in central Sydney.

"The biggest thing it achieves is the unity of the group," Mr Nomchong said of the dance, which bases its movements on kung-fu stances.

"It's also the respect for the culture and where the kung-fu came from and understanding that Chinese culture has many aspects … nothing should be left out."

Mr Nomchong is proud to note his father's Chinese family history in Australia stretches back to the late 1870s.

But it was his mixed Spanish-French-Mauritian mother who encouraged him to take up martial arts as an alternative sport to football during his childhood.

"She received a bit of racism towards my father and for dating a Chinese gentleman," he said.

"So she basically turned her back against the majority of her family and just went with Dad.

"That's why she embraced the Chinese culture."

Throughout the year the troupe performs at festivals, weddings and restaurant openings to attract prosperity, good luck and fortune.

They will also visit business owners whose premises have been affected by adverse events.

"If they're superstitious they'll get a lion dance to come in and cleanse it so there is no negative energy," he explained.

Swapping ballet slippers for lion heads

Crystal Mansfield has studied kung-fu for more than 10 years and is the troupe's lion dance organiser.

She was encouraged by a fellow female student to take up traditional lion dance due to its strict rules separating pairs of dancers by gender.

"I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I just gave it a shot and just loved it," she said.

Coming from a ballet and contemporary dance background, Ms Mansfield dedicated herself to martial arts and brought her abilities to suit the endurance required for lion dancing.

"It's pretty hard when you first start because with the lion head you have to find that balance," she said.

"It's extremely hot in there — it's boiling."

She also enjoyed the collaborative aspect of the stunts, which required trust between the head and tail dancers.

"I love how I get to exercise and push myself; it's always a challenge and I never get bored."

Expressing a passion for Chinese culture

Callum White's interest in Chinese culture propelled him to study and work in China where he learned to speak Mandarin.

In his early 20s he was inspired by martial arts action movies, which lead him to take up kung-fu and lion dancing.

"From an outsider's perspective, when you see it, it just looks like we're shaking the lion around," Mr White said.

"But there are quite a lot of rules and etiquette so there are specific things we need to do in the lion [costume]."

He persuaded his wife Azza to get involved on the drums and the couple joined the Sydney group after training at a similar school in Perth.

"I'm quite passionate about my kung-fu and I spend quite a lot of time training," he said.

"So I guess it's my way of getting her involved so we can spend some more time together.

"This is very new to me because I have never been exposed to kung-fu culture like this before, so it's really exciting," Ms White said.

"This is part of our social life as well because we're so far away from family in Perth."

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