By Hong De Administrator on Tuesday, 9 June 2009 8:55 PM

We celebrated our first anniversary on the weekend with invited guests, friends and family of members.  Our members have been rehearsing for three performances for our guests that day.  The event kicked off with a traditional 'Four Gate Blessing' of the studio with our two gold lions. This was followed by award presentations by our special guest, Councillor Ken Ong from the City of Melbourne. The music team then presented a fully choreographed routine followed by a one lion traditional performance.  Thank you for all who participated in this special event, hope you all enjoyed the performances and afternoon tea!  Well done to the performers that day and a big thanks to all the helpers as well.

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By Hong De Administrator on Monday, 8 June 2009 11:59 AM

Another first for Hong De - we performed inside a Church for a wedding on Saturday 6th June. The lion surprised wedding guests by performing down the aisle at St Mary Catholic Church in East St Kilda before the bride walked down the aisle.  Later, our lion was outside entertaining the guests before the arrival of the bridal couple at Gingerboy in Crossley Lane. Congratulations to Ben and Sally and special thanks to Father Barry for letting us perform in his parish church!

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By Hong De Administrator on Monday, 8 June 2009 11:22 AM

Hong De Lion Dance performed at an 'International Day (iDay)' at the William Angliss Institute on Friday 5th June.  We performed at the foyer, the International Office, the Library and the Student's Lounge at the 'World Enironment Day Expo'. The event was organised by students at William Angliss, special thanks to Anna for looking after us that day!

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By Hong De Administrator on Thursday, 14 May 2009 10:54 PM

On Wednesday 13th May 2009, the Premier of Victoria, Mr John Brumby made funding announcements in Chinatown as well as unveilling a pair of beacons marking the entrance to Chinatown in Melbourne.  The events were attended by the Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, Mr Danny Doon (Chinatown Precinct Association), Ms Eng Lim (Dai Loong Association), Dr Christine Liao (Chinese Museum), Mr Mark Wang (Chinese Museum), Mr Hong Lim (Member for Clayton) and various other representatives from the Chinese community.  Funding of $2.5 million will go towards the upgrade of Chinatown and $1.2 million towards the Chinese Museum.

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By Hong De Administrator on Tuesday, 12 May 2009 9:14 PM

For the month of April, Hong De trained a group of Melbourne University students from International House to perform a two-lion performance for Cafe Internationale.  This is a traditional yearly fund-raising event hosted by the students from IH.  The theme of the event this year was 'Wonders of the World'. 

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By Hong De Administrator on Monday, 11 May 2009 11:55 PM

Two nights in a row, Hong De performed with the Double Happiness Wedding lions.  We were at Sovereign Receptions in Northcote for our second performance on the same weekend.  Our lions started off the floorshow by cautiously peeking through the curtain before entering the function room.  Once inside, the two lions performed a 'Cheng' for the wedding couple and also showed off two wedding scrolls - "Forever one heart.  Until our hair is grey".  The MC helped us translate the meaning of the scrolls to the non-Chinese in the reception.  We would like to thank Boon and Joanna for booking us and we wish them all the best for the future. The wedding performance has been uploaded to Youtube.

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By Hong De Administrator on Monday, 11 May 2009 11:27 PM

We performed at the Crown Function Rooms on Friday 8th May for a wedding reception.  Our wedding lion (used only for the second time) graced the rooms at Crown and entertained wedding guests.  The wedding scroll used translates as "Until our hair is grey" - a common saying in Chinese weddings.  Congratulations again to Mr. and Mrs. Chan!

The performance has now been unloaded onto Youtube.

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By Hong De Administrator on Wednesday, 15 April 2009 6:27 PM

The Hong De lion dance team was at Doncaster Westfield today for the long awaited opening of the new Kam Fook restaurant.  This is the third restaurant (the first in Melbourne) to be opened by the Kam Fook Group.  The restaurant will bring to Doncaster a new level of fine Cantonese style dining to the suburbs.  The restaurant purchased two lions for the opening and we were asked to help prepare and bless the lions for the opening.  These new lions will be on display at the restaurant for the first few weeks.
Congratulations to Edward and Rosetta on the opening of Kam Fook Doncaster, we wish you every success for the future!

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By Hong De Administrator on Sunday, 5 April 2009 8:49 PM

The training sessions have re-commenced this year at Fusion Dance and Lifestyle Studios in Fitzroy, right near the seconds shopping strip.  We had a very good turnout of new students today which kept us very busy for the entire three hours!  We welcome the students from International House, University of Melbourne who are training for a fund-raising performance at their college in May.

The Studio is located at 478 Smith Street, Fitzroy (behind Officeworks and next to Irish Murphy).  There will be no training on Easter Sunday as the Studio will be closed, next training session is on Sunday 19th April from 2pm to 5pm - please note the change in our training times.

By Hong De Administrator on Friday, 3 April 2009 8:45 PM

The Hong De lion was at Melbourne University today for the annual Night Market organised by Melbourne University Overseas Students Service (MUOSS).  This is our second performance for MUOSS (we performed at the 'Festival of Nations' last year).  The lion led the VIP's through all the food stalls to the stage area.  Despite the rain which did not stop all afternoon, we were lucky that the skies cleared up just before our performance at 6:30pm.  A big thanks to Chanelle and Suyan for booking us!

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By Hong De Administrator on Sunday, 15 March 2009 12:25 PM

Now that Chinese New Year is over and a few members have now come back from overseas, our members were able get together to celebrate a successful performing season.  We welcome back Ernest and Colin who were in Kuala Lumpur with Khuan Loke during Chinese New Year and also Vincent and Emily who just came back from their honeymoon (they headed off to Hong Kong on the same night for more wedding dinners with relatives).  We went to Mesh at Crown on Friday the 13th for a buffet meal which seemed to go forever!  We also celebrated the members whose birthdays occured during the CNY period - Ernest, Colin, Elsie, Tuyet, Allan, Vincent and Emily.  Now that we are all rested, training will re-start in April!

By Hong De Administrator on Wednesday, 11 March 2009 10:01 PM

The Hong De lion was at Cina restaurant in Armadale on Tuesday 10th March to celebrate its first birthday.  The loud music attracted some on-lookers as our lion performed inside a fully booked out restaurant.  Congratulations and Happy Birthday!  Thanks Eric for booking us!

By Hong De Administrator on Monday, 9 March 2009 6:09 PM

The Hong De Lion Dance Association was at Doncaster today to help raise funds for the Salvation Army Victorian Bushfire Appeal.  The crowd was entertained by various groups including the CYSM Dragon team and various dancing and singing groups.  Several activities were held throughout the day to entertain the crowd.  The event was organised by the Australian Chinese Event Committee. A total of $14,810.60 was raised on the day - a fantastic effort by all involved!

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By Hong De Administrator on Tuesday, 24 February 2009 1:49 PM

The Hong De Lion Dance Association initiated our new 'Wedding Lions' at the wedding of one of our Committee members last Saturday.  The new lions were dotted in the morning by the wedding couple with the traditional 'lion dotting poem' being read out by the father of the groom.  Later that night, at Gold Leaf restaurant in Burwood, the lion dance was peformed by members of Hong De and Khuan Yee for over 250 guests.  We would all like to wish Vincent and Emily, 'Congratulations and every best wishes for their future lives together!'
Youtube video link.

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