Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Ngo.
Hi Lisa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
DTG Lions is a nonprofit Lion Dance Group under the Church of St. Anne and St. Joseph Hien, founded in 2010. We started from performing primarily at our church’s annual events such as our Lunar New Year Celebration and summer festivals. Post-pandemic, our group disbanded momentarily. However, a group of 7 of us wanted to revive the Lion Dancing team. After recruitment, we received an overwhelming amount of interest from the youth. Our team grew beyond our expectations and we currently have 30+ team members. Slowly, DTG Lions started to gain traction after accepting a few invitations to perform for different organizations outside of our church. We continue to learn and grow as group leaders and team members.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Trying to revive the team was very nerve-wracking. We were unsure if people would be interesting in joining the team. Primarily, we were afraid that many of the youth members in our community would be hesitant to join. After our initial recruiting event, we received an overwhelming amount of interest. The team leaders were not prepared for the sudden growth and we felt unprepared to meet the expectations of so many. It was a lot of pressure for us because we wanted to make sure that everyone felt valued and was enjoying their time learning new skills. The team leaders struggled initially with encouraging students to step out of their comfort zone. Lion dancing comes with a lot of failures before success, so practicing and instilling good team morale and confidence in our team members was monumental for our accomplishments. Although there were a lot of hurdles that came with the growth of the team, we are lucky to have such a passionate and talented group of leaders to help motivate and push one another.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Lion dancing is a form of performance arts that is very popular in Asian cultures. Our mission is to preserve and promote Vietnamese culture in our community through collaboration, dedication, and integrity. We strive to teach our team members and our audiences about what lion dancing is, as an outlet for Vietnamese culture. As a nonprofit, the funding that we make through our services are utilized to purchase new equipment and lions, as well as to support our church and community through events and performances. Through DTG Lions, we hope to bring out Vietnamese culture to people of various backgrounds throughout Minnesota and beyond.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
DTG Lions values collaboration. Lion dancing requires effective communication and synergy between all performing members. The dancers have to synchronize with fellow dancers and instrument players without even being able to see one another. Sometimes, it is so loud that you can’t even talk to one another. Forming and establishing relationships with all team members is essential for a good performance, which is why collaboration is so valued.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dtglions/?utm_medium=copy_link
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dtgliondancing/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dtglions1931/featured
Image Credits
Stephen
Loc Pham
HG
Yin Jijun He
Guladia Geimah
