2005.1.67

From notes on back of photo: "Lion Dancers of the Wu Shu Troupe of San Francisco begin the festivities at the Chinese New Year Fair held in Berkeley." Jan 20, 1990. Close up of lion dancer from the left side. Head is predominently white and quite orante. The eye is very open with a white eyeball encircled in a dark color that is encircled in white that is encicled in a dark color that has several "gold" beads on the outside. The eye lashes are of a light colored fringe and also encircle the eye. On top of the eye there are two rows of fringe. The area above the nose and between the eyes is decorated with dark colored shiny (satin?) balls that extend to two nostrils. The face has many decorative areas as well as fringe. The mouth appears to be open, have a bowl shape and a beard of long fringe. The body of the lion is made up of various colors and shapes of cloth brought together by decorative binding. The legs of the person holding up the head of the lion are clad in pants that are of a light colored material cut in an "M" pattern with a fuzzy fringe and dark accent that follows the outline of the "M". At least one other person must be a part of the costume as the lion's body goes back too far for one person. The photo appears to have been taken indoors as the top right portion shows a light fixture and narrow windows. Newspaper caption pasted on back of photo: "Sun Jan 21, 1990 Lion dancers above, of the Wu Shu Troupe of San Francsico began the New year's celebration. At left, 5-year-old Ryan Gong-Overton enjoyed an orange."

From white file folder Chinexe Americans

Used: Oakland Tribune