CAN THO – The first unicorn team in the country with female athletes, famous for many records, is busy practicing to perform the 2022 Lunar New Year.
Founded in 2008, in O Mon district, Can Tho city, Tu Anh Duong was the only unicorn team in the country at that time with female athletes, coached by martial artist Luong An Duong, from the University of Physical Education and Sports.
Currently, the unicorn union has 75 members (16 women), from 3 to 38 years old. Near Tet at the campus of the Federation of Lions – Monks – Dragons in Can Tho City, members spend 2 hours a day practicing team exercises.
Athletes balance on top of a 7 m high pole.
“The 12-15 m pole-climbing is the most difficult subject, sometimes at the expense of your life if you are negligent. For female athletes, the difficulty is even greater because they have to practice strong movements, acrobatics, rotate,” said Mr. Duong.
Le Yen Quyen (28 years old) performed down the pole, an exclusive move of Tu Anh Duong. “It took me 2 years to do difficult movements like this,” said the female athlete with more than 10 years of experience.
14 years of establishment, the team has achieved a series of awards, medals, records… Private Quyen owns 8 Guinness Vietnam records and 2 Asian records.
The girls practice the dharma, the Dharma set on apricot flower valley, more than 2.5 m high. Tu Anh Duong has 10 professional female apricot dancers.
Each performance on apricot flowers, athletes perform 10-12 minutes, on 24 sharp stakes 1-2,6 m high with a series of risky juggling movements. “Athletes require mastery of traditional lion dance techniques and martial arts skills,” said Mr. Duong.
According to professional regulations, the climbing pillars are not more than 10m, but the members of Tu Anh Duong are capable of lion dancing at a height of 12 -15 m; performing movements lasting more than 20 minutes compared to the regulation of 6 minutes.
A dragon dance practice by the lion troupe Tu Anh Duong.
Members of the lion troupe perform the welcome festival drum.
“Each show for units and businesses is the highest VND 36 million, full of songs in 2 hours; the lowest from 3 to 4 million VND, lasting 15-20 minutes”, Mr. Duong said and said that the group is present. The show schedule is closed on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.
However, according to the owner of the lion team, his students stick to the lion dance career mainly because of their passion for traditional art, but the income from the performances is not enough to cover their lives.
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