Gió Nam Mua Lan Lion Dance ()Located in Southern California, Gio Nam Mua Lan (Southern Wind Lion Dance) was founded in Fall 2004 and performs throughout the Orange County area. The primary aim is one which strives to preserve and promote the Vietnamese culture in their school and surrounding community. Since then, the team has developed new goals but still dances for the love and fun of the art. They hope to create strong bonds, not only among teammates, but with other lion dancing groups across the OC. Gathering their influence from the Four Winds, they combine the traditional and modern style of lion dancing to form our own unique way of presenting the art. Their most notable performance include performing on television shows such as "My Fair Wedding" and "Hell's Kitchen," concerts such as Coachella, Hardfest, and Rock the Bells, and numerous other clients such as Viet Beauty Magazine, Brian McKnight's red carpet event, USA's Olympic tea, and the annual Golden Dragon Parade in LA.
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Level V Origins
Level V Origins is an exhibition dance team that exists to provide the opportunity for those who have never had previous dance experience to explore hip hop dance. Our goal is to develop and hone leadership skills through our shared passion for dance while also expressing our Vietnamese-American identity.
Level V Origins or VSA Modern (formerly known as Level 5 and Sublime Dance Team) began at the University of California, Irvine, as an idea through a few friends in the Vietnamese Student Association and was finally created in the fall of 2006 by Calvin Ho and Colette Huynh as a recreational dance team for the growing Vietnamese student population that had interest in dancing. In the beginning, the team had roughly 15 dedicated members and now, it has nearly doubled. Although hip hop has been around for decades, only recently has it been pursued widely by the Vietnamese community. Through participation on the team, we not only display our love for music and dance but an also an expression of our Vietnamese-American identity. About our new name: We were originally named Sublime or VSA Modern, but the name was changed to Level 5 because we always practiced on the 5th floor of SSPS. Now it is Level V Origins (with "V" as the Roman numeral for 5) because we are an entry team, and "this is where it all begins." Whether it is about one's growing interest in dance, one's journey to becoming a more charismatic and experienced dancer in the hopes of making it into one's dream team, or simply about creating unforgettable memories with your friends, it all starts with LVO. |
Traditional DanceThe VSA UCI Traditional Dance Group (TRANCE) began in 2004 and aims to reach high cultural values through performances. The dances are choreographed and performed by VSA UCI members and friends in events such as the annual Rose Pageant, Tet Festival and Vietnamese Culture Night. The goal is not just to entertain or to dance, but also to explore and interpret the vast culture through learning traditional dance routines and building lasting friendships. TRANCE hopes to elevate the significance of Vietnamese culture through the use of Vietnamese songs and dance performances.
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Choir
VSA UCI Choir was founded in 2005 to perform in VSAUCI's 26th Vietnamese Culture Night (VCN): Silhouette of a Distant Family. The choir brings together individuals with varying musical backgrounds and provides an opportunity to learn from one another, while at the same time, incorporating everyone into one unified harmonious voice. Over the past eight years, choir has grown to perform for other events aside from VCNs, such as the Tet Festival and Rose Pageant. For the past few years, VSAUCI Choir has had year-long active status, allowing for a further increase in vocal presence and dedicated members that want to express their love for music and entertainment.
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Shadow Ninjas
Shadow Ninjutsu is an art of storytelling that utilizes the power of darkness, imagination, and physical manipulation in the annual Vietnamese Culture Night show. It has been around UCI for many centuries but all its powerful techniques are stored deep inside the mind of the Kevin Dao (past coordinator and 2011-2012 President) and since then has been passed down to his successors. Build strong bonds and lasting friendships to learn the art of working in the shadows to convey a compelling story.
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