SAN FRANCISCO — Danny and Peter Luong received the 22nd annual Isadora Duncan Dance Awards April 28 in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum at the 2007 San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. The pair were chosen for their ensemble performance “Lion Leaping Through the Plum Blossom Mountain to Reach the High Green” with Leung’s White Crane Lion and Dragon Dance Association.
The teenage Luong brothers performed their daring Chinese Lion Dance, leaping atop eight poles in a style similar to Cantonese opera groups from the late-18th century. The daring, and sometimes humorous, feats of the lion speak to the goals people try to attain during their lifetimes, and the eight posts represent the obstacles and challenges encountered while reaching for those goals.
“Kathak at the Crossroads International Festival & Symposium,” directed by Pandit Chitresh Das, received a special award. The largest Indian classical dance festival presented outside of India, this event gathered Kathak’s greatest masters and emerging artists and showcased the traditional Kathak solo.
Other Asian nominees included: Sabrina Hou, Xioamou Hou, and Ping Zhao for Peony Performing Arts’ “Dynasties” (Visual Design); Hearan Chung for “Shin Kal Deh Shin Mu” (Individual Performance); Tara Catherine Pandeya for “Shodiana” (Individual Performance); and LIKHA-Pilipino Folk Ensemble for “Kadayawan” (Company Performance).
The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards (Izzies) Committee consists of 20 Bay Area experts from various areas of dance, who review performances throughout the viewing cycle September 1 through August 31. Their annual awards honor local and guest artists in nine categories for outstanding achievement by dancers, choreographers, their collaborators and composers.