Birmingham branch celebrate Chinese New Year
February 26, 2025
As part of the Chinese New Year celebrations in the centre of Birmingham, members of RSCDS Birmingham branch joined forces with the Chinese dance group Wan Sheung to perform a fusion of Chinese and Scottish dances!
Over recent years, these two groups have come together through their shared love of dance, initiated by Bill Good, one of the Scottish dancers and also a director of the Chinese Community Centre Birmingham. What began as joint social dance events at the centre has blossomed into something truly special – a fusion of Scottish and Chinese dance that celebrates the beauty and vibrancy of both cultures.
The performance was an opportunity to honour both Chinese New Year and Burns Night. The Scottish dancers began with a medley of Deil Amang the Tailors and Galloping Carousel, to give the crowd a good impression of how lively Scottish dancing can be! The Chinese dancers then joined to dance a strathspey-style dance, but to music from Tibet – with circles, stars and in this Year of the Snake – of course, snakes!
The finale of the performance showcased the elegance and tradition of a Tibetan dance, presented by Wan Sheung.
The whole team were delighted with the reception to the dance, and even made it (very briefly!) on to the BBC local evening news. We all learnt a lot about each other’s cultures and dance traditions, and enjoyed this very unusual collaboration. There are some suggestions we should do it all again next year!
The whole performance can be seen on Facebook
