My City By The Bay

During the Lunar New Year Flower Market celebration this past Saturday, these lovely Asian flowers performed candle and ribbon dances for the lively crowds.  Decked out in satin and chiffon pastel gowns these beautiful ladies took to the stage with Vietnamese music and performed in gracious style a traditional Vietnamese candle dance.

These young women are a part of the Vietnamese Youth Development Center of San Francisco.  The organization hosts various programs in conjunction with the public to provide job training, drug and alcohol abuse prevention, workshops for the arts and so much more.  They are located in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco and were founded by Southeast Asian immigrants who came to San Francisco and decided to pull their resources and energies together in 1979 and form this organization to help the people within their community.

The Tenderloin district is plagued by drugs, prostitution and illegal activities.  The Asian population living there work two and three jobs just to make ends meet.  Most of the population are families.  The Youth center provides a safe and educational environment for the children within this community.

The candle dance as performed in the above video was simply lovely to watch.  The gracefully choreographed movements were almost like watching leaves on trees being carefully guided by the wind.  Just stunning.

The ribbon dance in the video above was a colorfully designed dance performed with grace and ease.  

This dance troupe was just one among a few performances which captivated the audience during the Lunar New Year celebration.

Check out the Botanical Gardens for more information on upcoming events.