As part of the opening day’s festivities for Lincoln Center’s Chinese Arts Week, we present a performance of the millennia-old south China theater procession known as Xing Shi or the Awakening Lion (南国醒狮). The charismatic Awakening Lion hails originally from Guangdong, which is also the home of Yingge dance (英歌), a highly stylized and energetic folk dance that merges Chinese opera acrobatics, costuming and make-up with characters from classical novels such as White Snake and Water Margin. Both of these traditional arts will leap to life on The Dance Floor with the Awakening Lion Dance presented by Zhao Family Lion Dance Company, a UNESCO-recognized cultural heritage carrier, accompanied by the gravity-defying Fumei Youth Yingge Team from the town of Puning in Guangdong.

The Dance Floor at Josie Robertson Plaza
10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023

Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at 7:00 pm

There are two ways to access this free event: 1. General Admission, first-come first-served. Just show up! 2. Fast Track opening the Monday before the event at noon for all. Or, become a member and enjoy priority entry with automatic access to every Fast Track line, all year round.

https://www.lincolncenter.org/series/summer-for-the-city/awakening-lion-yingge-dance-x-892