Members of the Grant Avenue Follies, a senior cabaret dance troupe based in San Francisco’s Chinatown, collaborated with rapper Jason Chu on the Lunar New Year song “That Lunar Cheer.”
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Members of the Grant Avenue Follies, a senior cabaret dance troupe based in San Francisco’s Chinatown, collaborated with rapper Jason Chu on the Lunar New Year song “That Lunar Cheer.”
IW Group
A cabaret dance troupe made up of San Francisco’s Chinatown elders has released a rap track and video celebrating the Lunar New Year.
cheers of the moonis a collaboration between Grant Avenue Follies and Los Angeles-based rapper Jason Chu that hippie-hops into the Year of the Rabbit in search of food, family and fun.
“We have had a difficult few years, and I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and a peaceful and healthy new year, which is very important to us,” said Follies. co-founder Cynthia Yi said. told NPR. “We have customs that we must observe, such as cleaning the house before New Year’s Day to ward off all bad luck and welcome the new.”
This video was funded by AARP, a non-profit interest group focused on issues affecting people over the age of 50.
no one knows hip hop
The 12 members of the Follies, aged 61 to 87, may be steeped in tap dancing and 1950s and ’60s songs. But they’re no hip hop savvy.
cheers of the moon This is the group’s third rap track to date. Follies song protesting violence against people of Asian descent, Gem wrap (named after the chicken wings that Chinese parents traditionally use around the house and also use to swat their naughty children) has been on YouTube since its debut in May 2021. It has been viewed about 90,000 times.
Clarion Performing Arts Center
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Follies founder Yee said he feels connected to the hip-hop genre.
“A better way to express yourself is through poetry, a song with a rap,” she said.
Their dedication to the art form impressed rapper Chu, writing: cheers of the moonhas a strong background not only in music but also in community activism.
“These women are strong, energetic and creative,” Chu told NPR. “Collaborating with them is exactly the kind of art I love making, and it focuses on culture and community in a fun and empowering way.”
Yi added that she hopes the song will embody the values of the Year of the Rabbit, saying, “It’s about being so quiet, so lovely, so fluffy, and of course, having a lot of family. ‘s song,” she said. “The Year of the Rabbit is the year to increase everything: children, grandchildren, money.”
