Actress Jeanette Aw learns lion dance in 3 hours, performs for seniors at nursing home

SINGAPORE – Home-grown actress Jeanette Aw performed for the elderly at a local nursing home after learning lion dance for the first time.

This was revealed in the latest episode of her YouTube show JA Unscripted uploaded on Feb 8.

The 46-year-old made her lion dance debut in front of the seniors at Bright Hill Evergreen Home in Punggol. The production team arranged a three-hour crash course for her, focusing on mastering one of the most challenging moves – the “Lion Waking and Greeting”.

Aw was in charge of controlling the lion’s head, requiring her to master the footwork and dance poses while timing the head’s movements and moving to the drumbeat’s rhythm.

She also operated the internal mechanisms of the lion’s head, such as blinking the eyes and opening the mouth, and tossing Mandarin oranges, gifts and Chinese New Year banners from the lion’s mouth.

The star was both amused and exasperated when she first learnt of her lion dance “assignment”, according to the video.

“My first reaction was actually over the black sneakers. I don’t usually like wearing black sneakers and hardly ever do,” she told Chinese-language evening daily Shin Min Daily News in a report published on Feb 11.

“It wasn’t until I found out I needed to change into the lion dance team’s uniform that I realised it was part of the day’s task. For me, learning new things isn’t the problem – I’m willing to try and work with the team.”

Aw admitted facing some difficulties, especially in controlling the lion’s head. One hand must manage the head’s overall movements, while the other hand operates the opening and closing of the mouth.

During the movement and performance, one must simultaneously pull the control cords to manipulate the lion’s eyes. In fact, this often amounts to controlling the entire head with just one hand.

Aw conceded that this is not something that can be mastered in just three hours of training.

When the performance began, the camera built into the lion’s head recorded Aw sweating profusely. She quickly caught her breath during short breaks before lifting the 3kg lion head again to resume.

Aw, who exercises regularly, said she was still able to cope and continued filming another episode of JA Unscripted the following day, even though she experienced minor body aches after the lion dance performance.

“I’ve always been quite serious about everything I do, especially when I want to do it well,” she said.

“I wanted to give it my all and present the best possible show for the seniors. I could truly feel their joy when I walked among them and felt them gently patting the lion head.”

The residents also prepared three musical performances for her.

“I didn’t expect it at all, and I deeply felt the love and warmth they gave me in return,” she said. “I also met two grannies aged 103 and 105. It was an honour to spend time with them; they were in excellent spirits and looked very healthy.”