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Three sisters honour their mother's legacy at Vancouver Lunar New Year parade
Summary
Anabel, Valerie and Lisa Ho continue to organize Vancouver's Lunar New Year parade to honour their mother, Maria Mimie Ho, who founded the Strathcona Chinese Dancer Company; this year's event is marked as the year of the horse and will run regardless of weather.
Content
The three Ho sisters are leading preparations for Vancouver's Lunar New Year parade this year to honour their mother, Maria Mimie Ho, who founded the Strathcona Chinese Dancer Company in 1973 and led the event for decades. The sisters were raised involved in the parade and have continued that work since their mother's death in 2010. Each now has a professional dance background and divides responsibilities for the event. The parade remains a major community celebration in Chinatown and draws large public audiences.
Event details:
- Maria Mimie Ho founded the Strathcona Chinese Dancer Company in 1973 and led the parade for more than 30 years.
- Since her death in 2010, daughters Anabel, Valerie and Lisa Ho have taken on organizing duties, with Anabel training volunteer dancers, Lisa producing the parade, and Valerie helping with logistics when she is in town.
- The sisters are all accomplished dancers with professional and teaching careers, including roles at the Vancouver Academy of Dance and Juilliard, and Lisa's Broadway experience.
- The parade lasts about three hours, draws thousands of spectators, and features lion dancers, drums and traditional elements such as red envelopes handed out by public figures.
- The sisters' story is the subject of a documentary, "Spring After Spring."
Summary:
The Ho sisters say they continue the parade work both to honour their mother's legacy and to preserve Chinese dance and cultural traditions in Vancouver. The event this year is noted as the year of the horse and organisers say the parade will proceed regardless of weather. The documentary captures how the sisters navigated grief while carrying on the community event. Undetermined at this time.
