Continuing the culture: Bay Area Lion Dancers prepare for Lunar New Year
With a mix of ferocity and finesse, three ancient lion costumes sway side to side, shaking their bodies and stomping their feet. Underneath each costume, two members of the Joyous Spring Lion Dance Troupe shuffle forwards and backwards over and over again, until every step is precise and in time with the beat of a drum.
The spectacle is a common one in the Royaltree Circle neighborhood in San Jose — especially around Lunar New Year when the troupe rigorously prepares for the dozens of lion dance performances set to enchant folks throughout the South Bay.
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“We have anywhere from three to four performances every weekend,” said Eva Luong, co-leader for the troupe. “For the next month-and-a-half, we’ll have around 20.”
The number of Lunar New Year shows is a record for the small 13-member team, which formed in 2022 and holds their weekly practices in the driveway of Luong’s parent’s house on Royaltree.
As the troupe begins a series of pre-routine exercises, Luong looks on with pride. “This is all voluntary, none of us get paid at all,” she said. “We do it to be able to continue the lion dancing culture.”
On Jan. 29, roughly two billion people around the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Snake with parties, firecrackers and traditional foods.
Around the Bay Area, which has one of the largest Chinese-American communities in the United States, lion dance troupes like Joyous Spring are hustling to showcase their skills at hundreds of new-year-related festivities — especially in major South and East Bay cities, and particularly in San Francisco, which boasts the largest Lunar New Year parade in the country and attracts an audience of millions.
The lion dance is a time-honored tradition in many Asian cultures; participants dressed as colorful caricature lions mimic the beasts’ movements using elements of martial arts and acrobatics. No dance is complete without the accompanying sound of drums, cymbals and gongs.
Lion dances can be seen during special occasions, like weddings, birthdays and store openings, and symbolize good luck and fortune. They are also an integral part of ushering in the new year, according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, and honoring a new Chinese Zodiac sign.
On a recent Saturday night in San Francisco’s Richmond District, Tony Shiu dons a bright red-and-yellow lion costume and prowls his way down 39th Avenue, where his Daly City-based West Coast Lion Dance Troupe is performing in the district’s Lunar New Year parade and welcoming the arrival of newly elected Mayor Daniel Lurie.
The event is just one from a lengthy list of the group’s weekend gigs. They are expected to attend 60 private events and bless more than 150 stores in San Francisco and Daly City with their dancing from Jan. 28 until late February. West Coast also participates every year in San Francisco’s Lunar New Year parade, which will take place Feb. 15.
The schedule is demanding, but Shiu, who is 63 years old and has been dancing for almost 50 years, is hell-bent on continuing to lead and train with the West Coast team. Shiu said he loves to share the story of the lion dance and see the audience’s excited expressions as the lions come to life.
“My goal is to share my knowledge with them,” Shiu said. “I see the look on their faces, oftentimes I see them nodding their heads because they understand it’s a little more than just this costume dancing around.”
The origin of lion dancing stems from a legend in Chinese mythology, where a monster called “Nian” — translated to “year” in Mandarin — would terrorize a village. One day, the story goes, the villagers discovered Nian was scared of loud noises, fire and the color red. They fashioned a lion-like costume together and when Nian appeared, two people in the costume charged at the beast while other villagers set off firecrackers and beat pots and pans. Nian, frightened, ran away.
Nowadays, the lion dance holds a more symbolic meaning, said Jayde Wong, a leader and award-winning dancer for the San Francisco-based group LionDanceMe.
‘We continue the lion dance because it’s a way to bring good luck and drive away any evil spirits for the new year,” she said.
LionDanceMe’s pride has also been on the move. From January to February, the roughly 150 members will perform at more than 300 shows, half the total number of performances they’ll do in a year. Their clients range from elementary schools and senior centers to small businesses and large tech companies.
“It’s always really fun to see how these different audiences from different backgrounds perceive our performance,” Wong said.
On Jan. 29 alone, they’ll do 60 shows — the most the group has ever done on Lunar New Year, Wong said. On that day, the members will split into 11 teams and travel to different cities, performing every hour from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To keep track of the great migration, Wong created an Excel spreadsheet listing each team’s location and show time.
“It’s a really, really crazy time for us right now,” she said, in a recent call between shows.
Back on Royaltree, the Joyous Spring troupe continues to practice in the driveway. As the sky darkens, they turn on their own portable outdoor light and run through their routine for an invisible audience. Right before the new year, Luong asks the members what they look forward to the most about performing. Their answers are usually the same, she said.
“A lot of time they’re saying, ‘I want to make the elders happy,’ or ‘I love playing with kids and seeing them light up,'” Luong said. “That’s what we look forward to the most, the community interaction.”