Giant, colorful lions took to the stage on the University of Arizona Mall during the East Asian Studies’ Language and Culture Festival on Feb. 12. The performers dazzled with acrobatic dances. They pranced around the grass, interacting with the audience and leaving many in awe, wondering how the performers were dancing in their elaborate costumes.
The Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) recently formed a Lion Dance Team specializing in Chinese lion dance.
“As of right now, we are not an official club, but we are hoping to branch out eventually,” said Trina Hoang, VSA’s outreach coordinator. “We reach out to others within VSA and see if anyone is interested, and we just meet up and have a fun time practicing.”
VSA has been active since 1984, but the dance team formed in early 2024.
Lion dance originated in China to celebrate the Lunar New Year and other traditional ceremonies. There are two branches: Northern and Southern Chinese lion dances.
Northern lion dances utilize acrobatics and wear hard wooden costumes, while Southern lion dances use a lion-like costume and imitate a lion’s behavior with dramatic head thrusts.
The UA club performs Southern Chinese lion dance.
A performer ‘fights off’ the two lions with a handheld fan on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Language and Culture Fair. One of the performers is lifted to imitate a lion turning around.
A lion is typically large in stature, donning sparkly, shimmery accessories to make the costume more attractive. The lion’s head is huge and can move its eyes and mouth.
Two people take control of the costume, one as the head and the other the tail. The person in control of the head is shorter than the person in control of the tail, which makes it easier to perform stunts that make the lion “stand” or “twirl.” Other movements include shaking the head, laying down and imitating a fighting scene with other lions.
“Since other cultures celebrate the Lunar New Year, lion dance was picked up by surrounding Asian countries,” said Bryan Le, the team’s leader. “With our version of dance, we added a Vietnamese twist to it.”
The lions ‘sleep’ while a performer donning a mask hits them with a handheld fan to ‘wake them up’ on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Language and Culture Fair.
Lion dance tells a story and wards off bad luck and evil spirits, Le said. The lions bring good luck and positivity for the new year. Lion dances are common in ceremonies like marriages or business openings.
“Recently, we performed at a Buddhist temple, so I think that has a lot to say about why we perform,” Hoang said. “It’s a very big sign of strength and organization within a lion.”
The team practices by mimicking YouTube videos and learning from there. They also utilize their practices to rehearse stunts and create a synergy as 11 dancers rehearse and arrange for an upcoming event.
Typically, around ten members of the team are at each practice. During a stunt, team members gather around the performers to make sure they don’t get injured.
Other times, the team practices with a drum to get familiar with beats of the music so the performers know what to do when a drum is beaten a certain way.
“You really want to have a good technique so that you don’t get unnecessary injuries, but we try really hard to keep things as safe as we can,” said Phi Tran, a sophomore studying biology and a member of the team.
A performer ‘fights off’ the two lions with a handheld fan on Feb. 12, 2025 at the Language and Culture Fair.
Everyone on the team is self taught, but they brought in a coach to assist with practices and training. New and current members learn and teach together so the club grows as one, forming bonds with trust.
“I learned from watching the seniors and they gave me techniques to work with,” said Christy Ho, a freshman studying cybersecurity. “As a (lion) head, I do really have to trust that they’re stable enough to hold me up.”
Hoang hopes lion dances will bring peace and joy to wherever they perform.
“When kids see us, they think we are one dragon. They don’t even think of us as people, and I think that’s a cool thing about lion dance,” she said. “We don’t want to come off as scary, but as a lively creature meant for good luck.”
To learn more about the group, visit their Instagram, @ualiondance.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
