Lunar New Year officially kicked off on February 17, and although we’re welcoming the Year of the Horse, it’s the lions who have caught our attention recently. The costumed creatures (along with dragons) dance and perform stunts to the beat of drums and cymbals at New Year celebrations.
KERA's Alexsis Jones and I wanted to know more about the mythical creatures, so we paid a visit to JL Sports Association’s Jui Long Lion Dance Troupe in Garland, where we caught a practice session in action.
VIBRANT COLORS AND A FIERY PAST
Kody Tang, a JL Sports instructor, welcomed us inside the team’s warehouse space.
As we rounded the corner of the entryway, we came upon two members of the team straightening costumes from a recent performance. The duo was pulling the head part of the costume lion out of plastic bags and stacking them on a three-tiered shelf stand.
Seeing a wall of technicolored lion heads staring back at us was quite impressive and definitely a first. Kody explained that the colors of the costumes have different meanings.
“White usually represents purity and red is very famous for good luck and good fortune,” Kody said.
“What is purple?” I asked.
“Purple is our team color,” Kody replied. “A lot of teams have lions that match their team colors.”
The color of the lions can also have historical significance and can tell a story. Kody told us the green and white lion represents the warrior Zhao Yun, who was famous for riding through an army to rescue the emperor’s infant son.
The lion dance has ancient roots in many Asian countries, especially China. It is one of many traditions celebrated around the world during the Lunar New Year. The dance chases away evil spirits and bad luck and welcomes prosperity, fortune, and joy.
BRIDGING COMMUNITIES
The Jiu Long Lion Dance Troupe started in 2014 with just 8 members. Since then, it’s grown to more than 43 members.
Kody said the team was started by a group of former kung fu students who loved the artistry of the sport. And although the sport is rooted in Asian culture, many of the members are not Asian.
“Some of the members are Hispanic, some of them come from African American cultures,” Kody said. “We do it out of love for the community and our mission is to actually bridge communities together.”
The night we visited, the team was preparing for a very busy month of performances, including a half-time show at a Dallas Mavericks game.
The group practiced a high table routine, in which two lions jump onto an elevated platform that's more than three feet off the ground. They perform a series of tricks and lifts to the sound of pounding drums and crashing cymbals.
A LION WITH TWO PERSONALITIES
Each lion is actually a two-person team. The person in the head makes the eyes blink, the eyebrows go up and down, and the mouth opens and closes. The tail is the powerhouse of the operation. They lift their partner, who’s wearing a large costume head, into the air in a series of acrobatic maneuvers.
The goal is to make the lion come to life. 18-year-old Emily Chea, who is one of the team captains, says that even with the costume on, she can identify different members of her team by their unique eye and mouth movements.
“They have different ways of expressing the lion,” Emily said. “It's really cute how the lion comes to life like that.”
But the tail also has a personality as well.
“The tail can move to the beats on its own, too,” Emily said. “They don't have to follow exactly what the head does. So, there are two sides to the personality of the lion.”
As we left the practice, Kody pointed out a variety of colorful competition banners along the entryway ceiling. Each scroll represented a team they had met—both domestically and internationally.
“We've established a lot of friendships overseas with a lot of different teams, because that's how big lion dance is,” Kody said. “Lion dance is such a big part of not just Asian culture, but also just the youth nowadays. And that's why we love doing it, because we love to make sure that the younger generation stays connected with their heritage. And plus, people just love it. It's a great sport.”
Details: The Jiu Long Lion Dance Troupe performs at Galleria Mall on Feb. 21 at 3 p.m., Grandscape on Feb. 22 at 4 p.m., and at the Dallas Mavericks half-time show on Feb. 26 at American Airlines Center.
