Becoming the lion: Orange County’s lion dancers prepare for Lunar New Year
Members of the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe rehearse outside behind their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anthony Le was fearful of the lions. Those gigantic heads, vibrant red with protruding eyes, bobbing and weaving across the room, coming closer and closer, the thudding of the aggressive drums louder and louder.
But that was when he was a child. He’s one of them now, a lion.
Le, 24, manages Fountain Valley’s Ane Thanh Lion Dance team, one of several Orange County troops ready up for a busy Lunar New Year season.
Anna Xu of Irvine manipulates the Chinese Yoyo during a practice session for the Southern California Youth Cultural Association in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe stretch on the pavement behind their headquarters during a rehearsal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Angela Nguyen, 24, center, a manager at Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe demonstrates dance moves with lion dancers during a rehearsal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lion dancers with the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe Jasmine Nguyen, 19, the lion tail, bottom, lifts, Phivan Nguyen, 20, the lion head, during a rehersal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lion dancers with the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe, Loc Huynh, 17, and Phong Nguyen, 18, on bench, listen to instructions from executive director Austin Quach, right, as fellow dancer Nancy Truong, 18, looks on during a rehearsal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Austin Quach, executive director of the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe, speaks with lion dancers about which dancers will perform at upcoming performances during a rehearsal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lion dancers with the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe, Phong Nguyen, 18, left, and Loc Huynh, 17, right, assist another pair of dancers rehearse on benches at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Austin Quach, executive director of the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe, leads a rehearsal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe members Nancy Truong, 18, left, who is the lion head and Adam Nguyen, 24, the lion tail, share a laugh during a rehearsal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Members of the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe rehearse outside behind their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Angela Nguyen, 24, center, of Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe gives the thumbs up to lion dancers during a rehearsal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Austin Quach, left, executive director of the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe plays a drum as lion dancers rehearse on benches at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Austin Quach, center, executive director of the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe, leads a rehearsal at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lead by a drummer, bottom, members of of the Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe rehearse with cymbals and hand clapping at their headquarters in Santa Ana on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Gracie Lee, 5, Eason Luo, 7, and Parker Truong, 7, from left, sit with their Lion heads at a practice session for the Southern California Youth Cultural Association in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Gracie Lee, 5, learns the Lion dance moves during a practice session of the Southern California Youth Cultural Association in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. Lee is the youngest member of the group. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Deko Hsiao, 17, right, of Irvine takes off his Lion costume after practicing the Lion dance with the Southern California Youth Cultural Association in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Lion heads are lined up before the start a Lion dance practice session for the Southern California Youth Cultural Association in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Abbie Lau, 14, keeps the beat for her fellow members of the Southern California Youth Cultural Association during a practice session in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Abbie Lau, 14, right, keeps the beat for the Lion dance during a practice session for the Southern California Youth Cultural Association in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Coach Sunny Yu leads members of the Southern California Youth Cultural Association in a warm up before practicing their Lion and Dragon dances in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Southern California Youth Cultural Association practice their Dragon dance in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Deko Hsiao, 17, left, puts on the Lion head as he prepares to practice the Lion dance with the Southern California Youth Cultural Association in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Coach Sunny Yu, left, of the Southern California Youth Cultural Association instructs Elisha Chang, 11, center, and Gracie Lee, 5, right, as they learn the Lion dance moves in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. Lee is the youngest member of the group. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Southern California Youth Cultural Association including Maxwell Yen, 17, center, of Irvine, practice their Dragon dance in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Members of the Southern California Youth Cultural Association get ready to practice their Dragon dance in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Atom Hsiao, 17, of Irvine leads with the head of the dragon as he and other members of the Southern California Youth Cultural Association practice the Dragon dance in Irvine on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
There are multiple legends of how the lion dance originated. Still, the message is similar: It’s a traditional performance meant to bring luck in a new year in Chinese, Vietnamese and other Asian cultures. While lion dances are often seen around Lunar New Year and Tết parades and celebrations, they are also performed at other important events that would need luck, such as weddings or business openings.
Le and his team of about 25 members practice every Sunday — but the rehearsals get more intense leading up to Lunar New Year, he said.
“We’re perfecting our moves, reenacting something that’s alive and a being itself, having its own character and actually moving like a lion,” he said.
“We don’t want to be people in a costume moving around, doing jumps here and there,” he said. “It’s truly having this character that’s alive. A lot of people in the performance industry is trying to be that person; so we be the lion.”
The lion dance, said Austin Quach, is a way for Asian American dancers to connect with their history and family.
“Being Asian American diaspora and growing up in the U.S., it’s really easy to lose track of that culture, lose track of those roots, where you come from and your family story,” Quach, 27, said. “Participating in lion dance is our way of getting back in touch with our roots and rediscovering our history and everything it has to offer.”
Quach grew up in Northern California where he first studied Chinese martial arts. But his passion evolved into lion and dragon dancing. He devoured VCR tapes and DVDs of the dances. And when he moved to Orange County, he started his own group: Qing Wei Lion & Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe.
Based in Santa Ana, the troupe takes a more hybrid approach, says Quach, its “Sifu,” or executive director. The dance very much draws on a martial arts background, moving lions with power and aggression, but also mimicking small, catlike expressions to portray various emotions.
That “zhou jia” style, incorporating a type of southern Chinese martial art, “has a weight in the way we perform the lion dance,” Quach said. “You’ll notice that through the posture and movements … and the way we bring our lions to life.”
His group practices what Le described as a modern approach to the Southern style of dance, a more popular version where lions are depicted in an array of colors. They use both “fut san” (more aggressive with sharp horns and curved mouths) and “hok san” (more modern and rounded with a flat mouth and friendlier appearance) lions in their performances.
A Northern style of lion dance, he said, more resembles an actual lion, made in gold with yellow and red fur.
“For us, we just want to spread (lion dance) to wherever we can,” Le said. “It’s something we keep dear to us, especially during COVID when this wasn’t available. Coming back, we want to make sure we let people know we’re still here, and we want to show how amazing lion dance is.”
Aside from gearing up for Lunar New Year celebrations, Quach’s Qing Wei troupe recently traveled to their organization’s headquarters in Singapore for an anniversary event. There, they represented the American branch of Qing Wei and met with other dancers from Sydney, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Australia and more, he said.
The troupe of about 50 dancers is mostly comprised of high school students, he said, and the older members are recent college graduates and have full-time jobs. They meet up regularly to train, generally in the evenings or late afternoons for three, sometimes four hours. Practice often goes late into the night, Quach said, and then everyone goes home to finish homework or their jobs.
Both teams, their leaders say, are passionate about the dance and want to see the culture continue in Orange County.
