Lion Dance

Super Saturday 2022

The past two years have been a trying time for everybody. For UEAA, our journey started before the pandemic hit NYC when our clubhouse headquarters went up in flames in January of 2020. What has followed has been a journey and effort to rebuild, restore, and reinvigorate both the lion dance program and UEAA as a whole. We are proud to say we are holding practices again and had a successful Super Saturday. It felt amazing to be parading again on the streets of Chinatown and we look forward to the future of UEAA and our lion dance program.

The Lion dance is an important tradition in Chinese Culture. Usually, the dance is part of festivities like Chinese New Year, the openings of restaurants, and weddings. The Lion and musicians chase away evil spirits and bring good luck, long life, and prosperity to all present! The Lion is the emblem of valor, courage, energy, and wisdom.

The lion dance combines art, history, and kung fu moves. Normally the performers are kung fu practitioners. Every kind of move has a specific musical rhythm. The music follows the moves of the lion: the drum follows the lion, the cymbals and the gong follow the drum player.

Schedule

The Lion dance team practices every Saturday from 1-4 PM from Fall to Spring season. Want to learn more or interested in joining? No experience necessary, please contact us at

The kid’s program will start on March 16, 2024 Saturday from 12-1 PM, ages from 7-15 are welcome to join. If you need additional information about the program or are interested in enrolling your child, please contact Sharon Cai at or  Wai Jan Lau at

Membership

• $50 Students
• $100 Adults

**In accordance with CDC guidelines, masks must be worn at all times and ages 12+ must be vaccinated.**

Sponsors

History

A long time ago a strange creature appeared in China and was horrified and ate men and animals. The fast and fierce creature was called ‘nien’ (or ‘nian’), which sounds like the Chinese word for ‘year’. Neither the fox nor the tiger could fight the ‘nien’ effectively and in despair the people asked the lion for help. The lion shook his mane, rushed towards the creature, and wounded it. The nien hurried away with the tail between its legs. But it announced to return for taking revenge.

A year later the nien did return. This time the lion couldn’t help the people. He was too busy guarding the emperor’s gate. So the villagers decided to do the job themselves. Out of bamboo and cloth, they produced an image of the lion. Two men crawled inside it and approached the nien. The ‘lion’ pranced and roared and the monster fled away again. This is the reason why on the eve of the Chinese New Year, lions always dance. They are frightening evil away for yet another year.

United East Athletics Association’s objective is to continue this cultural tradition. We feel that knowledge and understanding about the tradition of lion dance is an important element in appreciating the Asian arts and tradition.