Lee’s Golden Dragon, one of Houston’s oldest lion dance groups, celebrates 50th anniversary

Houston, Texas — When Allen Lee made the decision to start his own lion dance group in 1974, he had no idea what the future held. At the time, there wasn’t really a formally organized group in the Houston area dedicated to preserving this cultural tradition.

“I have always been interested and fascinated by lion dancing. When I was going to school on the West Coast, I had the opportunity to join a lion dance group and learned how to do it,” Lee said. “It is very important to me to keep our Asian culture alive and pass it on to future generations.”

Lee explained that in ancient times, lion dancing was believed to ward off evil spirits. Today, lion dancing is believed to bring good luck, prosperity and wealth.

The performances of his team, Lee’s Golden Dragon, usually include a combination of live cultural music, choreographed dances, acrobatics, firecrackers, crowd interaction and daring stunts on high poles. Their members have been trained by different masters from around the world.

Most lion dancers will continue to perform into their thirties and some will move into teaching and mentoring roles.

“It takes a lot of agility, coordination and muscle strength to dance, do tricks and stunts like this,” Lee said. “But all it takes is dedication, discipline and a willingness to learn.”

Lee, who is originally from Houston, said recruiting has always been the biggest challenge in keeping his troupe alive. Indeed, lion dancing can be a very time-consuming and physically demanding sport, due to the amount of training and practice it requires, as the group’s director, LK Nguyen, explains.

“It is said that lion dancing requires 10 hours of training and 10 minutes of performance. The art itself is the result of the hard work and effort you put in before showing it to the public. The young people learn the motor skills, musicality and understanding of their own bodies themselves,” Nguyen said.

Lee knows all too well the commitment the sport requires. He works as a dentist by day, but often spends his evenings and weekends overseeing operations at Lee’s Golden Dragon.

“I have sacrificed a lot of vacation time, joy and fun to work and dedicate myself to running this group. If I had to do it all over again, I would still do the same thing,” Lee said. “A woman joked that I was a dentist and did lion dancing as a hobby. I said, ‘No, ma’am. I’m a lion dancer and I do dentistry as a hobby.’”

Over the past 50 years, Lee’s Golden Dragon has grown to include 30 to 40 members. They are often seen performing in Houston during Lunar New Year and throughout the year at weddings, festivals and events.

“Lion dance has become very popular here. I am very happy and satisfied. The demand is increasing over time. The demand is so high that we can’t really satisfy all our customers. We literally have to turn away some customers because we have too many bookings,” Lee said.

Some of Lee’s favorite memories from the past half-century include accompanying Yao Ming to the basketball court when he became a player for the Houston Rockets and meeting presidents like Jimmy Carter at a Habitat for Humanity event.

But what he cherishes most is the joyful reactions from the public. With 50 years of experience, Lee intends to continue as long as possible until it is time to pass the torch to people like Nguyen.

Their 50th anniversary banquet will be held on Saturday, July 6 at 6 p.m. at the Lam Bo Ballroom.

For more information, visit Lee’s Golden Dragon website.