Noise echoes through the small squash court in the Boyden Gymnasium. Cymbals crash, a gong bangs and a drum keeps the beat. A red dragon named Todoroki moves swiftly and mischievously through the room to the beat of the music, shaking its tail and putting its face into someone unsuspecting. This is an average practice for the University of Massachusetts Amherst Lion Dance (UMALD): loud and chaotic.

The club was founded in 2021 to spread the art and culture of lion dance and its significance to the Asian American community throughout the Pioneer Valley. “It’s been really fulfilling because it’s a way for me to actively engage with my culture,” Sage Lai, a freshman biology major and co-secretary of UMALD, said. Lai herself grew up with lion dance being a big part of her childhood. UMALD is the only lion dance club among the Five Colleges and has around 40 members.

Lion dance originated in China, dating back to the third century B.C. The two styles of lion dance, Northern and Southern, relate to Chinese mythology. Both styles symbolize good luck and fortune, with the lion and drums chasing off evil spirits. Lion dance is typically performed at celebratory events, like weddings or New Year’s.

UMALD President Zoe Zhang, a senior biology major, and Public Relations Chair Emma Ditmars, a freshman psychology major, explained the different components and positions of a lion dance performance: lion head and tail, instruments and the Buddha.

The favorite dance position amongst Lai, Ditmars and Vice President Henry Zhao, a sophomore electrical engineering major, is the head, which controls the lion’s blinking and eating. The dancers enjoy interacting with the audience and seeing their reactions while in the lion’s head.

According to Ditmars, the tail is the “unsung hero of the lion.” It coordinates with the head to move the dragon into various positions, including stacking the lion on top of itself. The two dancers inside the lion will squat and stand in different stances, moving the head and shaking the tail.

During practice, members of UMALD rehearsed stacking outside of the lion, with one person picking up the other and placing them on top of their shoulders. Wearing a large comical mask, the comical Buddha guides and teases the lions throughout the performance. If a lion is off-time or misses a cue, the Buddha redirects it back on track. The percussion is composed of the drum, symbols and gong, which Lai said are the backbone of the routine. There is no sheet music for the instruments, so all songs are taught and performed from memory, Zhang said.

The members of UMALD taught me how to wear the lion head and control its eyes, ears and mouth, and how to play a simple beat on the drums. I also learned some basic stances and squats, like horse. A typical lion dance routine has five parts: bow, running, walking, shooting, hoys and ending with another bow.

Zhang said the club gets its routine inspiration and learns new tricks from TikTok and YouTube videos and other lion dance groups, like Columbia Lion Dance. They often perform at events thrown by multicultural organizations and clubs across the Five Colleges, such as the Asian Student Association (ASA) and the Korean Student Association (KSA) at UMass.

During the Lunar New Year at the beginning of the spring semester, the dancers tour and perform at Blue Wall and each dining hall across campus. Ditmars’ favorite event has been performing at Mount Holyoke’s Asian Cultural Night. “There’s something about their audience … they always bring so much energy,” she said.

Ditmars had heard of lion dance before coming to college but found UMALD at the fall club expo and decided to join the email list. After only two practices, their decision was solidified. “Once I had taken that step out of my comfort zone, I was like, ‘This still feels good and I want to keep coming back,’ and I kept coming back and now I’m on the e-board,” Ditmars said.

According to Lai and Zhao, the hardest thing about lion dance is the physicality and technicality of the art, but once a routine is put together and performed, all the hard work is worth it.

“It’s very cool because it’s like manipulating a puppet, and you know there are people inside of the costume, but the goal is to perform in such a way that it seems like it’s a real creature,” Lai said.

Ditmars, Lai, Zhang and Zhao all said the passionate members of UMALD are what make the club special. Zhang said she feels lucky to be a part of a club founded by a woman and on the e-board with mostly other women and genderqueer people. Through the noise and chaos of UMALD, members have found a unique community and cultural connection.

Juliana Pinelli can be reached at [email protected].