Lion Dance in the School Gym

My son's elementary school celebrated Lunar New Year this February with a lion dance, performed by a group from the local Chinese community center. I'm Chinese American, and my son has always been a little shy about it. He's one of three Asian kids in his grade.

The drums started, loud enough to shake the bleachers. Then two lions burst into the gym, one red and gold and one green, with huge blinking eyes and shaggy fur. They leaped, crouched, scratched their ears and blinked at the children. The kids screamed with joy.

At the end, the lions came into the crowd to "eat" red envelopes for good luck. The red lion stopped right in front of my son and bowed its enormous head. He held out his envelope, and the lion took it in its mouth and wiggled its ears.

That night, he asked me to tell him everything about Lunar New Year. He wanted to know about the zodiac, the dumplings, the fireworks. He asked if he could learn to be a lion. We start lessons in March.