Growing up in a small Vietnamese community in Albany, New York, Vien Le, ‘29, said she wanted to join the Lehigh Lions before she even arrived on campus.
Founded in spring 2023, the Lehigh Lions club shares knowledge, promotes awareness and aims to spread festivity around Chinese culture.
“The lion dances were my childhood magic,” Le said. “I never felt ashamed of my identity, because I had learned to associate my culture with all these awesome traditions.”
The club meets two or three times each week for dance rehearsal, focusing on immersing members in the basics of lion dance and teaching choreography for upcoming performances.
Ranni Torrez, ‘27, president of the Lehigh Lions, said the organization has expanded since its founding. She said the club began with only four members and has since grown to about 10.
After joining fall 2023, Torrez said she quickly became more involved in the organization, specifically with choreography.
“I really like seeing and learning how to find ways to make new stories, but also rework old stories,” she said.
She said the choreography process is collaborative, and dancers inside the lion costumes help determine which movements are best for performances.
“The people who will be in the lion’s head and tail are very important in the choreography process,” Torrez said. “They tell me what is actually visibly possible within the performance.”
Alex Babka, ‘28, is one of the club’s main performers and the external chair on the executive board.
He had a family member who participated in lion dance as a kid, which he said sparked his decision to join the Lehigh Lions.
As the external chair, Babka helps coordinate performances both on and in the community.
“I want this club to be able to grow on campus and spread festivity,” Babka said. “I want to help out to make sure everything continues to run into the future.”
Most recently, the club collaborated on joint dance practices with the lion dance group at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Since we’re a young group and (the University of Pennsylvania Lion Dance Club) has many years of experience, we can learn a lot from them,” Babka said.
Last year, the club also did an exhibition performance at the East Coast Intercollegiate Lion Dance Competition at Cornell University. This year, they’re competing again. On April 11, the Lehigh Lions will face University of Maryland.
“It is a little scary competing as a young club against clubs that have had many years of experience and have much larger member counts, but it will definitely be rewarding,” Babka said.
Around the Lunar New Year, Babka said the group also performs at local Bethlehem restaurants. He said he enjoys bringing good fortune to local restaurants and seeing the excitement of community members during performances.
“The customers in the restaurant are usually surprised when they see us come in and perform, but they always love it,” Babka said.
These partnerships are just one part of the club’s outreach. The Lehigh Lions perform at a variety of events each year, including Lehigh FUSION, the International Bazaar and other cultural events for various campus organizations.
Le said bringing the tradition beyond campus and engaging with the local community around the Lunar New Year is particularly meaningful to her.
She said her favorite event so far was Lunar New Year.
“Celebrating Lunar New Year at Lehigh through lions has given me a nice perspective,” Le said. “Growing up, I was just enjoying the festivities, but now I get to coordinate them and be a part of it for other people’s experiences,”
She also said she hopes to join the executive board for the club soon.
“My vision for our club going forward is connecting more with different organizations on campus,” Le said. “I want to keep up with the club’s mission of sharing culture with the broader community.”