Saahithi Sreekantham / Houston Public Media
The Soaring Phoenix Dragon and Lion Dance Association performs at the POST Houston on Feb. 15, 2026.
When Alexander Tran was young, a vacation to Malaysia inspired him to learn the technique and style of lion dancing.
He returned to Houston to teach others what he learned and started the Soaring Phoenix Dragon and Lion Dance Association in 2008.
“Lion dancing and dragon dancing is seen as a very auspicious art culture. It’s supposed to represent good luck,” Tran said. “It’s also supposed to represent scaring away evil spirits.”
Lion and dragon dances are an especially significant part of commemorating the Lunar New Year, which marks the beginning of spring and 15 days of festivities. The Lunar New Year celebrations will come to a close Tuesday.
The Soaring Phoenix Dragon and Lion Dance Association brings its performances to Houston every year, with this year being the non-profit’s fourth year performing at POST Houston.
Soaring Phoenix also performs at grand openings, schools, and corporate events. It is a completely volunteer-based organization that practices year-round, with over 30 active members at any given time.
“We train every Sunday all throughout the year,” Tran said. “We never take a break.”
Saahithi Sreekantham / Houston Public Media
The Soaring Phoenix Dragon and Lion Dance Association performs at the POST Houston on Feb. 15, 2026.
New recruits typically go through a six-week trial period, where they learn the basics of technique, theory, and history, culminating in a final exam.
There are some parts of the Lunar New Year performance that contain specific stunts, Tran says.
“So when you saw them doing, like, little — we call it waves and cyclones, basically when a lot of people are jumping over the dragon’s body and making a big circle,” he said. “And then the finale … those stilts range anywhere between four feet to nine feet.”
However, there are also some sacrifices of tradition that the team has to make.
“True traditional performances for a competition range anywhere between 7 to 12 minutes,” Tran said. “We try to keep our performance within a 7 to 10 minute range, just because we have over 150 shows we do over the course of three to four weeks.”
Tran said Soaring Phoenix is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Houston that uses its funds to donate to impoverished communities in other countries.
“We wanted to mainly focus on helping orphans and disabled elders in Vietnam,” Tran said. “I wanted my members to stay connected to their roots and to find ways to get back to their culture and ancestors.”