On Saturday, May 11, the LionDanceME Club hosted their official annual Inter-League Dragon Dance Competition (ILDDC). For sophomore and club president Teagan Lee, and senior Alex Chin, this event was not only significant to their club, but to the Chinatown community and city as a whole, as May is the official Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage month.
While practicing for the ILDDC, both Lee and Chin have found joy in meeting fellow participants from other schools and building a community within LionDanceME. According to Lee, consistent practice has paid off with skill improvements across the board. “Everyone’s growth through practice whether in attitude or in skill,” Lee said. “It’s been really nice seeing the improvement, especially as their club president who’s led practices since the beginning of the year,” Lee said.

The ILDDC is the biggest competition in San Francisco’s youth Lion Dance community, requiring significant preparation. While Chin acknowledged the difficulties of creating two new routines from scratch and getting around 30 people to attend practices three to four times a week in addition to other school and personal commitments, he believes the performance showed the dedication and initiative of all participants. “Getting everyone to come out on the same day is pretty hard, as everyone has their own other clubs and homework. But I think a lot of people have taken a lot of initiative to study the music that we put together for the group,” Chin said.
Lee hopes that this event can help revitalize Chinese culture around the city, especially during Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage month. According to Lee, she hopes to use AAPI heritage month to share Chinese culture around the city, especially in light of the recent “Stop Asian Hate” movements. “AAPI month is sharing our culture and fighting for what we love and know,” Lee said. “Especially during the stop Asian Hate movement, as we were a big part of that, and hoping to revitalize Asian culture in the city.”