White Lotus showcases artistry and significance behind Chinese lion dance

On a warm September day at Willamette Park, Nhan Danh waits for his team to arrive for practice.

The team members slowly makes their way to the park dressed in their workout clothes, consisting of black pants a white T-shirt with the words “White Lotus Dragon and Lion Dance” emblazoned on the back, and masks to wear while they practice.

Danh sits beside a large truck that takes up the parking lot’s loading area. Inside are the costumes of Chinese lions, adorned with elegant fur of all different colors, ready for their performers to bring them to life.

“The basic colors of lions are red and gold,” he said. “Red lions are the most luck-given lions, so any clients that hire us, we will use our red lion as they go-to color unless they have a preference.”

Danh knows something about the art of Chinese lion dance. He’s been performing it his whole life.

“My dad got me into lion dancing since I was about five,” he said. “A lot of the Vietnamese musicals that my parents would play for me as a kid would showcase lion dancing. And it’s really it sparked something in me.”