Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Anthropology Theses Department of Anthropology 5-10-2019 Lion Dance in the United States: Exploring Panethnicity and Identity Through Performance Arts Rachel Watford Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/anthro_theses Recommended Citation Watford, Rachel, "Lion Dance in the United States: Exploring Panethnicity and Identity Through Performance Arts." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2019. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/anthro_theses/146 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Anthropology at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LION DANCE IN THE UNITED STATES: EXPLORING PANETHNICITY AND IDENTITY THROUGH PERFORMANCE ARTS by RACHEL WATFORD Under the Direction of Faidra Papavasiliou, MA/PhD ABSTRACT Lion dance in the United States has gone through drastic changes since the 1990s. These changes have created a multicultural, pan ethnic, and diverse art form that communities from all over the nation use to connect to their heritage and identity. While many Asian Americans use this lion dance as a way to connect to their heritage, lion dance has also being transformed into part of the American culture. There are also a lot of parallels with the directions that the lion dance community and Asian American community are heading in terms of visibility. Lion dance has become a proxy of Asian American struggles in the U.S. for many of the performers. This thesis looks at how lion dance is growing and spreading in the US, how it has turned into a multicultural and pan ethnic tradition, and the subtle ways it is use politically in the U.S. INDEX WORDS: Multicultural, Asian American, Heritage, Tradition, Globalization, Diaspora LION DANCE IN THE UNITED STATES: EXPLORING PANETHNICITY AND IDENTITY THROUGH PERFORMANCE ARTS by RACHEL WATFORD A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2019 Copyright by Rachel Watford 2019 LION DANCE IN THE UNITED STATES: EXPLORING PANETHNICITY AND IDENTITY THROUGH PERFORMANCE ARTS by RACHEL WATFORD Committee Chair: Faidra Papavasiliou Committee: Cassandra White Emanuela Guano Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2019 iv DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my lion dance group, Colorado Asian Cultural and Heritage Center. As soon as I joined the team in 2013, CACHC accepted me into their team and family and I never felt out of place with them. They brought me back into the team during the small time I was able to perform with them during my graduate program as if I had never left the team and that feeling of belonging is immensely appreciated. They taught me what it meant to be dedicated, determined, and compassionate in everything you do. That it takes hard work to get to where you want and that it is worth the hard work to get to that point. They helped me find my passion for lion dancing and I never would have taken the direction I did without them. My master and teammates have helped me in so many situations and I appreciate everything they have done to help me get to where I am today. Thank you, CACHC. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to acknowledge my advisor Faidra Papavasiliou who helped me along the ups and downs I went through while conducting my research. I would not have been able to finish this thesis if it wasn’t for her guidance. I also would like to acknowledge my committee members: Cassandra White and Emanuela Guano for all of their advice and direction that helped me get to where I am today. I also want to acknowledge Litza Pabon-Malave. We stuck by each other every step of the way during our graduate program. She helped me through my anxieties and stress so I could continue to move forward. These last few years would have been immensely harder without her help. Lastly, I want to acknowledge the United States Dragon and Lion Dance Federation and all the board members and teams associated with the federation. They taught me many things about lion dance I previously was not aware of and showed me a community brought together through a shared love of lion dance. I met a lot of new people that I hope to continue getting to know through future championships and events. Without the federations help, this thesis would not have been able to blossom to what it has become today. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ V LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... VIII 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Globalization ...................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Identity through Ethnicity and Race ............................................................... 13 1.3 Identity through Heritage and Tradition ........................................................ 15 1.4 Performance and Dance Theory ...................................................................... 17 2 METHODS ................................................................................................................ 19 2.1 Background ........................................................................................................ 22 2.2 Denver ................................................................................................................ 25 2.3 Boston ................................................................................................................. 26 2.4 Atlanta ................................................................................................................ 27 3 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................. 28 3.1 The History and Politics of Lion Dance .......................................................... 28 3.1.1 Influence from the Chinese Diaspora .......................................................... 30 3.1.2 Influence of the Vietnamese Diaspora ......................................................... 33 3.1.3 Malaysian Influence in Lion Dance ............................................................ 35 3.1.4 The United States Dragon and Lion Dance Federation .............................. 38 3.1.5 The Parallel Between Lion Dancing and Asian American Communities .. 41 vii 3.2 Symbolisms of Lion Dance ............................................................................... 43 3.2.1 Fat San Versus Hok San .............................................................................. 43 3.2.2 Symbolic Meaning......................................................................................... 46 3.2.3 Myths of Lion Dance..................................................................................... 55 3.3 Motivations: Why Do Americans Perform Lion Dance ................................ 57 3.3.1 Community and Family ................................................................................ 61 3.3.2 Appropriation of lion dance .......................................................................... 64 3.4 Pan ethnicity and Diversity of Lion Dance ..................................................... 65 3.4.1 Gender Politics of Lion Dance ..................................................................... 67 3.5 Homogenization: Is this the Direction Lion Dance is Going in? ................... 70 4 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................... 73 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 77 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1One of the groups performing at the National Championship ....................................... 2 Figure 1-2 The Denver group performing at the Dragon Boat Festival ......................................... 8 Figure 3-1 Lions preparing to eat oranges and lettuce at an event ............................................... 52 Figure 3-2 Grand opening performance in Denver ....................................................................... 54 ix 1 1 INTRODUCTION In a small high school gymnasium in Quincy, Massachusetts, drums, cymbals, and gongs rang out as lion dance groups from around the country paraded around the gym floor for the opening ceremony of the first ever National Lion Dance Championship. Colorful dancing lions, flag holders, and team members from twenty-two different groups lined up around the competition area for the opening ceremony. These teams composed of martial arts schools, youth groups, and non-profit groups that consisted of a mixture of Asian Americans (mostly of Chinese and Vietnamese descent) and non-Asian Americans. The president of the Lion Dance Federation that was created in 2016 rang a celebratory tone: "What we are actually doing is bringing a large community together from across the country. Every time zone of the U.S. is represented here." The musicians play softly as the Master of Ceremonies (MC) introduces all the teams