The Lucky Lion Dancers…
The San Diego Lucky Lion Dancers is the oldest lion dance team in the greater-San Diego area. We are a fundraising program of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) of San Diego and are dedicated to preserve and promote Chinese cultural and traditions.
The CCBA has roots in San Diego that date back to the late 1800’s, but earliest formal records document the CCBA in the 1920’s. The San Diego Lucky Lion Dancers have roots dating back to the 1930’s in San Diego’s original Chinatown which was originally seated in Downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp district.
Today, our Lion Dance team is comprised of a dedicated group of volunteer performers who have a passion for our rich historic cultural roots. Our performers represent elementary-, middle-, high-school students, college students, working professionals who are dedicated to sharing a part of our cultural heritage with others in the community.
Events We Have Done…
Our busiest season is the time before and after the Lunar New Year. Some examples of events around the new year include festivals and Lunar New Year events, restaurants, businesses, schools, libraries, and retirement communities.
Typically, our off-season is filled with performances at weddings, corporate events, grand openings, house blessing, block parties, Bar-Mitzvahs, and community events.
We’ve also had many interesting special engagements such as the SuperBowl pre-game show, San Diego Padres pre-game entertainment, Disney’s Disneyland California and California Adventure, SeaWorld, San Diego County Fair and background engagements for film productions.
What is it like to be a Lion Dancer…
It’s a lot of work! As with most activities, Lion Dancing requires dedicated time for training with the group and on your own. Skills, strength, and abilities develop over time.
It’s a lot of fun! While we like to work hard, we also like to have a lot of fun! We try to hang out together. Some as CCBA sponsored-activities and others as non-sponsored get togethers. Some past activities: Trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain, paint balling, bowling, and a lot of Boba and eating. Most the time, we just hang out by invading a restaurant for dinner as a large group.
We are always looking for young new members to join our group. As our older group members move on to bigger and better things, we need younger members to carry on the tradition. You must live in the San Diego area and if under the age of 18, must have your parent or guardian’s permission to participate.
