The Houston Zoo’s lions aren’t exactly renowned for their complicated footwork. Sleepier than their wild counterparts, they’ve adopted the lumbering gaits of felines who always know when their next meal is coming. But they aren’t the only lions in town. Another local pride, now in its 50th year of existence, possesses the footwork and finesse to outrun them by a mile.

Lee’s Golden Dragon, a Houston-based lion and dragon dancing troupe, has been building community around the traditional Chinese art forms for half a century. While lion and dragon dancing, both known for their colorful costumes, fancy footwork, complicated puppetry, and skull-vibrating drum music, are ubiquitous in the Houston of today, that wasn’t always the case.

When Dr. Allen Lee, a native Houstonian, founded the company in 1974, it was a lonely time to be in the lion and dragon dancing business in Houston. While people put on performances back then, Lee says they were usually of a novice quality, with the puppetry and footwork being done predominately by volunteers.

“I knew a lot of Asian people, but many of them were born here and they didn’t have much knowledge of the culture,” Lee says of his reasoning behind starting his company. “There weren’t any sanctioned or organized groups here at the time, so I felt like there was a need to do that and to promote the culture.”

Lee had grown up immersed in the martial arts, and when he left Houston to attend college in Stockton, California, he soon found himself making the long commute into San Francisco every weekend to study lion dancing. His martial arts background was put to good use as he traded in his familiar fighting moves for unfamiliar stances, from horse to front to back to cat—movements he soon mastered and brought back home with him when he returned to Houston for dental school. He founded his company soon after.

Although Lee’s Golden Dragon was slow growing in the beginning, it’s since established itself as the largest company of its kind in Houston. The troupe stays busy throughout the year by regularly performing at blessings for businesses, private clients, or for celebrations, but Chinese New Year is their peak season. During the span of the holiday this year, the troupe will perform over 150 shows, from small ones to large and complicated ones with high poles (called “jongs”) and complex acrobatics. This February, Houstonians can look forward to them popping up at Phat Eatery, Mala Sichuan Bistro, 99 Ranch Market, Hui Lau Shan, even a Houston Rockets game.

Such a packed schedule involves a lot of planning and coordination among members of the troupe. Fortunately, many of them are in their younger years—Lee says the average age range is early teens to mid-20s—so energy levels aren’t usually an issue. The troupe’s director, Trung “LK” Nguyen, will be on hand to do a lot of the wrangling. It’s during this busy season, Nguyen says, that the benefits stemming from the company’s longevity are most obvious.

“We’ve benefited from being around for so long. We have a few generations of lion dancers who have gone through seasons, gone through Lunar New Year, and all of the training with us,” Nguyen says. “It keeps being passed down to the next generation so the arts and traditions can continue.”

Nguyen, who is also Lee’s godson, started training with the troupe when he was 11, over 20 years ago. He went on to study under Master Siow Ho Phiew in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Lee and Nguyen both characterize Phiew, the most esteemed lion dancing teacher in the world, as the Bruce Lee of the art form. “Any lion dancer in the nation would know who this master is, he’s very renowned,” Nguyen says. He’s been Nguyen’s master since 2019, and he’s one of only three in the nation to be honored as one of his students.

Nguyen has spent his 10 years as the troupe’s director putting the mentorship of both Lee and Phiew to work by overseeing all the training at the academy as well as its scheduling. For the past few years, his role has also involved a lot of community outreach, both to increase the troupe’s ranks and to share the art of lion and dragon dancing with the wider community. In step with that goal, Lee’s Golden Dragon started a new lion dancing program this year with Van Houston Academy, a private Vietnamese school in Asiatown. Students who participate in the program get the opportunity to learn lion dancing and have it count as one of their physical education courses. For Nguyen, this program underscores the openness of the troupe to people of all ages and backgrounds.

“We’re open to anyone who is interested in learning about the art and culture of lion dancing,” says Nguyen, noting that their goal is to reach all Houston audiences, not just people of Asian descent.

For both Lee and Nguyen, there’s a lot more to lion and dragon dancing than the simple performance aspect. Nguyen credits the art forms with helping him become a better person by teaching him discipline and teamwork, values he says have benefitted both his personal and professional life. Lee has similar feelings. He says that when most young people join, they don’t initially see what the ultimate goal is, but that realization comes around soon enough.

“One of the things we’ve accomplished is to give the younger generation a place to go and to practice setting goals. It’s a way to take them off the streets and to give them something worthwhile to do,” Lee says. “We’ve done a lot for the community through promoting the culture and bringing joy to everybody. The grandparents as well as the young kids have laughter and joy every time they see lion dancing. For me, that’s the most rewarding part of all of this.”