Many students at Lake Ridge have hidden talents; some may include singing or drawing. But while some may take up interest in film or music, freshman Priscilla Tran and her sophomore brother, Trieu Tran, have become involved in Chinese Lion dancing. With Saturday January 28th being Chinese New Year, the two have been busier than ever practicing in preparation for this big day.

“Lion dancing is a tradition for Chinese New Year, well it’s mostly aimed for Chinese New Years, but we do also perform for other stuff. It’s kind of spreading good luck to parties or weddings, but mostly Chinese New Year,” Priscilla said.

Sophomore, Kiyana Abston, and freshman, Sydney Su, are both Lake Ridge students currently learning the Madrid and about the China’s history. They went on to explain the importance of lion dancing in the Chinese culture. “Lion dancing is religion based; they do it because of the Chinese New Year, which keeps the evil spirit away. They wear a lot of red and celebrate and dance and have a good time,” explained Abston.

Although behind every great tradition is an even greater meaning. “Back then there was a legend about a predator named Nian, he would always go to he village and eat the people,” said Su. Kiyana continued by saying, “It goes back to keeping the evil spirit away again and protecting their country.”

In addition to the beautiful meaning behind the tradition, Trieu Tran says he enjoy the activity and feels everyone is one big, happy family. “We all work as a family, so working with them and having fun is the best part to me,” said Tran.