Dancing The Language: How Mandarin Lessons Came Alive At DBIS!

Eight DBIS students share how learning Mandarin led them beyond the classroom and into the physical, collaborative world of lion dance. Martin Wray reports

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DBIS

The 2025/ 2026 Discovery Bay International School Lion Dance team consists of eight dancers (Anri, Curtis, Gaius, Lodé, Lukas, Matthew, Parthiv and Yoonwoo), supported by two drummers (James and Thalia). What makes this group unique is that their journey began in the classroom. Through learning Mandarin, they developed a genuine appreciation for Chinese culture, and seven of the eight dancers have continued their studies through to IGCSE level.

Representing five countries (Australia, Hong Kong, India, Korea and South Africa) within a student body of nearly 50 nationalities, these students are a wonderful example of how language learning can build cultural understanding. Brought together by their passion for Mandarin, they have performed at numerous school events, including the annual CNY celebration and International Food Fair, and they have shown remarkable dedication in designing and perfecting their routines.

While every student at DBIS has the opportunity to learn languages and engage with Chinese culture, these students have distinguished themselves by embracing lion dance, a tradition that demands athleticism, discipline and teamwork. Let’s hear what they have to say.

Matthew, who was born in America and spent his formative years there, speaks up first. “I wasn’t close to my culture when my parents moved back to Hong Kong… Lion dancing introduced me to a new side of my culture, and helped me to explore it.”

Next Lodé chimes in, explaining that she picked up Mandarin “because the characters are so beautiful, and because when you learn Chinese, you learn about the culture”. For Par thiv, the driver was more about connecting with the people around him. “My friends are locals, and they speak Mandarin. So just trying to learn how they speak was my main goal. But what really made me choose Mandar in over the other languages is that every time we were learning about a specific story or characters, Miss Mi would bring in the origin story behind it.”

Myra Mi, their Mandarin teacher and DBIS’ Head of Chinese and Modern Foreign Languages, reintroduced lion dancing to her classroom af ter the pandemic to encourage interest in Chinese culture. She began by teaching herself the choreography and passing that knowledge to her students.

Anri explains, “We had that experience of choreography from previous years. It was a lot of research into seeing what other people do, mostly on YouTube, how playful the lion has to be and how it has to move.”

Preparation was intense, and the physical demands quickly became apparent. Lodé describes the strain of performing in costume: “It’s really heavy, but after a month or two, when you pick it up, it’s light. Our performance was 10 minutes long, so keeping the heavy head up then bending down for that large amount of time, it’s difficult. And it’s hot, like a sauna.”

For Lukas, one of the biggest challenges was staying in sync. “Since you can’t see anything, you’ve got to be aware of what the next step is; you’ve got to follow the steps of the person in front. Holding that position is really, really painful; my lower back was stretched, really stretched.”

Gaius points to another layer of difficulty, and the subsequent admiration he has developed for professional lion dancers. “This year, the playfight was really beautiful. When you get pushed, you have to roll as a whole lion, and that’s really hard to do, especially in a big costume. The more you do lion dances, the more you respect the people that actually perform every year.”

Reflecting on the experience’s broader significance, Thalia says, “There aren’t many opportunities to do something like this, to have the equipment, the time, the chance to perform. It’s a chance to try things out, engage with the culture, and also strengthen our relationship with our cul tural ident i ty. Because we’re graduating this year, it was our last chance to do something like this. We decided to go for it, do the best we can, and hand it over so that next year, hopefully, they can top it or build on it.”

Curtis concurs, “I’m really glad that I decided to participate. It was meaningful, interesting to learn the dances, and I found it quite fun as well.”

“It’s just an amazing feeling,” Anri finishes. “When you’re in the light, and you start hearing the drums, and then your heart is also like yeah, yeah, yeah, going really fast. The excitement. It’s just amazing.”