By Amelia Naughten, News Editor
Dragon dance is the traditional Chinese art in which a team of performers collaborate to maneuver a long, jointed dragon puppet in a parade. In ancient China, the dragon dance was created as a means to worship ancestors and pray for rainfall, but in modern times the dragon dance has become a popular festival entertainment representing ushering in good fortune for the community.
In 1995, Mr. Phillips, our former international relations teacher, advocated for a cultural day to be formed. Eventually, interested parents introduced the idea of a dragon dance team at Mills, and the Mills Dragon Dance team was born.
The 101 foot dragon that members of the Mills Dragon Team used to parade with was crafted entirely by Mills students. At the height of the team, they performed in the San Francisco Chinese New Year parade and the Millbrae Lunar New Year festival in 2009, traversing a 1.3 mile route. The team carried on for the following 25 years, in which they eventually went on to make a name for themselves, taking home 1st and 2nd places in the SF Lunar New Year Parade. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, the team was forced to disband, and members who previously led the team had graduated Mills.
It wasn’t until just this year that the club was revived again. Club president David Huang (12) recounted, “While I focused on other clubs, the Mills Dragon Team was something that I remembered as being an iconic part of Mills High School, something that demonstrated the culture and spirit of Mills High School.”
In the summer of 2023, Huang along with co-captains David Meng (12) and Jun Lu (12) set a goal of trying to bring back the team. They branched out to alumni and other teachers such as Mr. Phillips, their advisor Ms. Chong, and Ms. Donohoe to receive advice and support in rekindling the club. In fact, when Ms. Donohoe was a senior at Mills, she herself took part in the team’s SF Lunar New Year Parade.
Although planning of the club’s reinstallment took more time than anticipated, resulting in them missing the club fair, they found ways to pick up the slack.
“We brought in board members and found ourselves trying our best to publicize and get the club up and running,” Huang stated. With the help of passionate others, the team quickly set up an Instagram account (@mhs.dragon) to begin spreading the word. They held their first general meeting on October 13th during lunch in Ms. Chong’s room 144, and following that on November 2, members brought out the dragon head to showcase to the incoming freshmen for 8th grade night.
One of the avid board members that joined Huang’s campaign was Celena Yu (10). Yu joined the club because she was looking for new opportunities to become involved in the Mills community. Yu also remembers, “I grew up watching Lunar New Year parades, festivals, events and was in awe every time the beautiful traditional dance came on my TV.”
From a young age, Yu saw the beauty in cultural traditions like the dragon dance, and today she recognizes the importance of sharing this practice with the Mills community: “We are a historical club with deep roots in Millbrae; there’s no other club like ours on campus and we are so excited to have the opportunity to revive it.”
Despite being the first year back, the Mills Dragon Team plans to participate in local festivals and community events. Members can also look forward to practices during the weekends in preparation for these events, as well as for team bonding.
As a last remark, the team sends out a warm invitation to any interested students, especially underclassmen and freshmen, to join the team. Huang extended, “We would love for students to help carry on this important legacy of Mills High School, something that for many parents–and future parents–watching their TV screens will look up at Mills for and recognize what Mills is.”
