Booking Policies
Booking Process and Confirmation
Lion Availability
Fees
Performance + Performance Time
Cancellation + Lion Availability Adjustment
Dragon Booking
Other Policies
Please note that the filling and submission of a booking form does not signify a confirmed booking with Cal VSA Lion Dance; a booking will be confirmed if/when Cal VSA Lion Dance directly indicates to the client via email correspondence. Confirmation must be reached at least 5 days in advance of the expected time of performance or the booking will be considered canceled.
Please note that it may take between one and three weeks after the submission of this booking form to reach a confirmation for your event (although we will follow up with estimated availability much sooner than that if we had not already been corresponding). Cal VSA Lion Dance is a student-run and student-composed team, and our main barrier is performer availability - we need to poll our team members to ensure we have enough people for a given performance before we confirm, particularly as it pertains to number of lions (see below).
Per the above note on student performer availability, we are unable to guarantee a certain number of lions per performance. In practice, we usually have three lions and have brought up to eight lions to events - but as a rule we cannot guarantee such.
If you request more lions than we are able to provide at a given time, we’ll let you know that we can’t accommodate that and tell you what number of lions is feasible for the date and time you selected. If you wish to move forward and confirm with as many lions as we’re able to provide, you will of course be able to - otherwise you are obviously free to search elsewhere.
Please see the second paragraph of Cancellation + Lion Availability Adjustment below for our policy on last-second changes in number of available lions due to unforeseen emergency circumstances.
Please submit a booking inquiry for a detailed breakdown of fees. Note that Cal VSA Lion Dance charges by number of lions as well as distance from Berkeley. We offer discounted rates based on your status as an educational organization, non-profit, or community-based group.
A standard performance by Cal VSA Lion Dance consists of solo drumming routines, a choreographed lion routine, and lion interactions with the audience. The lion’s dancing and audience interactions will be accompanied by a drummer and at least one cymbalist. A typical performance is around 12 minutes from start to finish. Depending on the needs of your event, the performance could be adjusted to anywhere from 5-15 minutes. The price of booking entitles you to one performance and a guaranteed 45 minutes on-site from team arrival to team departure.
If you want multiple performances or wish us to stay longer for any reason (extended photos afterwards, mandatory call times before a performance, etc) we are usually able to accommodate this for no extra charge as long as we are notified in advance, but depending on the significance of the increase in performances or time, we may charge more on a case-by-case basis.
If Cal VSA Lion Dance initiates a cancellation for any reason including illness, weather, injury, transportation issues, or scheduling issues, any payment issued up will be refunded in full.
If within 72 hours before the event, unforeseen emergency circumstances cause Cal VSA Lion Dance to be unable to accommodate the number of lions agreed upon when confirming, attempts to reach the point of contact will be made to come to a new agreement. However, if (particularly for a day-of issue) no contact is able to be made and at least one lion, a drummer, and a cymbalist are still available, Cal VSA Lion Dance will arrive as planned. If only one lion less than expected (i.e. 3 were agreed upon, 2 arrived day-of) arrived, the price will be adjusted accordingly for that new number of lions per our fee policy (see above). If any more than one lion less than expected (i.e. 5 were agreed upon, 3 arrived) arrived, the fee will be adjusted to either 50% of the original cost for the originally agreed-upon number of lions OR to the number of lions that arrived per our fee policy, whichever is lower.
Please note that we have never had the issue of a last-second change in number of lions from agreement to arrival arise; this policy is simply meant to accommodate that possibility.
Cal VSA Lion Dance books Dragon Dance on a case-by-case basis. If you are interested in booking dragon dance with us, particularly for the 2024 Year of the Dragon, let us know when you reach out via the form or via email and we’ll follow up individually.
Cal VSA Lion Dance reserves the right to refuse service to any potential client for any reason. Cal VSA Lion Dance reserves the right to record and/or photograph any or all aspects of the performance for internal or promotional use unless an alternate agreement has been specifically made.
Please note that the drumming and cymbal-playing can be very loud, especially in enclosed indoor spaces, and may be distressing for young children or anyone with sensitivity to noise.