Towards a relational model of traditionBulicic Auspont, Tamara (Avtor) Chinese performancelion danceChinesenesstraditionLatin AmericaThis article examines how Chinese lion dance is learned, embodied, and authenticat­ed in Santiago, Chile, where it is practiced entirely by non-Chinese performers outside frameworks of ethnic inheritance or diasporic continuity. Drawing on ethnographic field­work, I explore how tradition emerges through embodied apprenticeship, transnational affiliations, and affective kinships that reconfigure Chineseness as a negotiated, proces­sual phenomenon. Situated within Latin America’s histories of race, nation-building, and imported Orientalism, the Chilean case reveals how Chineseness is constructed through the embodied and sonic acts that locally materialize a culturally recognizable “Chinese” world. By centring Latin America as both site and analytical vantage point, this article contributes to broader discussions in Chinese performance studies and Asian humanities from the South, challenging paradigms that tether authenticity to diasporic continuity. Ultimately, this study invites reconsideration of where the boundaries of ethnic perfor­mance lie, underscoring how lion dance in Santiago becomes a site where Chineseness is affectively inhabited, socially recognized, and collaboratively reimagined beyond dias­poric or essentialist frames.20262026-10-29 15:38:31Članek v reviji190564sl