Sunday, Feb. 10 signified the Chinese Lunar New Year, celebrating the arrival of spring and a prosperous beginning.
On Saturday night, the Hopkins Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) hosted their annual Spring Festival Show, open to the entire Hopkins community as well as any interested Baltimore locals. Shriver Hall was decked in the traditional red of the New Year, symbolizing good luck and happiness. Chinese lanterns lined the stage and the festive atmosphere was unmistakable.
In addition to the decorations, what also set the night apart from other Hopkins events was the fact that most of it was conducted in Mandarin Chinese. Despite the language barrier, audience members who couldn’t speak Chinese still enjoyed themselves.
The event provided the opportunity for people from multiple generations to come together and celebrate a festive holiday. Grandparents sat in the audience alongside young children who danced along with the music. Many of the audience members present donned traditional Chinese outfits, while many of them also looked like typical Hopkins students.
The program started out with a lion dance performance. Lion dancing is a longstanding Asian tradition dating back to imperial times. It arose out of the legend of the nian, beasts that would rise out of the sea and attack the people of the villages around New Years’ time. These beasts were sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so the villagers beat their drums loudly and lit firecrackers to scare them away.
The tradition continued, and it is honored by the modern practice of two people wearing a nian costume, dancing to the beat of a loud drum. The pounding of the drum is essential to the power conveyed by the performance, and the lion dancers at the show performed exceptionally well. Such movement required acrobatic as well as artistic finesse. The lion dance was performed by the Hopkins Yong Han Lion Dance Troupe.
The Tai Yim Kung Fu School performed a Chinese dragon dance. A group of men carried a long cloth dragon with different segments of its body held up by poles. They moved in synchrony with each other and to the beat of the drum. The red and gold colors of the dragon’s torso swam across the stage, creating ribbons of color. The fluid movement of the dragon’s body simulates the rippling of water, as that is their domain of dominance.
This was followed by an adeptly choreographed Latin-inspired dance routine. A throng of women in bright yellow frocks and men in suits sashayed on stage to “Whenever, Wherever” by Shakira and then to a Chinese song. They then broke out of group dance to partner up, sparking a connection amongst each other that got the audience breaking out into applause.
The night also featured a xiangsheng (or crosstalk) show, which can be best described as an SNL skit in theatrical form. Four people bantered on stage, offering social commentary that got the audience roaring in laughter.
CSSA put on a grand show to welcome in the Chinese New Year that did not disappoint. From awe-striking performances to humorous discourse, the performers offered an entertaining night. Though it was definitely geared towards the Chinese speaking community, anyone with an open mind could enjoy the event. The audience was reminded to walk into the New Year with an appreciation for the festivity in life.
Xin Nian Kuai Le!
