Bringing art to life for Chinese New Year
Traditions to welcome Year of the Dog celebrated with dance and martial arts
A typically quiet Markham library was bustling with music, traditional dancers in vibrant costumes, and agile martial arts students as families celebrated the Chinese New Year on Saturday.
The festivities to welcome the Year of the Dog — the animal zodiac sign influencing the next 12 months, as believed in Chinese culture — were hosted by Milliken Mills Branch library in partnership with Parent-Connect, a not-for-profit initiative created by immigrant parents.
Young children, who were earlier dashing between craft tables and snacking on Chinese rice crackers, turned stock-still when it came time to watch martial arts students perform in the library.
Spectators were spellbound by the athleticism of martial arts students of all ages from the Taishan School of Martial Arts in Richmond Hill, directed by school president and master martial artist August Xu.
The students showed off their skills, soaring off the ground for hands-free cartwheels and high kicks. They also featured movements with weapons and nunchuks, earning nervous but impressed looks from the audience sitting close by.
Aidan Fu, a 7-year-old martial arts student, started learning the hand movements, punches and kicks of martial arts when he was about 5and-a-half years old.
“My favourite part about Chinese New Year is you celebrate . . . and you get money for it too,” he said, referring to the exchange of red and gold envelopes filled with money. These envelopes, called hongbao in Mandarin and lai see in Cantonese, are usually given to children and older adults as a symbol of good luck.
Fu already has plans for what to buy with his money.
“I don’t know, maybe . . . a turtle! Well I can’t, because my mom wouldn’t allow me,” he said, laughing knowingly at his mother nearby.
Other parents with toddlers and young children in tow circled around the different craft stations at the library, creating dog bookmarks, puppets, lanterns and gluing together their own red envelopes.
Elesha Tsui drove in from London, Ont., with her children, Tyler, 7, and Kiyena, 4, who were dressed in traditional Chinese clothing.
Preserving and promoting Chinese culture is also important for Carol Chan, owner of the Carol C Dance Studio in Markham.
“We try to promote it through teaching the younger generation of kids that diversity in Chinese culture,” she said, citing at least 56 different minority groups within the culture.
Her students performed before the crowd at Milliken Mills library. Three young women dressed in bright pink and green outfits swayed to music for a fan and scarf dance, incorporating props traditional of the Chinese countryside into their performance.
“This dance specifically is about celebrating anything really, like celebrating life, happiness, good health, fortune,” said performer Rachel Ma, who began dancing when she was 5.
“It’s really happy, it’s very festive. It’s like how any child would feel around Christmas, this is how we feel.”