Ringing in the New Year
Annual celebration welcomes in year of the boar with culture, entertainment
Monica Ly, staff writer
Feb. 22, 2007

Photo by Joe Nguyen Jenny Chen performs the pipa, a traditional Chinese four-stringed instrument, Feb. 17 at the 2007 Chinese New Year Celebration at Abraham Lincoln High School.

Red represents power and happiness, and gold symbolizes wealth and good fortune. These two colors become popular around this time of year, especially for those celebrating the Chinese New Year.

At the 2007 Colorado Asian Pacific Spring Festival Chinese New Year Celebration Feb. 17 at Abraham Lincoln High School, even the programs were decked in red and gold. To ring in the year of the boar, the Denver Chinese School hosted the celebration and provided an array of food, cultural booths and stage performances for its guests.

Even those not belonging to Chinese heritage turned up for the festivities. Lily Shen, busy arranging the entertainment, said, “We actually organized the RTD to take 300 seniors to and from the event.”

In her fourth year as chair for the celebration, Shen said, “There are over 20 Asian Pacific organizations sponsoring this event because there is a growing Asian Pacific community.”

In addition to informative booths, there were traditional clothing, icons, accessories, and plants available for purchase. Bamboo plants are intended to bring luck, prosperity, wealth and happiness.

“One of mine died, but don’t tell anyone,” attendee Jessica Stransky said.

Halfway through the celebration, people made their way to the auditorium to watch the entertainment. Bursting with uplifting music and extravagant costumes, the show launched off with a high-spirited folk dance.

Photo by Joe Nguyen Academy of Classical Ballet students, Sue Huang and Matthew Helms, perform an excerpt from "Butterfly Lovers," Feb. 17 at the 2007 Chinese New Year Celebration at Abraham Lincoln High School.

Masters of ceremony Kyle Westgard and Carrie Wang took the stage to introduce the performers and converse in Chinese. Catering to their large Chinese audience, they made jokes and comments that created a light-hearted atmosphere.

Four artists from the China Stars Acrobat Company performed astonishing routines ranging from folding in half to fit into a barrel to juggling a glass pot like a soccer ball.

“That was the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen,” attendee Grace Hauman said. “It couldn’t have been fake because we were right there.”

Adults and children alike took their positions on stage to deliver their talents to the audience. Sue Huang and Matthew Helms, students from the Academy of Classical Ballet and the Denver Chinese School, performed a story similar to that of “Romeo and Juliet.” Their graceful movements and longing outreaches to each other captured the essence of the Chinese legend, “Butterfly Lovers” ("Liang-Zhu").

Twelve-year-old Jenny Chen expressed her anxiety after completing her pipa solo on stage.

“Oh, I was so nervous,” she said. “I played here last year too.” The pipa is a plucked Chinese instrument about the size of a guitar with either four or five strings.

Closing the show, children from the Denver Chinese School, accompanied by vocalist Yiping Luo, sang “The Same Song.”

“They were fantastic, I’ve never seen anything like that before,” attendee Charles Loveland said.

Monica Ly is a staff writer for AsiaXpress.com. You can contact Monica via e-mail at Monica.Ly@asiaxpress.com.