Champaign-Urbana celebrates Lunar New Year with vibrant cultural performances

Three people on stage perform a traditional lion dance
The traditional lion dance was performed by the University of Illinois’ Vietnamese Student Association at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts as part of the FusionFest Lunar New Year Celebration on Feb. 2.


URBANA – 
A joyful and well-known Chinese orchestral piece, Spring Festival Suite, opened this year’s FusionFest Lunar New Year Celebration on Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana.

The East-Central Illinois Youth Orchestra took the stage to perform the piece, which included a variety of traditional Chinese instruments.

Celebrating Lunar New Year with performances like these has been a tradition in the University of Illinois community for more than 15 years. This year’s event featured 18 performances from a greater variety of Asian countries than ever before, including China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, with representation from organizations from both the University of Illinois and the local community.

Kevin Kelly, the orchestra’s music director, quoted a well-known Chinese saying: “A whole year’s work depends on a good start in spring.” 

Jimmy He (Yuzhou He), president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said the event is a special day to celebrate the holiday and raise awareness of Asian communities. 

“This is the first time we have such a great platform to invite all different Asian performance groups together, performing, celebrating this tradition together,” He said.

The event provides a great opportunity to build bridges between Asian communities, Asian minorities and the rest of the student body, he said.

Chinese students performed Jasmine Flower (Molihua) with traditional Chinese instruments to present harmony and elegance at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, as part of the FusionFest Lunar New Year Celebration Feb. 2.

The Krannert Center’s Foellinger Great Hall was packed with attendees. Among them was Steve Anderson, who said he came to see his grandchildren, Emma and Alicia, perform “Peach Blossom Smile” — a Chinese dance that represents hope and renewal of life. 

“They’ve been involved in doing dance through the Chinese dance group for several years. So, it’s just gotten bigger this year,” Anderson said. “It’s good to see a lot of development of it, and more people participating.” 

One of Emma’s friends, Kate Mullen, came with her family and said she loved the performance by the University of Illinois’ Competitive Taekwondo Club. 

“The taekwondo people, they were really impressive with kicking and screaming. It was extremely exciting,” Mullen said. 

Kai’ Mere Beard said she came to enjoy her friend’s performance in the orchestra. 

“I think the importance of this event is to introduce different cultures in Asia,” Beard said, “to let other people from different cultures experience Lunar New Year.”

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