Traditional Chinese theater and dance performances highlighted the well-attended China Night, a cultural extravaganza that took place on Saturday night.
Produced by the Chinese Students’ Association (CSA), China Night combined ancient Asian traditions with modern pop culture through a variety of performances onstage in Bailey Hall.
According to the show’s producer Juliana Au ’04, China Night is the organization’s biggest event of the year.
“We try to make it a really professional show,” she said. “With this year’s theme, ‘Kaleidoscope,’ we were celebrating the diversity within our community.”
The show featured a play, “An American Me,” written and directed by Jonathan Wang ’02 and performed by CSA members. The actors examined issues ranging from interracial marriages to questions of ethnic identity.
“I thought that the night was a success,” said Christine Hum ’04, one of the lead actresses. “We really got a positive response from the audience about the cultural issues that we portrayed in our play.”
Other performances included a lightshow with glostix, a fashion show featuring both traditional Chinese garments and modern attire, martial arts, Chinese yo-yo, acapella singing, and hip hop and breakdancing. A “peacock dance,” originally performed by the Dai people of southern China, added to the show’s ethnic flavor.
“I think there was a good balance of Chinese culture and modern entertainment,” Joanna Chu ’04, one of the hip hop performers, said. “The traditional dance was just very authentic.”
Founded in 1904, the CSA is a non-profit organization created to encourage Asian students to share their common heritage. All profits from China Night are used to produce the next year’s edition of the show.
According to Yet He ’02, president of CSA, the organization is always seeking new members.
“It’s become one of the largest student organizations on campus,” he said. “We welcome anyone interested in learning about Chinese culture.”
Archived article by Meghan Barr