The Davis community was over the moon for the celebration’s talented musicians, choreographed performers and Dragon Dancers
By MATTHEW MCELDOWNEY — city@theaggie.org
On Jan. 18, Mary L. Stephens Library hosted an array of craft workshops and Lunar New Year-themed performances for their early Year of the Snake celebration. Community members, including faculty from UC Davis, participated in and performed at this event.
This Lunar New Year celebration was packed with Davis families enthusiastic to share and participate in the dances, musical ensembles and crafts inherent to the diverse cultures that celebrate this holiday.
The event began with a musical performance of “Happy Chinese New Year,” “Clementine” and “Spring Carols” from a very young and gifted ensemble of violinists, cellists, flautists and harpists. Shortly after, the Mira Loma Chinese Club’s Performing Arts Team took stage as vibrant red and gold dragons and lions. True to this famous Lunar New Year tradition, they danced in rhythm and melodically banged their drums.
In addition, Mary L. Stephens Library invited choreographed dancers to perform a variety of traditional and modern Chinese dances. Modern Persian fusion dancers also performed more traditional folk dances, such as the Dai Peacock Dance.
Hualing Wan, a Yolo County catalog librarian who helped organize the event, emphasized the importance of expressing the diversity of the Lunar New Year.
“In the past, we have invited Davis High School students from the Korean Culture Club, [also] Vietnam and even Brunei,” Wan said.
Through inviting a diverse group of guest performers and representing a wide range of cultures in their Lunar New Year reading list, Wan hopes they can best capture the spirit of this holiday — a spirit that reflects the many different backgrounds and identities that celebrate it.
One such performer was Dr. Jiahui Wei, an associate professor of chemistry at UC Davis. In Wei’s performance, she played the guzheng, a type of plucked zither with an illustrious history in Chinese culture — an instrument that Wei has practiced for around 25 years. Wei has previously performed at similar events at the library, and she also makes other public appearances as recorded on her YouTube channel, 南南田田. In these performances, Wei describes the work that goes into playing a variety of instruments in her elaborate hanfu dress and preparing the traditional Chinese makeup prior to these performances.
While Wei only showcased her guzheng and pipa, a traditional Chinese plucked instrument, for the library that day, she has performed with up to six instruments in the past, sharing her diverse skill set as well as the enduring musical and artistic traditions she expresses to this day.
For Wei, whether it be to educate or enjoy, her passion for these Chinese traditions is an integral part of her identity. Wei explained that she incorporates this passion through a combination of artistic expression and teaching at UC Davis. For instance, she chooses color-coded modern hanfu to help students find corresponding online lectures more easily.
“It’s part of the reason I teach at UC Davis and even at community colleges,” Wei said. “I want to see [and meet] the people that I would have never had the chance to be around when I grew up in China.”
In this way, Wei’s passion for intercultural exchange goes hand in hand with her educational commitment to the community. It is this sense of community that lies at the very heart of this holiday.
“In most of China, it’s the time for all of your family to come back [together],” Wei said.
For Kacey Chan, a fourth-year history major, the significance of the Lunar New Year holiday celebration in Davis is dearly felt.
“In terms of Davis, it is really good because we are ultimately in the [United States], and the Chinese are a group of diaspora in the U.S.,” Chan said. “So, it is good to provide that space for them to celebrate and find other Chinese families, especially if they do not know anybody near them.”
This combination of cultural education and community is reinforced through the traditions preserved and passed down from generation to generation. Chan recalls the childhood memories of lion dancers going from apartment to apartment to throw vegetables for the families to collect. Wei is fond of coming with her friends to make handmade hairpins resembling flowers. At the Mary L. Stephens Library, families learned how to draw snakes, write calligraphy and paint lanterns.
“It is the same kind of [activity] as [eating and] doing dishes together,” Wei said. “A good thing about it is you can keep it forever, and after a certain amount of years, you and your friends can look back at the times [you] celebrated.”
Written by: Matthew Mceldowney — city@theaggie.org
