The Chinese New Year with CASA

Graphic by Isabella Hang

Welcoming the year of the Dragon with joy and prosperity; the Chinese American Student Association presents Fiery Fortunes, a Chinese New Year Celebration! 

The Chinese New Year is a 15 day celebration to welcome in the New Year. The CASA celebration of this special holiday combines traditional aspects of the holiday and contemporary cultural performances. Between the skits, dancing, and singing, there’s something for everyone. 

Throughout the show there were segments including amazing dances performed by CMotion Modern that were choreographed by Yeemeng Yang and Fei Dokter, the Fashion show organized by CASA’s EVP, Sandy Chen, and all the volunteers who made this show possible. And of course, the food from Lao Sze Chuan also made a very appreciated appearance .  

It was really amazing seeing the performers celebrate their culture!

All of the performers did a fantastic job and the execution of the festival was really amazing. From the hip-hop style modern dances to the classic lion dance, the celebration was an amazing showcase of people from various backgrounds coming together to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

After the festivities, we interviewed some of the performers and CASA board members to hear their insights on the performances and Chinese New Year.

Golden: Are there any specific moments during the performance that you found particularly memorable or special?

Ruby Karason: Um, for me, honestly, probably the skit because it brought me closer together with my friends. And it was fun to just collaborate on stage with my friends just to like make a fun, comedic performance to celebrate the New Year and engage the audience into learning something about our culture, even though it was a made up story, but it still has elements of traditions and such

Golden: What's your favorite Chinese news year's tradition?

Charlie: Yummy food? 

Adella: Oh absolutely. I love just like the thing of communal food, eating together. I feel like it's such a bonding thing. I love seeing all the aunties bring their own dishes.

Golden: What advice would you give people who want to get more involved in Chinese New Year celebrations next year?

Amina Razzaque: Yeah, I mean we have committees that were planning out a planning committee so they met up starting a few months ago. So we have logistics finance, creative decorating, basically any part that you see you like from the skit, to what was on stage, to all the decorations we do have you just fill out a Google form and then we'll place you within the committee's, within your top two committees usually, and you can be a part of the planning process.

Adella: ​​Definitely volunteer. You don't have to be Chinese to be a part of any of this. You know, like run a booth or you can learn a dance; there's a lot of different things that can appeal to whatever strengths or interests you have, and I feel like the community that you find will be well worth it.

Golden: What role do you believe the arts and performances play in preserving and promoting Chinese cultural heritage, particularly during events like Chinese New Year?

Ruby Karason: Yeah, so honestly, Chinese New Year events have been a part of my life since I was very young. I used to go to the Mall of America like annually, every single year, I was a part of the show at Mall of America. So being a part of this performance at the university, honestly it gives me hope that my culture is still in existence and people still want to celebrate it and learn about it. So it just fills me with a lot of hope honestly.

CASA Board member: Okay, yeah, so a lot of the traditional dances that were choreographed by our own students here like, I feel like they did a really good job with the fans and like the parasols. I feel like they did a really good job with preserving the tradition. And then like we had our EVP Sandy Chen, she did a really good job with the fashion show, which does a good job of exhibiting, like the traditional fashion that is typically worn.

Golden: Are there any special foods or dishes that are a must-have for your Chinese New Year celebration? 

Amina Razzaque: So my mom really likes buying pears because the Chinese name is lí. And so when you eat it by yourself and you don't share it, there's another Chinese word in the that similar sounding one, which means to part so if you eat it by yourself, that means you're not parting with anyone. So you eat lí (pear) so you won't Líkāi (leave)”

Owen: Oh, definitely have rice in there. Rice is a big factor in any Chinese dish. And aside from that, probably an abundance of vegetables, food, and fish, especially.