Several generations of Brooklyns Chinese-American community filled New Utrecht High Schools auditorium on Sunday, March 4, for an afternoon of singing, dancing, musical performances, puppet shows and Cantonese opera from both traditional Chinese culture and Broadway.
The 10th annual Lunar New Year Celebration, hosted by State Senator Marty Golden and the Chinese American Partnership, capped a month of festivities celebrating the start of Year of the Dragon and the year 4710, according to the Chinese calendar.
Performers from P.S. 105, the Fiona Music Studio, Master Jack Zhangs school of martial arts, the Sea Swallow Dance Group, Homecrest Community Service Center, and the Art Plaza Dance Studio, took the stage. Students from New Utrecht H.S. performed a traditional lion dance and youth from the Wang Dai Chung Puppet Show kept a traditional Chinese art form alive through their English-translation interpretation of a chapter from the classic folktale, Journey to the West.
Between heaping praise on all of the groups present, Golden also told residents that he will continue to push for Lunar New Year to be recognized as a state holiday deserving of a day off from school.