Hundreds Celebrate Lunar New Year with Pao Arts Center
Boston, MA - On Sunday, January 29, nearly 600 people joined us at Pao Arts Center for a day of festive interactive cultural activities, experimental theater, and artist conversations to welcome the Year of the Rabbit.
Photo Credit: Kelly Chan for The Scope: Boston
Throughout the early afternoon, visitors of all ages, including families and friend groups, joined lively performance and crafts activities led by our volunteers and event partners. Visitors made paper lanterns with Pao Arts Center’s Youth Assistants. Volunteers and staff from the Korean Cultural Society of Boston taught guests about Korean calligraphy and the Korean tradition of making Dasik cookies, a crumbly tea cake eaten during Lunar New Year celebrations. Visitors had a chance to experience using Dasik molds to make beautiful impressions on colorful playdough. Volunteers from the Harvard Asian American Brotherhood helped young visitors transform paper into different varieties of rabbit-puppets. Artist Lily Xie led a classroom of participants making their own customized red envelopes, traditionally used in Chinese celebrations of Lunar New Year to gift New Year money or other lucky treats.
Nüwa Athletic Club returned to Pao Arts Center’s Lunar New Year Celebration for in-person lion dance workshops where children, ages 5-12, learned about the history of lion dancing and practiced lion dance moves with actual lion head costumes.
“The environment was great and the people working here are very friendly. My kids really enjoyed these activities and the people who helped them do the activities were very patient. We had a very positive experience!”
“I made the folding lantern and then I made the red envelope and those were very fun activities for me. Trying to use my hands and be crafty – that was fun!”
Following the performance and craft activities, Pao Arts Center quickly transitioned to our late afternoon event, welcoming the New Year with renowned experimental theater artist, Wang Chong, who had just flown in from China to launch a new show at ArtsEmerson called, MADE IN CHINA 2.0. Audiences were introduced to Wang Chong’s comedic and boundary-pushing style through a screening of his work, KISS KISS BANG BANG 2.0. Afterwards, Wang Chong was joined by Boston-based theater artist and actor, Lydia Jialu Li, for a discussion about his upcoming show, MADE IN CHINA 2.0, and the practice of transnational, cross-cultural artmaking, moderated by Alison Qu of CHUANG Stage. Audience members joined the conversation with questions and the evening ended with a collective reflection on the power of humor and live performance, and the challenging road ahead for the recovery of the theater industry since the start of the pandemic.
Photo Credit: Pao Arts Center Staff
Thank you to everyone who attended our Lunar New Year festivities celebrating cultural traditions, artmaking, and artistic innovation. We cannot wait to see you all again next year!
The day was made possible with the assistance of all our amazing volunteers, partners, and partnering organizations: ArtsEmerson, CHUANG Stage, Korean Cultural Society of Boston, Nüwa Athletic Club, Lily Xie, and Harvard Asian American Brotherhood. Thank you to our sponsoring partner, Families with Children from China New England (FCCNE).
Thank you to local press for helping to spread the word about this year’s celebrations!
Boston.com - “5 ways to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Boston,” Natalie Gale
Boston Globe - “How to celebrate Lunar New Year in and around Boston,” Abigail Lee
GBH News - “'Reunion, renewal and celebration:' Boston's Chinatown gears up for Lunar New Year festivities,” Jeremy Siegel
The Scope: Boston - “Boston celebrates Lunar New Year with annual Chinatown lion dance parade,” Kelly Chan and Sophia Paffenroth