Chinese Spring Festival Gala: Review

The first annual Chinese Spring Festival Gala was February 13th, and it featured many amazing performances from more than 20 MacDuffie Chinese students. The gala was held in the Little Theater, and they made great use of the space provided to them.

When audience members entered the theater, they saw beautiful decorations. There were rows of chairs with tables in front of them, to make it seem like a “dinner in a theater” experience. Each guest received a soda, a bag of chips, and some traditional Chinese candy.

The whole room was decorated in red, because red is considered a lucky color in Chinese culture.

Throughout the performances, there were MC’s who told jokes and welcomed all the acts. They were Juniors Camellia Liu, Tira Xia, Whitney Peng, Stephen, and Sophomore Jeffrey Chen. They alternated speaking in English and Mandarin; his way everyone was able to understand them while still being a part of the Chinese culture. Also, this is not a fashion review, but their outfits were absolutely stunning.

Photo by: Alana Ford

The first act was two songs,  “Happy New Year” and “Love”. They were performed in Mandarin by Junior Eve Rui, Sophomore Shilin Wang and Freshman Mengqi Sun. Lyrics were provided in English. They tossed out bags of candy, and encouraged the audience to clap along. This was a nice way to start the show.

Photo by: Alana Ford

Junior Camellia Liu played the Qin. She played a song called”The Three Stanzas of Plum Blossoms,” which was about nature, an important topic in Chinese culture. The whole audience was intently listening to her as she played the instrument expertly.

Photo by: Alana Ford

The next act was Senior Chris Yu beat-boxing. I’m not even sure how it was possible to make those noises with your mouth, but he did it and it was great.

Photo by: Alana Ford

Senior Simon Shi sang a song called “The Cuddle.” He sang so soulfully that it put boy-band singers to shame.

Photo by: Alana Ford

Juniors Angela Tang, Tira Xia, and Daisy Cheng performed a modern dance to “Yes” by Beyoncé. There was a technical issue with the music, but that did not stop them from dancing in sync and ever-so-gracefully.

Photo by: Alana Ford

Junior Allan Wan performed “Notturno in the Fisherboat” on the violin. The show had a mixture of upbeat and slow performances, and this was just another example of the many talented musicians we have at MacDuffie.

Photo by: Daisy Cheng

A number that really wowed the audience was a traditional Chinese folk dance performed by Freshman Ariel Pu. This traditional dance incorporated upbeat music, a traditional folk costume in green and white, and acrobatic moves with a parasol.

Photo By: Daisy Cheng

Sophomore Zandra Yin played a song called “Chasing the Moon” on the piano, which expressed sentiments towards nature.

Photo by: Daisy Cheng

Sophomores Celine Yang and Chessie Li created a comedy sketch about moments at MacDuffie. They spoke in Mandarin while English subtitles were displayed on a projector. They joked about the issues of dorm life, snack time, and other everyday things. The highlight of the performance was when Li complained about having to bang on the door when forgetting your fob into the dorm, and Adele’s Hello started playing in the background. “Hello from the other side.”

Photo by: Daisy Cheng

Senior Bobby Gu sang a famous song called “Boys Don’t Cry” that encourages boys to be manly, because traditional masculinity is an important trait in Chinese culture. He wished everyone to be strong of enough to overcome some of the challenges the new year might bring.

Photo by: Daisy Cheng

Seniors Evelyn Chen, Jeffery Chen, and Stephen Liu, Sophomores Catherine Xiao, Kevin Xiao, and Victor Zhang,  and Junior Walker Tian all performed in a comedy sketch. It was called “Jeffrey’s New Life.” It was about how Jeffrey did his homework for once, and the smartest girl in the class, Evelyn, didn’t and needed to copy his. He eventually realizes he should take the blame for the cheating, and wins the heart of his dream girl. Everybody in the sketch was hysterical. At the end, all the performers surprised Evelyn because it was her birthday. A cake was brought out and everyone sang “Happy Birthday.”

Photo by: Daisy Cheng

A surprise for audience members was the video compilation of many alumni sending their hellos and New Year’s Wishes to everyone.

The evening ended with a song from the PTD Band playing “ The Story of Six Strings”. They were all very talented, and it was a great act to end a fantastic evening.