With the abrupt strike of echoing drums in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium, an evening of bold colors, movement and music for a celebration of the Lunar New Year began. Although the Chinese New Year officially begins Feb. 18, Brandeis Chinese Cultural Connections and the Brandeis Asian American Student Association celebrated the Year of the Pig a few weeks early in order to avoid scheduling conflicts.

The show featured a variety of acts to present, teach and fuse elements of Chinese and Chinese-American traditions and culture. The celebration opened with a crowd favorite: In the traditional Lion dance, two orange and pink beasts prowled through the audience, flirtatiously cocking their heads and batting huge, glittery eyelids. On stage, they bobbed up and down like curious prairie dogs, shook their heads restlessly and finally stood on hind legs at the impressive height of each lion's two puppeteers standing on top of each other. The Lion Dance is performed during New Year celebrations to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck and happiness for the coming year.

After the exciting displays of the Lion Dance, a series of Chinese superstition skits written by Gek Puay Teo '09 and Jennifer Lin '09 educated the audience on traditional practices like wearing red for good luck and fending off evil spirits; how "actions on the New Year endure throughout the year"; and the story of Nian, a man-eating beast who preyed on New Year's Eve but is warded off by loud noises like fireworks and the color red.

Between skits, a few musical and dance acts fused the ancient culture with modern trends. For instance, members of a Brandeis Chinese class sang "Dui Mian De Nu Hai Kan Guo Loi," a popular song by the Taiwanese actor and singer Richie Jen, with simple, sing-along choreography by Justin Becker '09, while Serena Gober '07 choreographed a dance fusing hip hop, techno and traditional Chinese song. Stephanie Chou '10 and Julia Lien '10 also sang a sweet duet on the slow pop ballad celebrating friendship, "Ru Guo De Shi," and a traditional Chinese fashion show presented bright silk-clad Brandeis students, while audience members lined up for a dinner of rice, lo mein, spicy chicken or tofu and fortune cookies.

Besides featuring members of the Brandeis community, the event included performances by the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association, the Shaolin Hung Gar Martial Arts Academy and the Tufts Dance Troupe CSA as well as pastries and bubble tea sold by vendors from Boston's Chinatown. The Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association performed "Yo-Yo Acrobatics," in which young performers caught and released colorful spools floating and spinning in the air, often in multiple synchronization, swooped around bodies and between legs, and created a street-fair atmosphere. The Tufts Dance Troupe performed a short, traditional dance with sharp movements as their shiny pink, black and gold flowing skirts painted a background for their music.