Fairbanks Welcomes the Year of the Dragon!
By Nóra McIntyre
On Saturday, February 10th, the UAF community celebrated the Chinese New Year and ushered in the Year of the Dragon.
Winter has spent the last few months painting Fairbanks in pale blues and pinks during the day, and indigo and black at night, save for the vibrant green auroras. Upon entering the Wood Center on the evening of February 10th, I was met with a shock of red. It was easy to locate the Lunar New Year festivities. All I had to do was follow the sound of laughter and the stream of people dressed in various vivid shades of red heading into the Wood Center Ballroom.
The first part of the evening consisted of a wonderful buffet of food from Bamboo Panda, a local restaurant in Fairbanks, as well as great conversation. The ballroom, which was positively transformed with festive decorations, filled up quickly with people of all ages. We were seated at long communal tables, which facilitated many new connections.
I took the chance to ask around and find out what the dragon represents and what people were hoping for in the Year of the Dragon. As one of the event hosts explained, the dragon is smart and charismatic and is representative of wisdom, power, courage, and hope. My seatmates expressed New Year’s hopes for wellbeing, inner peace, positive energy, and longer days. (At least one of those wishes is already coming true, though slowly).
Several stage performances followed the buffet, including various dance and vocal performances, a Tai chi demonstration, a clothing pageant, and a violin solo. The first dance, which was performed entirely by children, could not be cuter. Congrats to those talented children! Many more dances performed by adults ranged from fun and exuberant Chinese hip hop, to graceful and elegant performances, to those that featured expert coordination. It was truly impressive to witness all the outfit changes as well as the changes to mood and energy as the night flowed on. It is also always fulfilling to see both the performers and the audience having fun.
Speaking of outfit changes– the clothing pageant was a wonderful demonstration of many different styles of Chinese clothing for men and women, and also represented multiple time periods. Each contestant in the pageant got the chance to show off their looks and were met with thunderous support from the audience. I am a fashion lover and this night was certainly a great night for witnessing dazzling fashion.
One other particular standout from the evening was the solo violin performance by Yue Sun, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Music at UAF and the Director of the Northern Lights String Orchestra here in Fairbanks. Before the performance, Yue explained that the piece was about a goose’s journey leaving and then flying back home, and that for her it captured the feeling of being far from home.
Photos by Autumn McPherson
The performance itself was extremely powerful and captivating. The song was somehow both forlorn and uplifting, and the performer, a wildly talented violinist, played with an intense passion and emotion. Luckily for those who missed this wonderful performance, Yue Sun will be featured again in a performance with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra on March 24th.
Throughout the evening it became clear just how much time, effort, and organization went into this event. Special thanks go out to members of the Chinese Language and Culture Club and their advisor, Rosalind Kan. The result of these efforts was so many smiles around the room from students, community members, and families who gathered together in celebration of the Year of the Dragon.
I walked home from the festivities with a smile of my own to find that the aurora was out in full and shaped mysteriously like a dragon. I like to believe that bodes well for the coming year.