The Asian Students Association hosted the annual Lunar New Year celebration in Page Auditorium Saturday. The event featured performances by numerous dance groups to commemorate the Year of the Snake. The Chronicle spoke with students who attended about their thoughts on the performances.
“There was a really good variety of acts compared to previous years, such as the incorporation of spoken word and the step performances.”
—senior Elizabeth Jazwiecki
“I really liked how Momentum integrated different dance styles.”
—freshman Meghan Gloudemans
“I was impressed by every single act, everything was way more than what I’ve seen. I’m a senior—I’ve seen most of these groups before, and they just continue to impress me. For instance, the swing performance, they were able to add in an Asian element. Duke Chinese Dance was one of the best. I really liked the Korean thing, the drums were perfect. I couldn’t believe they had memorized the whole thing. The MCs were hot and funny as well.”
—senior Christopher Veto
“It’s actually my first time going to a full LNY. The MCs are pretty hilarious—they’re a good combination of singing, videos and dancing. It’s a good mix.”
—senior Andy Ni
“My roommate Christie is actually one of the MCs and, since I’m her roommate, I knew that Pokemon would have something to do with it since there have been Pokemon posters and cardboard cutouts in our room for a while. Only now do I understand what they were for.”
—sophomore Gihani Dissanayake
“I wish I had come all four years. I thought that the choreography for the Duke Chinese Dance absolutely blew me away. I’ve been to a number of these dance shows, and this was particularly was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen as far as choreography.”
— senior Luke Keohane
“It was awesome. I enjoyed the K-Pop dance and the singing as well. I liked the fashion show, and how it kind of showed different aspects of Asian culture and different countries around Asia. I think it was a pretty precise [representation of Asian culture]—not a distortion or misrepresentation.”
—freshman Judith Leng
“I really liked the fashion show—it was innovative. The entire show was really creative, and it mirrored what the Duke Asian community is aiming to achieve. I felt like it was a good representation of the community.”
—Annie Chen, Trinity ’12
“I was really excited to come and watch because I’m part of Duke Chinese Dance. I really liked how there’s a whole bunch of different cultural groups.”
—sophomore Chandra Swanson
“I heard a lot of good things about it and it definitely fulfilled my expectations. I know a lot of people who are performing in it, and it was a nice culmination of their efforts.”
—freshman Anna Torre
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