On Sunday, January 29, a culturally-diversified audience filled the theater at High School North at Plainsboro Chinese School’s annual Chinese New Year’s Show. Many men, women, and children were dressed in colorful Chinese silk and Chinese was the spoken language of the day.##M:[more]##
Emcees Margaret Liu, Jasmine Liu, and Yingchao Zhang introduced the 15 production numbers in Chinese followed by an English translation. The opening numbers featured the Princeton Chinese School Waist Drum Corps instructed by Lisa Ying and Yognhua Wang, the children’s second and third dance classes, and teens, instructed by Duanli Yan and Victoria Song.
Singing numbers included “Barn Swallow’ and “A Girl Born to be a Singer” by soprano Rose Huang accompanied by Chiyum Lee on piano; “Flying Girl,” a pop number by Yunli Chen; “Phoenix and Dragon” (Beijing opera) by Jack Ding accompanied by Dexian Lu on Beijing two strings; and “Let’s Row the Boat” and “Unforgettable Night” by the Joyful Heart Singers Club instructed by Winnie Koo and accompanied by the Stone Age Band.
Dances included “Happy Shepherdess” and “Tibetan Sky” performed by PCS Dance Troupe instructed by Dongli Li; “My Beautiful Hometown” by Dongli Li; “Put on a Piece of Red Yarn,” a modern ballet dance by Victoria Song instructed by Qing Yang; and “Little Tiny Droplets” performed by Last Year’s Children’s Dance Class instructed by Mei Li. Also, Dai Girls Under the Moon” performed by Lisa Chen, Xinyu Han, Victoria Song, and Chicong Wang, instructed by Qing Yang; and White Little Boots” performed by Children’s first Dance Class instructed by Jing Gao.
The Guzheng Ensemble presented “Night on the Steppe” and “By the Butterfly Spring” performed by Carmen Chan, Amy Han, Hannah Jin, Celina Shang, and Sarah Tang. Their instructor is Yang Yi. “Moon for Love” was performed by the one-man band featuring Yingchao Zhang. Shaolin Liu presented a two-stringed Chinese violin solo, “Nocturnal Peace.”
Producers of the event include Yingchao Zhang, Jenny Wan, and Shaolin Liu. Stage managers were Jenny Wan and Tao Li. Decorations were by Liz Jia, Bixin Zheng, and Limin Song. The programs and tickets were designed by Liz Jia, Mark Wang, Bess Li, and Tao Li.
The fully-staged performances were featured with lighting, colorful costumes, Chinese lettering on the back stage curtains, and the presence of four lanterns over the stage. Invited guests included Assemblyman Bill Baroni, Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu, Plainsboro Deputy Mayor Neil Lewis, West Windsor Council Members Linda Geevers and Heidi Kleinman, and WW-P School Board President Hemant Marathe. Also present were Plainsboro Library Director Jinny Baeckler and Plainsboro Recreation Director Joanne Lupica.
On Friday, February 3, at 7:30 p.m. the 15th China Night will be held at High School South. The celebration features Chinese food, Chinese culture, and student performances.
On Saturday, February 11, at 3 p.m. the celebration continues at Plainsboro Public Library. Participants include the Plainsboro Chinese School
