SASKATOON – One month into 2016 and there’s no need to stop celebrating just yet. Chinese New Year is set to commence on Monday, Feb. 8 with parties, traditional dances, food and fire crackers to ring in the Year of the Monkey.
In Saskatoon, dancers have been preparing for weeks for the celebration ahead by rehearsing for hours on end at the Jaspar Academy of Dance. Their moves are flawless and synchronized as they move swiftly in beautiful, bright costumes.
“It’s really a celebration, it’s also called spring festival in China and it’s really the celebration of spring or the new year,” said Gwen Miller, a New Year celebrant who started after adopting a daughter from China nearly 14 years ago.
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Typically festivities begin on New Year’s Eve so from Sunday through to the fifteenth day of the new year literally millions of people around the world will celebrate ushering in the ninth animal of 12 in the Chinese zodiac.
Customs and traditions vary widely depending on what part of China you or your family are from including traditional types of dance performed by the artists.
“China has 56 ethnic minority groups so each group has their own special kind of dance,” says Jia Yan through the use of a translator. Professionally trained in dance, Yan has been instructing students for three decades in both China and Canada.
The dragon dance perhaps the most recognizable, incorporates some martial arts said Yan, and is more commonly performed in northern China.
The colourful Chinese dragon is considered a symbol of power and strength as it’s moved about by a team of dancers. It’s also believed the longer the dragon used for the dance, the more luck it will bring to the community.
“Dancing is very special because it has music, it has colourful costumes and it has actions and movements that can bring extraordinary effect,” said Yan.
Celebrating more than 4,000 years of rich history, the Chinese New Year is also a reason to go red.
“The red colour is our favourite, it means luck and happiness and prosperity,” said Yan Wu as she showcases red lanterns, Chinese paper cut art and red envelopes traditionally given to children with money inside for good luck.
Centuries-old Chinese tradition shows a good start to the year is believed to lead to more good luck. Perhaps more importantly though, the celebration is a time for families to get together and in many case reconnect to their roots.
“People describe Canada as a mosaic, so each culture they encourage each culture to keep their traditions,” said Yune Tu, who has lived in Canada for more than a decade and officially became a citizen last year.
Tu says in the past while she may have taken Chinese traditions for granted while living there, she is proud to share her culture with anyone who is not familiar with Chinese New Year.
“Chinese people are very warm and very friendly, we welcome anyone who wants to participate.”
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