LBCC Celebrates the Lunar New Year with a Dragon Dance

The celebration of the lunar new year on Feb. 13 on LBCC’s Albany campus offered a beautiful red and gold 8-foot-tall, 15-foot-long Chinese dragon carried by volunteers, coordinated by Adriana Villegas

Dating back to 180-230 AD of the Han Dynasty, the dragon dance, like the lion dance, is put on to show great respect towards the dragon, which is regarded as a sacred creature.  Symbolizing power, courage, righteousness and dignity, this dance welcomes the start of the lunar New Year and the end of the old year, driving away all evil spirits, bringing good luck and good fortune for the people.

This dance is done by many cultures since 180 AD.  “Basically, dragon dance to Buddha celebrating the Year of the Snake for The Lunar New Year,” stated Adriana Villegas, who coordinated the Dragon Dance here at LBCC. Stephanie Nguyen, a Vietnamese student here, said the dragon dance is done “to give health, wealth and luck for the New Year.”

Nguyen gave a talk at the DAC about the Vietnamese Lunar New Year and how “whatever you do in the beginning of the year will influence your whole year.”  Things such as lotus seeds for a houseful of children, squash for good health and development, tea given to the elderly to thank them for their children, and oriental candy for sweetness can influence the year. She brought some of her familial candy to the DAC to share and educate students about her culture.

One of the most interesting customs she mentioned is the choosing of five fruits – apple, fig, coconut, papaya, and mango – because this odd number of fruit represents well-developed symbol of living based on wealth. The seeds inside represent the stars in the sky and the fruit themselves represent the universe, which contain the stars and the whole meaning is the endless reproduction of life, according to Nguyen.

To see photos of the dragon on campus, with photos taken by Elnora Palmtag, go to:

http://www.flickr.com//photos/lbcommuter/sets/72157632808475884/show/