We're hosting our Lunar New Year Celebration at Central!
Tentative Schedule:
Mystery room:
2:00pm Bilingual Mandarin Storytime w/ Tianxin (Aries) Wang & Kato
2:30pm Cal Fei Tian Dancers
3:00pm Cal VSA Lion Dancers
3:30pm Leung’s White Crane Lion Dancers
4:00pm SF Guzheng Music Society
Historic lobby next to mystery room:
2-3:30pm Paper lantern and dragon crafts
4:00pm Polymer Clay Food craft w/ Eugenia Yoh
Historic lobby and Fiction reading room:
2-5pm Vendor Fair, featuring Eastwind Books and local authors and artists!
Including: BUPPYDOGS | Charlotte Cheng | Faith Cao | Felicia Liang | Hayley Diep | Mariangela Le Thanh | Mixed Rice Zines | Sherry’s Palette | Slumptown Supply Co. | Steven Yu
About our performers:
Aries Wang is a Mandarin Subject Expert Teacher at BASIS Silicon Valley Lower School. Graduated from Fudan University with a BA in Chinese Language and Literature and received her Master's Degree in TESOL at the University of Rochester. She's been doing Mandarin storytime for kids around the Bay Area since 2018 and has designed and developed many online and offline courses and educational content for Mandarin and English learners of all ages.
Kato is a Mandarin Drama teacher in Bay Area. Graduated from Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She is currently studying in the Early Childhood Education program.
Kato is highly experienced in theatre, voice acting, and drama teaching for elementary kids.
Fei Tian Dancers is the one & only Chinese dance team at UC Berkeley. Established in 2003 as a Registered Student Organization, FTD supports dancers of all backgrounds in developing their Chinese dance skill & technique, enhancing their comprehension of traditional Chinese culture, & in spreading greater awareness of Chinese classical & ethnic cultures to the bigger community. FTD incorporates classical, ethnic, & modern Chinese dances into its repertoire through creating original choreography & learning traditional works, performing on campus & throughout the Bay Area.
Cal VSA Lion Dance, founded in 2012 through the Vietnamese Student Association's Culture Show, is UC Berkeley’s one and only student-run lion dance team. Earnestly serving the local bay area for the past 11 years, they've developed a tight-knit team of students and alumni connected by culture, passion, and comradery. Check them out on Instagram (@calvsaliondance) to see what they’ve been up to!
Leung's White Crane Lion & Dragon Dance School which gives instruction in the White Crane style of the martial arts was founded by the Leung brothers, Kuen Leung, Kwan Leung, and Allen Leung in 1971. The Leung brothers, collectively known as Liang-shih san-chieh, have a life long devotion and interest since childhood in the Lion Dance.
SF Guzheng Music Society:
Anna Wong is a long time resident of Berkeley. She has been studying Guzheng under Master Weishan Liu for the past 30 plus years. She performs regularly with Master Liu in community events. After working as a clinical psychologist, she retired from Kaiser Permanente in 2016. She is also an active member on the board of the SF Guzheng Music Society.
Melody Fong retired from ATT. She had been studying Guzheng with Master Wei Shan Liu and is a member of the SF Guzheng Music Society for 30 years. She was previously on the board and is currently a volunteer. She performs regularly for the society at libraries and community senior centers as well as its annual concert.
Betty Look is a long time resident of Berkeley. She worked as an engineer before retiring in 2014. She has studied guzheng under Master Weishan Liu for the past 40 years. She has been a member of the San Francisco Guzheng Music Society for many years and has represented the society preforming in many community events.
Eugenia Yoh is a Taiwanese-American author-illustrator in the Bay Area. She is a children's book designer at Chronicle Books during the day and a children's book illustrator during the night.