Rivers Welcomes Year of the Snake with Lunar New Year Celebration

The evening began with a warm welcome from Head of School Ryan Dahlem, who expressed gratitude for the opportunity to celebrate together. “It is wonderful when the community comes together with an opportunity for fellowship, food, and fun,” he said, wishing health and prosperity in the new year. AAPI affinity leaders Joyce Do ’25, Chelsea Yan ’25, Noelle Lee ’26, and Robby Hargrove ’26 then introduced the event.

 

The celebration featured a lineup of musical and dance performances that blended traditional and contemporary influences. Conservatory Program students in the Select String Ensemble performed “Lan Hua Hua,” a Chinese folk song about a rebellious young woman defying societal norms to pursue love and freedom. The song, featuring violins, violas, and cellos, represents courage and independence.

Adalia Wen ’25 introduced her unique arrangement of the “Driftveil City” theme from Pokémon Black Version and White Version as a “blend of the past and the present” by weaving traditional Lunar New Year music with the Pokémon videogame soundtrack. The piece, described by Wen as a celebration of the God of Wealth, was performed by an ensemble featuring Leah Jin ’25 (violin), Andrew Ho ’25 (oboe), Alicia Wen ’25 (oboe), Gavin Bollar ’27 (drum set), Chelsea Yan ’25 (flute) and Adalia Wen ’25 (electric piano), and showcased the evolution of traditional music in modern culture.

A variety of Chinese-inspired dishes were prepared by Rivers kitchen staff led by Chef Corey Campbell, with additional treats, including almond cookies, lotus paste cake, and red bean pastries provided by a local Chinese bakery. 

Following dinner, the audience enjoyed guest performances, starting with a lion dance—a traditional Chinese dance performance wherein a pair of performers act as the head and tail portions of a lion costume, using strings or small levers to blink the eyes and maneuver the mouth. Following the lion dance, students from the New England Wushu Academy demonstrated the skill and artistry of Chinese Martial Arts, spanning many ages and ability levels. Wushu is a sport that combines traditional and modern techniques. Rivers AAPI leaders described the significance of the wu long (dragon dance) as ancestral rites that “symbolize luck and prosperity for the new year. It's a time of joy and cultural tradition for people all over the world.”

In addition to the community celebration, earlier that week, AAPI leaders organized an art project in which the entire community wrote New Year wishes and hopes on red slips of paper, then arranged the slips to create a snake-shaped wall collage in Kraft Dining Hall. In the classroom, Middle School and Upper School Mandarin classes have been celebrating the Year of the Snake through various Chinese cultural activities. In Julie Avery’s Middle School Mandarin class, students practiced their calligraphy and have been writing spring couplets (rhyming verses written in black or gold ink on red paper) and had a class session making dumplings.

 

At the all-school assembly on February 3, Chloe Yang’s Mandarin V students presented a well-received dance demonstration inspired by their June 2024 trip to China and a video presentation from the 2024 China trip about Guang Chang Wu, or Plaza Dancing, an integral part of Chinese culture. “In China, there are often groups of people dancing in communal spaces with music playing in the background. There’s a wide variety of these groups, like dancing to pop music, performing traditional Chinese dance, playing Taichi,  and many more,” shared the students. They explained that Guang Chang Wu is a primary source of exercise and socializing for the large population of retirees. 

Infusing some energy into Kraft Dining Hall on Monday morning, the Mandarin V students then taught and performed “Xiao Pingguo (Little Apple),” a well-known and hugely popular pop song in China that has received widespread popularity globally internet memes, parodies, and flash mobs, inviting the entire Rivers community to stand up and learn the “Little Apple” dance together. The room erupted with joyful energy and laughter as students and faculty followed along, starting with hand gesticulations, clapping, and foot movements and slowly progressing to more explosive full-body motions. The entire school dancing together created an uplifting and celebratory atmosphere, reinforcing the message of joy and renewal for the Lunar New Year.

 

To close the assembly, AAPI affinity leaders honored the Lunar New Year tradition of gifting red envelopes, or hongbao. Red envelopes symbolize good luck and prosperity in Chinese cultures and are often gifted from grandparents to grandchildren to emphasize familial ties. They continued, explaining additional cultural context behind the envelopes: “Hongbao are stuffed with crisp paper bills,” they explained. “Children must receive the envelope with both hands, a gesture that symbolizes respect for their elders.”

As one final element of excitement for the assembly, the AAPI leaders announced that ten red envelopes were hidden beneath chairs in the room. Joyous outbursts erupted as lucky recipients discovered their envelopes; thus, the celebration concluded on an energetic note.