08 Mar Inclusion at Center of Richmond’s Chinese New Year

Above: Dancers with the UC Berkeley Fei Tian dance group perform during the 15th annual Richmond City Chinese New Year Celebration at the Richmond Civic Center, Saturday, March 3, 2018.

Photo Essay, Brittany Hosea-Small

From boisterous lion dance performers to young Laotian dancers, Richmond’s Memorial Auditorium was filled with rich culture and energy during the 15th annual Chinese New Year Celebration put on by the City of Richmond Community Services Department and Richmond Senior Center.

The auditorium was filled with beautiful reds and golds while large inflatable Chinese zodiac characters ringed the room. Spotlighted on the back stage was this year’s guest of honor, a large red and gold canine in celebration of The Year of the Dog.

Opening the evening, performers from the White Crane Lion and Dragon Association brought four lions to life as they pranced and wandered through the room. With large curious eyes and playful paws, each lion wandered through the maze of tables as it made its way to the center of the auditorium. Guests took great joy in “feeding” red envelopes containing money to the lion dancers as many posed for pictures.

New to this year’s celebration was the introduction of more performers from all across the Bay Area. In addition to dance groups from the Richmond Senior Center, this year’s New Year celebration featured the UC Berkeley Fei Tan Dancers, Compania Mexico Danza, Queer Taiko and the Center for Lao Studies to name a few.

“We’re more multicultural this year,” said Peter Defabio, recreation program coordinator with the Community Services Department.

Two Zumba dance demonstrations were also new to the event. Guests of all ages took to the dance floor as Zumba instructors Yanette Torres and Oscar Solano taught several dances ranging in musical style from J-pop to country.
Young children and parents shook and swayed their hips on the dance floor along side senior citizens, each and every one smiling with energy.

What started out 15 years ago as a small celebration of 100 people at the Richmond Senior Center has now grown to a huge yearly event held at the Memorial Auditorium. Over 400 people attended this year’s celebration filling each table on the auditorium floor.

“To see where it started at the Senior Center until now is very remarkable,” Defabio says.

Peter Defabio has been helping coordinate the event since its beginnings. He hopes that the event continues to grow and gain more community involvement outside of the Senior Center. It’s this hope that spurred the idea to bring in more outside performance groups to this year’s celebration.

Ranjana Maharaj, the city’s community services administrative manager, says that participation involves many ethnic groups, making it a staple not only within the local Chinese community but also in the community of Richmond as a whole.

“Which is great because you’re showing that this is a multicultural society in Richmond,” Maharaj said.

A young girl from the Center for Lao Studies group performs the dance titled “Fon Lum Si Pun Don” during the 15th annual Richmond City Chinese New Year Celebration at the Richmond Civic Center, Saturday, March 3, 2018.