Taiwan Alumni Association’s Taiwanese Cultural Festivity—Dragon Dance Fun
The Education Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in LA and the Taiwan Alumni Association (TAA) jointly held a Taiwanese Cultural Festivity—Dragon Dance activity at the Culture Center of TECO-LA on June 30. More than thirty people took part, including eight TAA members who have studied in Taiwan on a government scholarship, two newly selected scholarship recipients who will soon leave to study in Taiwan, Dr. Shin Liu, a trustee of Cerritos College, and more than twenty students from Cerritos College and Rio Hondo College who will be going to Taiwan to do English teaching internships in Taipei City and New Taipei City.
The four instructors Frank Tse, Tom Liu, Wang Yuan Nien, and Nicole Liu, are professionals working in the fields of architecture, psychology, structural engineering, and social work respectively, who all love dragon dancing. They volunteered to share their knowledge and passion, and teach the participants a dragon dance.
Alyssa Johnson, the TAA president, made the opening remarks, introducing TAA and welcoming everyone to this occasion where the alumni could share details of their individual experiences studying in Taiwan with each other, and with the people who would soon be setting off to Taiwan. She expressed her excitement about learning a dragon dance, and promised more activities related to Taiwan’s culture would be organized in the future.
Rebecca Lan, Director of the Education Division at TECO, thanked Alyssa and the TAA members for coordinating such events and activities, and she encouraged the students who would soon be going to Taiwan to take advantage of the opportunity to explore the Island of Formosa, which they’ll find is full of friendly and hospitable people, a diverse range of cultures, and delicious cuisines, and to enjoy studying abroad or doing internships there.
The Dragon Dance is a traditional part of Chinese culture. The movements in a dragon dance performance symbolize dragons’ demonstrating power and dignity. The participants learnt how to manipulate a long flexible dragon figure using poles positioned at regular intervals along its body, then practiced repeatedly together to simulate the imagined movements of a dragon in a sinuous, undulating manner.
The students who are going to Taiwan this summer for the English teaching internships also learnt more about Taiwan and generated anticipation and excitement about their coming journey. The Taiwanese Cultural Festivity—Dragon Dance activity was a great success, enjoyed by all!
Photo:TAA members, Rebecca Lan, director of the Education Division (in the red jacket), and the volunteer dance teachers gathering for the Taiwanese Cultural Festivity--Dragon Dance at the Cultural Center of TECO-LA.