The Year of the Horse launched from the gate at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School on Sunday, Feb. 1 with a Cambridge Lunar New Year Celebration organized by the Chinese American Association of Cambridge (CAAC).
The Lunar New Year is traditionally a time for renewal, family reunions, and celebrating prosperity. The CAAC brought that spirit to its event at the school, with great food in the media cafeteria and spectacular performances in the Fitzgerald Theatre. Hundreds came from around the Greater Boston area.
Dance performances brought visual poetry to the stage. In the “Wooden Clog Dance” (Xiangji Wu) by Center Stage Dance Studio, dancers in flowing robes created their own percussion, their wooden soles striking the floor in a crisp, synchronized rhythm that evoked the sounds of a bustling ancient street. Later, the Cambridge Evergreen Dance Group slowed the pace with “The Peach Blossom Boat,” where performers holding boat-shaped props swayed with the gentle, rhythmic gait of a vessel navigating a spring river.
The gala also embraced modern energy. The ADA Adult Dance Troupe electrified the crowd with “Magic of the Dark Moonlight,” a high-octane Waacking routine. Dressed in shimmering costumes, the dancers unleashed a flurry of rapid arm movements and poses, bringing the funk-inspired street dance style to the Lunar New Year stage. In a spirited finale, the ALUP Ballroom Dance Team performed a “Samba Formation,” swirling in a kaleidoscope of color and Latin rhythm that had the audience clapping along.
The event was supported by a grant from Cambridge Arts, and the CAAC distributed over 300 free tickets to local seniors through partnerships with the Cambridge Housing Authority and the Citywide Senior Center, welcoming elders who might otherwise face barriers to attending such festivities.
This year’s Lunar New Year happens on Feb. 17.
Send us your photo of life in Cambridge! Submit here. We’ll pick our favorites and run them.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.