Tweens said “ni hao” to the Chinese New Year during middle school David A. Boody’s celebration welcoming the Year of the Rooster on Feb. 2.
There was some delicious Chinese food to be had, but the best way to honor the holiday — officially on Jan. 28 — was when students wowed an 500-strong auditorium crowd with traditional Chinese folk dances, according to the principal of the Gravesend school, which is known for its dance studies magnet program.
“Through dance, we celebrated the New Year,” said Dominick D’Angelo. “We put on a really multicultural type of event for everyone in the community. It’s a lot of fun.”
The schools specializes in teaching kids to groove, and some who wanted to take their rug-cutting above and beyond learned the traditional, eastern moves in a special after-school program, according to D’Angelo.
And everyone jumped up in their seats to take photos and videos of the lion dance that came marching down the aisle, performed by the Bensonhurst community’s Chinese American Social Services Center, according to one its head honchos.
“We have a lot of people from the community attend this special event, they all like it,” said Timothy Law. “It’s beautiful, it’s very good.”
