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JAIMS Celebrates Chinese New Year
HONOLULU — JAIMS welcomed
their most animated and colorful guest to help herald in the Chinese
New Year. A traditional Chinese lion danced through the halls
of JAIMS to bring happiness and good luck on this, the Year of the
Snake on the Chinese calendar.
Along with JAIMS faculty, staff, and students, children
from Kuapa Pre-School were also invited to watch the festivities
as the lion made a spectacular performance on the JAIMS front lawn
where shrieks of excitement and delight erupted from the youngsters.
Responsible for this performance was the Hawaii Foundation
for Chinese Culture and Arts (HFCCA) who later held a special lecture
on the front lawn.
Leon Letoto, President of the HFCCA, commented on
the differences between Northern and Southern lion styles as well
as the difficulty of performing these dances that can last for well
over twenty minutes.
"It is really a test of endurance," Letoto said, who
has performed lion dances for over twenty years.
Following his lecture, he invited JAIMS students in
the Japan-focused MBA
(JEMBA) and China-focused
MBA (CHEMBA) programs to participate in playing the instruments
and practicing traditional lion dance moves.
Yen Chun, Manager of the JAIMS Business Madarin Program,
believed it was a great way to create a festive mood as well as
to educate participants about the Chinese culture.
"Through these activities," she said, "our students
and staff have exposure to other cultures and thus have better cross-cultural
understanding." |
