Although the fireworks took place earlier in the week, a profusion of dance numbers, sparkles and costumes set the crowd of the 16th annual Lunar New Year Festival (LNYF) ablaze with excitement.

When the lights dimmed in Edison Theater on Friday and Saturday evenings, students were treated to a three-hour-long sample of both traditional and modern Asian dances.

This year, the LNYF celebration was focused on the Year of the Dragon.

“The theme of this year’s show was to be a dragon. To be a dragon is to learn your strengths and to develop your own independence, your own individual differences from others—the journey to becoming your own individual,” junior Kathee Li, LNYF executive director, said.

The performances at the show ranged from samul nori, a traditional Korean drum performance, to an Asian pop performance, a fashion show and the traditional Philippine tinikling dance.

Proceeds from the event were donated to Youth for 3.11, an organization that has helped young people volunteer in northern Japan following the major earthquake and tsunami that affected the region last March.

“We’re really excited to be donating to Youth for 3.11 this year partly because it’s a platform formed by college students; it’s a network of college students and young people trying to rally to support those who have been affected by the disaster in Japan,” Li said.

According to the performance’s philanthropy chair, sophomore Miki Maruyama, the group planned to raise $1,500 to donate to the charity. Although she has not tabulated the total amount of money raised, she expects it to exceed the goal.

“We haven’t counted all of it yet, but we were definitely close to that by the time the show came around, so I am pretty sure we met it,” she said.

According to Maruyama, the LNYF executive board chose Youth for 3.11 as its charity, because the members wanted to make sure that the affected areas of Japan continue to receive aid.

“I think we will make a pretty big difference. They [Youth for 3.11 executives] said the amount of public interest is decreasing so they need all the support they can get. They still need the manpower and the resources to rebuild, there is still a lot of work to be done and there are still a ton of people displaced; it will definitely help to send more volunteers to the north,” she said.

Audience members said they enjoyed the performance.

“I was very impressed,” junior Grace Preston said. “A lot of college productions, you can tell they are college productions but this one looked professional.”

Freshman Elynna Youm was a performer in the show. She said it helped her to grow and work on her own strengths.

“When we first started out our performance we weren’t dragons, but after we performed, we were dragons,” Youm said.