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Lunar New Year Festival: Interweaving communities in celebration

Dancers from the Chinese Fan performance rehearse for the 2025 LNYF show. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Photo Editor)
Vibrant colors, exciting acts, and lively music will soon light up the stage at Edison Theater this Friday (Jan. 31) and Saturday (Feb. 1) when students take center stage for the Lunar New Year Festival (LNYF), a yearly celebration of East Asian and Southeast Asian cultures.
The LNYF team is composed of a 23-person Board of Executives and an even larger 150-person performance team. This year’s theme — “Interwoven” — is a nod to the Year of the Snake.
“What we really want this to represent is bringing in people from all different backgrounds, interweaving together as a part of a community,” senior and Executive Director Max Francisco said.
Months of preparation and rehearsals will pay off during three two-hour shows in Edison Theater.
“You guys get to see our one weekend of show. But for us, planning for the show starts right after the show ends. Starting from May all the way through the summer until our show in January or February, we’re constantly working on it,” senior and Executive Director Emily Shen said.
LNYF showcases 15 total acts, including three new to this year’s show: Vietnamese Fan, Chinese Umbrella, and Chinese Contemporary. The show combines dance, percussion, and trick acts. Other notable performances include Samulnori standing drums, Taekwondo, and Tinikling dance.
“We decided to do Chinese Umbrella just because we wanted to try and showcase a different style of Chinese dance,” Shen said, adding that because it is her last year, she wanted to try something new.
Seniors Vivian Nguyen and Tietchan Dang — Vietnamese Fan choreographers — began their process this past summer by researching music, formations, and choreography. Vietnamese Fan is a four-minute dance routine performed by eight dancers, and highlights Vietnamese culture through costumes, accessories, and unique movements.

Dancers from the Vietnamese Fan performance rehearse for the 2025 LNYF show. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Photo Editor)
“We are excited to showcase a different part of our culture than what people usually think of Vietnamese culture as,” Nguyen said.
Different from the Lotus Dance — another act highlighting Vietnamese culture — Vietnamese Fan places a larger emphasis on showcasing each dancer independently, as opposed to a group performance. Audience members can expect to see intricate tricks woven throughout the performance, such as fan-tosses, jumps, and fan-kicks.
“In this piece, we really wanted to highlight each individual dancer and their moves. The dancer is able to create the picture themselves,” Dang said.
During costume design, Nguyen and Dang intentionally diverged from the Ao Dai, a traditional Vietnamese dress. Instead, Nguyen and Dang chose the Ao Yem, a distinct traditional Vietnamese garment, and selected a jade color for the shirt to symbolize the Year of the Snake.
“We wanted to let everyone know that there is more to … Vietnamese garments than just Ao Dais,” Nguyen said. “We decided to go a different route to showcase a different side of Vietnamese culture. Since it’s not the traditional garment, it’s something that maybe a lot of people haven’t seen before,” Dang said.
Nguyen and Dang hope that audiences will leave their dance with better exposure to Vietnamese culture and that the dance will spark an interest in learning more about it.
“I think it is valuable for people to start getting more interested in Vietnamese culture, even more than just the music,” Nguyen said.
LNYF also features acts such as Lion Dance, which senior Matthew Du has been a part of since his first year, progressing to choreographer during his junior year and the production’s Art Director his senior year.
“The Lion Dance was a connection to my culture. I think that was one main thing that really drew me to it. It is very exciting, very radiant,” Du said. “I think being with other people who also feel the same way about the dance, and how it connects to their own culture, is something that’s been important to me.”

Performers from Lion Dance rehearse for the 2025 LNYF show. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Photo Editor)
First-year Annie Zhao is performing in Chinese Umbrella, and while she remembers the auditions as “pretty nerve-wracking at first,” the community that Du described is one of the reasons she decided to join LNYF.
“We’re there to celebrate Lunar New Year and showcase each particular dance form … It’s very welcoming, and everyone’s there just to have fun,” Zhao said.
Audience members who are interested in trying the artforms they saw on stage may have a chance later in the semester to attend workshops based on the show’s acts.
“We want to really involve the community, involve people who might not necessarily have a background in dance or performance,” Francisco said.
Attended by WashU community members and St. Louisans alike, LNYF supports a different charity with show proceeds each year. This year, all profits from ticket and merchandise sales are going to St. Louis Queer Support and Healing (SQSH).
“[LNYF] is a great way for us to not only connect back to our heritage as performers, and be able to showcase that to the WashU community, but also connect with the greater St. Louis community,” Shen said.
The show opens Friday at 7 p.m. and runs through Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. You can purchase tickets via this link or by visiting the box office at Edison Theater.