Blues, reds and golds infused the Community Center with festive vibrance as Foothill Chinese School students and their families celebrated the Chinese New Year on Saturday evening.
Nearly 200 guests were treated to a variety of performances — followed by a Chinese dinner buffet — that ushered in the Year of the Snake and showcased students’ understanding of Chinese language and culture.
“Chinese is a very difficult language,” event emcee Belinda Dong said. “It has four tones. If you ever make a mistake, you could end up calling your mom a horse.”
Student performers Kevin Tang, Yiwei Meng, Yilun Luo and Ling Rao began the performances with a traditional Lion dance. Members of Christine Mui Pang’s class were next as they presented a Chinese-language version of “If You Are Happy, Clap Your Hands.”
Students from the classes of Huiyi “Holly” Li, who also serves as school principal, and Pang performed a Chinese fan dance, “Joyful,” under the direction of Alice Zhai, a 10th-grade student at La Cañada High School.