Asia Business Club Celebrates Lunar New Year with an Asia Gala Night

Darden community members attended a cultural celebration of the Lunar New Year at the Asia Grand Gala on Thursday, 26 January. The event, hosted by the Asia Business Club at Darden (ABCD), featured delicious Asian food, performances, a freestyle dance floor, and a stunning runway to showcase Asian traditional outfits. Performances originated from all across various Asian countries. These performances included the following:

• Lion Dance (A traditional performance from China during the Lunar New Year to bring good luck)
• A piano solo (featuring traditional Chinese music)
• Tinikling (a traditional dance of the Philippines with bamboo poles)
• Taekwondo (a Korean form of martial arts)
• A vocal solo (originating from Vietnam)
• Southeast dance (represented Bahasa Malaya, Bangla, Telugu and Hindi cultures)
• Tik Tok-style dance (with traditional Asian pop music)
• Cultural fusion performances (Chinese/Latin and hip-hop/K-pop)

Over 300 people from the Darden community came to take part in the magical night and to, of course, share in the good food. Asian cuisine was plentiful. Darden community members feasted on General Tso’s chicken, sesame-fried tofu, vegetable-fried rice, and egg rolls.

For Asian communities around the world, Lunar New Year is celebrated with family reunions, good food, parades, and fireworks. This year’s Gala was an opportunity for the Darden family to take part in some of those cultural traditions and celebrate together. And what a celebration it was!

Xinyi Jiang, President of ABCD, said it best:

The pictures below, taken by the Darden Photography Club and Darden photography team, highlight some of the fun times!