Villanova’s Chinese Culture Club and Chinese Student Association (CSA) united as one to pay tribute to one of the richest facets of Chinese culture: the annual Mid-Autumn Festival. Taking place inside the Topper Theatre at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, attendees were treated to dazzling shows from various performance groups, both inside and outside campus. Afterwards, they feasted on rich Chinese catering and mooncakes to honor the customs of the cultural event.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated all throughout China to mark the end of the autumn harvest season,” senior, Chinese Culture Club co-Founder and administrator of this year’s celebration Becca Wang said.
As one of China’s major traditional holidays, the festival is a time to honor the laborious efforts during the harvest and to pray for fortune and longevity. Calum Huang, a Villanova junior and CSA founder, compared the festival to Christmas and Thanksgiving, when families come together to share in enjoyment together.
The Chinese Language Class Choir kicked things off with a unique rendition of “Prelude to the Water,” a traditional Chinese melody inspired by the words of famous poet Shi Su (1037-1101). Eleven little girls in elegant Chinese dresses graced the stage with their swift steps, stylish cartwheels and reverent thanksgiving of the celestial figures that govern them.
Various other Wildcats got a taste of the spotlight that afternoon. A group of students taking advanced Chinese classes demonstrated their skills by acting out a skit entirely in the language. Huang and his fellow juniors Priscilla Zhang, Julia Lubas and Maria Procaccini gave a vocal and instrumental performance for the piece “A Songstress’ Charm at Mid Autumn.”
The Villanova Taekwondo Club also performed. Practitioners of multiple levels implemented firm stances, vigorous jumps and board-breaking roundhouse kicks in an unconventional dance routine. Their striking poise was comparable that of seasoned warriors—strong, disciplined and fortitudinous—which would also describe the unique guests who had been invited to the events.
Determined to make this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival more extraordinary than ever before, the Chinese Culture Club and CSA reached out to the superlative Philadelphia Chinese Opera Society (PCOS) and the enchanting Main Line Chinese Culture Center (MLCCC) Dance Troupe. To say their skills mesmerized the crowd would be an understatement.
“Their performances represent the thriving culture of traditional Chinese arts in the Greater Philadelphia area, and we reached out to them as our goal is to include the wider community in this celebration,” Wang said.
The PCOS’s first production, Farewell My Concubine, featured a dignified female warrior performing an elaborate combat dance with dual blades. The second production, Dream in Lady’s Chamber, centered on a Lady’s feelings of longing and disappointment in her partner, with her slower movements and silk robes fitting someone of her status. The third production, Celestial Flowers, was perhaps the most magnificent of them all, taking the audience on a journey with the singer across the realm of the divine in a windy night sky.
The MLCCC Dance Troupe graced the audience with some real showstoppers themselves, such as Graceful Butterfly and Waves of Wonder. In Graceful Butterfly, the women danced in harmonious, melodic fashion like fluttering gold butterflies. Waves of Wonder was a single performance. It uses dance to tell the story of a mermaid’s pursuit through the water as she reaches towards the moon, the symbol of her freedom.
The colors red and yellow were noticeably prominent among the hosts and dancers. They could be found on many of the ensembles’ outfits or on some of the Culture Club women’s qipaos, which are traditional Chinese dresses.
“The color red, although not directly associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival, represents fortune and auspiciousness in Chinese culture,” Wang said.
Huang described yellow as representing royalty and empowerment.
The program was topped off with a special Villanova tradition. Huang took to the stage once again and called all willing attendees to partake in a famous Chinese square dance. Even if one could catch some amusingly sheepish expressions beforehand, he or she would crack a smile for the roaring applause and heartfelt movements.
After the program’s conclusion, attendees dined in Bartley Hall over spring rolls, dumplings, General Tso’s and more. Special mention goes to the sweet mooncakes, a type of Chinese confectionary product traditionally saved for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Dr. Hailin Zhou of the University’s Department of Global Interdisciplinary Studies generously provided them.
Being there inside Bartley and witnessing countless individuals sharing in a communal banquet paints a picture of what the Mid-Autumn Festival is most about. Families, friends and communities; men and women; children and adults. Celebrating their lives together. Regardless of differences in class, race or anything else, all people are called to share and nourish one another with the gifts of the earth.
“Our goal for this event is to showcase the talent in our local community and unite students, faculty and community members alike in the joy of the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Wang said in response to what she hopes people’s biggest takeaway would be.
“My hope from this event is that everyone can experience this part of Chinese culture, outside of the food, but the art, the dance and everything in between,” Huang said.
To stay up to date on information concerning the Chinese Culture Club or the CSA, one may follow their respective Instagrams, @villanovachineseclub and @villanova_csa. For more information about PCOS and the MLCCC, visit their official websites at www.philapcos.org and mlccc.herokuapp.com. Let us unite as one to honor such unique cultures, and hopefully look forward to what the students have to offer for the Lunar New Year.
