On December 23, 2017, we hosted a festive Christmas celebration performance at Brookdale Senior Center. As more and more performers arrived, seniors also began to file in for the performance. The program began with two songs from the adorable kindergarteners of Boya Children’s Chorus. Two violinists, Chloe Wang and Connie Shen, played Christmas songs to get the audience into the holiday spirit. These were followed by amazing dances, including Chinese cultural solos by Jessica Feng, Emily Lee, and Alicia Yang, a contemporary solo by Alyssa Chen, and a Chinese cultural duet by Jessica Wang and Emily Lee. Pianist Connie Wang played the Christmas classic “Let it Snow,” while Chaoyi Xu performed the beautiful “Clair de Lune.” There were also performances using more unique instruments, with Erik Rulkens on the Chinese fiddle, or erhu, and his younger brother Ryan Rulkens on the Chinese lute, or pipa. The program also featured singers such as sister soloists Sophie Xiao and Hong Xiao, and ended with an amazing solo from Pauline Rogers and a beautiful duet from Pauline and Andrew.
The performance was a great success and was extremely well received by all the seniors. One wonderful woman came up to us and told us that we spread joy throughout the environment and made her heart warm. We hope that our performances will only become more touching and hope to create even more exciting programs for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration performance. Happy holidays, and stay safe!