FON Spotlight Series: Chinese Ribbon Leaders
Chinese Ribbon FON leaders share their enthusiasm for this year’s FON performance.
The Festival of Nations (FON) is an annual Townsend Harris High School event that celebrates the diversity at THHS through beautiful cultural dances. Chinese Ribbon FON will twirl their way onto the stage, combining traditional and modern Chinese songs with the use of colorful silk ribbons. Seniors Nicole Chen, Erica Jin, Erica Lee, and Crystal Yang are this year’s Chinese Ribbon FON leaders.
For Chinese Ribbon, the female dancers are going to be wearing various colors of the qipao, a traditional garment worn in Chinese culture. For the male dancers, they are going to wear a button-down and collared shirt that has a similar design to the qipao.
Erica Jin said, “The dancers dress in traditional qipaos to express their bouncy and flowy movements, and our FON uses both elegant and energetic dance to represent the soft and powerful sides of Chinese Ribbon.” She said, “My experience in Chinese Ribbon has always been a positive experience as the leaders consistently make efforts to teach us little by little how to perfect each movement.”
Erica Lee said, “Dancing in Chinese Ribbon has always been a highlight of my Townsend FON experience…I always remembered being excited to go to practice, and of course, the community that ribbon dancing created was the best part.”
The art of Chinese Ribbon dance originated in Ancient China and has been performed for more than 1000 years. The variety of colorful ribbons used in this type of dance is to symbolize good fortune and express honor towards the royalty. Nicole said, “The ribbons are utilized so that it forms different patterns and designs which when it’s in the air, it looks beautiful.”
Sophomore Joline Tang and member of Chinese Ribbon FON said, “I am excited to practice the dance more and more, and it helps me to familiarize myself with the movements.”
The leaders said they are looking forward to the performance in March. Erica Jin said, “I can’t wait to see all the hard work and practice being showcased on stage, which I know will be the most rewarding part of it all.”
Art by Amy Jiang
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Maimuna is a senior at Townsend Harris High School. She enjoys to read in her free time. Her favorite genre of books is mystery and thriller. With...
Amy is a senior at Townsend Harris High School. She enjoys trying out a variety of new hobbies. Recently, she has been trying to learn embroidery and rollerblading.
