Cambridge Plays - Guqin Demo, Crafting, and Dancing Workshops

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM Sunday, July 9, 2023

Location:
Timothy J. Toomey Park, 71 Rogers St., Cambridge, MA

Neighborhood:
East Cambridge

Contact:
edd@cambridgema.gov

Cambridge Plays - Guqin Demo and Lion Dance, Paper cutting, Crafting, Dancing Workshops

Enjoy a free workshop for adults and kids to taste Chinese traditional arts with the Chinese American Association of Cambridge.

On Sunday, July 9th, the activities include:

Guqin Introduction: The Guqin is a fretless plucked string instrument with 7 strings and 13 phoneme markers. It has a history of more than 3,000 years and more than 200 fingering techniques. It has a wide range, deep timbre, and distant aftersound. The Guqin had a very high status in ancient China, and was very popular among ancient scholars and nobilities. People attach their aspirations and moral traits to this instrument. QiAn Lin is currently PhD student at MIT. She learned piano in her childhood, and is now studying Guqin with a fourth generation of Mei'an School (梅庵派) Guqin player. She is crazy about Chinese traditional culture, in music, literature, clothing, and everything. She will give a brief introduction to Guqin, and perform some famous Guqin songs and talk about the history and stories about the songs.

Lion dance workshop with Wu An martial arts school originating from China. Lion dances are traditionally performed during celebrations to bring good luck. In this workshop, students will learn basic footwork and head and tail movements to make their lion come alive. Please wear comfortable clothing and sneakers. Recommend ages is 10+.

Art of Nature Around Us - Chinese Papercutting: Zhonghe (Elena) Li is a multi-media artist who lives and works in Cambridge, MA. She practices and teaches traditional Chinese papercutting art, watercolor and mixed media. She is happy to offer papercutting workshops to the Cambridge community members on natural life forms found in Cambridge.

Chinese traditional dance workshop: Demonstration of four (4) typical Chinese classical dances, including Xinjiang, Margolin, Dai, Peacock. Eva Liu is the instructor of Cheongsam Show at the Cambridge Lunar New Year Celebration 2023. She will demo and lead Chinese dancing for all ages.

Chinese art and craft workshop: Kim is a passionate individual who loves art and crafts. She is excited to propose a captivating workshop that combines arts & crafts and Chinese culture to engage and inspire kids. Through hands-on activities and cultural exploration, children will have the opportunity to unleash their creativity while gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation for Chinese traditions and artistic expressions.

The crflibrary.org mobile lending library will bring Chinese kids picture books that can be borrowed home.

This event is free and open to all. If it rains, the event might be cancelled, please check CAAC's website for the update: https://caac-ma.org/?cat=7