Diverse performers kick off boat races
Multicultural artists to take the main stage at Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival
The Chinese Music Ensemble, the oldest and only fully Chinese orchestra in the U.S. and Americas, will kick off the day’s entertainment on the main stage.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Music Ensemble
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The 2021 annual Hong
Kong Dragon Boat Festival,
an international multicultural
celebration and sporting
event, is returning to Flushing
Meadows Corona Park for
a one-day, scaled-down event
on Saturday, Aug. 7.
While the dragon boat races
may be the main event, a
host of other activities will be
available during what is the
oldest, longest and most traditional
dragon boat festival in
the United States.
The Chinese Music Ensemble,
the oldest and only fully
Chinese orchestra in the U.S.
and Americas, will kick off
the day’s entertainment on the
main stage at 11 a.m. featuring
younger members, some in
traditional costume, with solo
performances on traditional
instruments.
Founded in 1961, the Chinese
Ensemble’s present membership
of nearly 50 musicians
plays practically every type
of Chinese music on Chinese
instruments, both ancient and
modern. In this performance,
a smaller ensemble plays a selection
of their repertoire complete
with drums and cymbals.
An opening ceremony will
take place at noon with a special
welcome and ribbon-cutting
with brief remarks from
local elected officials, sponsors
and VIP guests officially
kicking off the 2021 Hong Kong
Dragon Boat Festival in New
York.
In addition to the opening
ceremony entertainment,
Dance China New York, the
resident touring company at
the New York Chinese Cultural
Center, will also take the
stage.
Dance China NY’s dancers
include internationally
renowned artists from performing
stages and academies
throughout mainland China,
Taiwan and the U.S. The
dance company transports audiences
to a world of colorful
myths, historical dramas and
timeless beauty, weaving a vibrant
vision of China’s ancient
indigenous folk cultures.
Noted for pieces with powerful
grace and contained elegance,
Dance China NY performs
regularly throughout
the U.S. for audiences of all
ages.
At 2 p.m., the award-winning,
ever-popular C.A.S.Y.M.
STEEL Orchestra will return
to the stage, presenting
an ensemble from the larger
group of 90-plus members between
the ages of 7 to 21. The
group will bring the hypnotic
sounds of the islands to the festival
with the playing of steel
drums.
Located in the heart of
East Flatbush, Brooklyn,
C.A.S.Y.M. Steel Orchestra
Inc. aims to create a multicultural,
multiethnic program to
educate young people of Caribbean
and non-Caribbean
backgrounds about the Steel
Pan art form. C.A.S.Y.M.
Steel Orchestra is committed
to positively impacting
the character of our community’s
youth, develop their
self-esteem and pass on the
tradition of achievement and
success.
Following C.A.S.Y.M. Steel
Orchestra’s performance,
The Shaolin Masters’ warrior
monks from the Shaolin Temple
will present an hourlong
martial arts demonstration at
3 p.m.
In the history of the Shaolin
16 TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | AUG. 6-12, 2021 BT
The Shaolin Masters’ warrior monks from the Shaolin Temple.
Photo courtesy of Shaolin Temple
Temple, founded in 495
A.D., generation after generation
of monk generals and
soldiers protected the temples
from wars and riots of society.
According to the Shaolin
Temple, kung fu is originally
from Shaolin and is one of the
greatest martial arts in the
world. Wushu originated in
China and it carries the essence
of the Shaolin ancestors,
its history, and has been a part
of traditional Chinese culture
for over 1,500 years.
Throughout the day, master
storyteller Jonathan Kruk
will tell tales of dragons and
kings, enchanting children
with finger fables, stories, theater,
myths, medieval legends
and the lore of the Hudson Valley.
Kruk will also share a tale
of how dragon boat racing
started.
A full-time storyteller
since 1989, Kruk has appeared
at thousands of schools, libraries,
festivals and historic sites,
many in Queens.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–4526.
Dance China New York will also take the stage. Photo : Yufen Kung, courtesy of New York Chinese Cultural Center
/QNS.COM
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