Extra Credit Blog Post 4

The Chinese New Year Celebration was an unexpected pleasure. My mom was also excited to attend since it was an open to the public, when we arrived at 7:00, there were 700 people all crowded in and outside the Conference Center Auditorium. Depressed, but determined to take notes, I befriended the bouncers and helped them bounce the frustrated parents and tourists.

The audience consisted of mainly Chinese people, some even came from china. The eager attendees ranged from little boys and girls to grandparents. There were also the regular elders and college kids, but my Asian brethren outnumbered them with a 100:1 ratio.

The performers occasionally between scenes had to change costumes. The men wearing Chinese white silk and red sashes. In the begging act they carried red fans. The girls who performed next were wearing teal and white dresses, some using masks as part of the act. Most of the girls in this act had claws of some sort and the main actress had a beautiful white dress.

This class was my way in to talking to some of the performers. I mainly talked to the Turkish fellow Ali. He wrote down some of the instruments that I heard (thanks Ali).

The instruments that I heard were the “Rewup, duttar, and timbur” (Ali). On top of these instruments I heard an idiophone and a drum. The music that I was listening to had a Duple and Simple Meter. Even with the buzz of the crowd, the music was still amazing, reminded me of my last vacation in China. Although I didn’t sit among the audience, my time that night was still an adventure. I hope next year they have more seats.