Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with folk dances and traditional arts and crafts when the New York Chinese Cultural Center (NYCCC) brings its signature program to the Queens Museum. 

The event includes a 45-minute performance program featuring professional artists and students of NYCCC’s School of the Arts, as well as a hands on Chinese Calligraphy workshop for kids and adults.

1-1:45pm: Performance Program by New York Chinese Cultural Center
Featuring a Chinese Kung fu demonstration, dances from China’s diverse regions and ethnic groups, signature performances (including run-ins with a mischievous lion), newly composed songs played by traditional Chinese instruments, widely-known new years songs, and lively renditions of the award-winning red ribbon dance performed by artists and students from NYCCC.

2-3pm: Chinese Calligraphy and Ink Brush Painting Workshop
Using a calligraphy pen, a teaching artist from the NYCCC shows and explains the relationship between ancient Chinese pictographs and their modern-day ideographs. Participants are taught how to write simple characters in celebration of the Lunar New Year.

2-4pm: Oriental Lantern-making Workshop
A multigenerational, all-ages workshop dedicated to creating oriental-style lanterns made from Chinese lucky envelopes. It is a Chinese tradition to offer lucky envelopes as a symbol of receiving luck and prosperity in the New Year. In this workshop pariticipants create an oriental lantern as a gesture for all participants and the Queens Museum to welcome the year of the Rabbit. The workshop is held in English, Chinese, and Spanish. RSVP is recommended, but not required to participate in this workshop; to RSVP please email: ggaaraycochea@queensmuseum.org and cc: dcabreja@queensmuseum.org with the subject Lantern Workshop.