THIS IS THE ELEVENTH Lunar New Year Festival for Cerritos Folk Dancers after skipping the event for two years because of the pandemic. The Cerritos Folk Dancers festival will take place Feb. 25, 2023 from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Cerritos Senior Center.
February 21, 2023
On February 25, the Cerritos Folk Dancers will host its Lunar New Year/ East meets West event. The annual festival celebrates the lunar new year and uses international folk dancing to unite people of both eastern and western cultures. The Cerritos Folk Dancers festival will take place from 1 PM to 5:30 PM at the Cerritos Senior Center, 12340 South Street in Cerritos.
This is the eleventh Lunar New Year Festival for Cerritos Folk Dancers after skipping the event for two years because of the pandemic. The event will begin with the Chinese Lion Dance; before the party is over, each of the first 100 people to ar- rive will receive the traditional red envelope with a crisp, new dollar bill inside. There will be a few random envelopes with other lucky amounts also. Many dancers come wearing costumes from different countries. The Folk Dancers invite a master instructor to teach some folk dances from their country of national origin; this year, they will feature Tom Bozigian and Sheree King presenting Armenian dances. Tom Bozigian is an internationally recognized dance instructor, and his wife, Sheree King, is also a talented dancer/ teacher herself. Tom’s expertise covers the dances of the Armenian Diaspora and newer Armenian folk dances. He has been commissioned to set suites of Armenian dances for dance ensembles of many different countries, and his teaching has taken him all over the world.
In the Los Angeles metropolitan area there are many folk dancers from both eastern and western cultures. For many years Cerritos Folk Dancers has been promoting the interaction between the two groups. They host two festivals annually to encourage dancers of different backgrounds to meet under the same roof. This year they are expecting 100 or more dancers to at- tend. The public is welcome to come and see the festival.
The venue will be held in the big ballroom in the Cerritos Senior Center. Participants usually pay a $15 donation at the door. Doors open at 12:55 PM with the traditional lion dance and warm-up following, with some of the better-known international folk dances for a half hour.
The featured teachers will begin a dance workshop at 1:30, with a review after a break for refreshments.
There will be a variety of exciting finger foods and beverages with an inter-national flair, along with additional recreational folk dancing.
Attendees are not allowed to make recordings during the teaching and reviewing sessions; however, the material is usually available from the teachers. We require masks and follow the Covid-19 regulations set by the City of Cerritos.
