The Great Neck Library was teeming with dazzling performances and vibrant crafts Saturday morning as part of its Lunar New Year celebration.
Li Liu, a Chinese acrobat, awed a crowd of about 100 people in the community room of the library, spinning plates, performing one-handed handstands and twirling brightly-colored ribbons to a musical backdrop.
“For me, I like seeing the young people have fun,” said Liu.
Liu, who is 59 and from Beijing, took breaks from the balancing acts to teach Chinese words and culture to event attendees — part of the library’s daylong event celebrating the Lunar New Year.
“I share the Chinese culture,” said Liu, who has been in the United States for more than two decades. “You guys share some culture for me, too.”
Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 17, is celebrated by a host of countries in Asia, including China, Japan and Korea. The library’s event included a scavenger hunt, arts and crafts stations, a book reading and a musical performance highlighting Chinese music.
Lawrence Yi, 8, of Great Neck, was one of the volunteers for the acrobatic performance.
“It was pretty fun. I’ve seen people who have done it, and it takes a lot of practice,” he said. “But, it was a little easier than I thought.”
His sister, Maddie Yi, 6, said the ribbon performance “was my favorite dance.”
Their dad, Jack Yi, said he brought his family “to see more of our culture.”
Because his children were born in the United States, Yi said he wants to expose them to cultural elements they don’t get to normally see or experience.
“I think it’s very important, especially since the Chinese community is growing so much in Great Neck,” he said.
Adam Hinz, the Great Neck Library’s system program coordinator, said Saturday’s performances and activities are designed to promote inclusivity.
“Our biggest hope … is that the community sees the library as a place for everybody,” Hinz said.
Spread out across multiple tables, the Alliance of Youth Leaders in the United States, a national nonprofit group with a local Great Neck branch with over 300 volunteers, taught children how to paint gold designs on red paper and make two-dimensional art traditionally used as decoration for the Lunar New Year.
“I think it’s important for everybody to merge together,” said Susan Zheng, an adviser for the local branch. “I think it’s important for everybody to know other cultures.”
Kevin George, of Great Neck, who was with his family, including his two young children, said he came to the library not initially aware of the Lunar New Year celebration.
“It was a nice surprise,” George said. “It’s good to know about different cultures and their traditions, heritage. It makes life more interesting.”
The library event included a reading with author Aram Kim, who was raised in South Korea, and a performance by Zhou Yi and Yimin Miao, award-winning musicians from the Ba Ban Chinese Music Society.
Levittown resident Cristina Lam came to the Lunar New Year celebration with her husband, who is part Chinese, and two sons, ages 4 and 6.
She said she hopes exposing her children to part of their heritage will show them “that there’s a whole big world out there” and “that there’s more to learn about themselves and other people that are different.”
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