Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Left: Two young boys perform the 'Lion Dance' at the Chinese Benevolent Association (CBA) annual garden party in celebration of the 58th anniversary of the founding of The People's Republic of China, held at the CBA Centre, Old Hope Road on Sunday, September 30. Right: Members of the Chinese Benevolent Association (CBA) Chinese classes perform a Chinese ethnic dance. - photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Striving to keep their culture alive, the Chinese Benevolent Association (CBA) hosted their annual garden party last Sunday evening on the grounds of the CBA headquarters on Hope Road.

The entertainment programme began minutes after 7 p.m., however most patrons stayed outside to eat and chat rather than partake in the night's entertainment.

Hosted by Vincent Chang and Mary Chen, the Children's Choir were first on the line-up singing the Jamaican anthem and a Chinese song entitled the 'Jasmine Flower'. Up next was a Chinese favourite, the Lion Dance. Two young boys performed the ancient tradition donning the gear of a lion and performed gracefully and swiftly.

Instrumental solos also formed part of the line-up and included a piano solo from Katherine Hutson, a violin piece from Campion student Kerri-Ann Lee, a ballad accompanied by a violin entitled 'Dragon Spirit' and many others.

The Stella Maris Junior Ensemble was also in fine form performing three dance pieces, a contemporary piece, a Hip Hop/R&B piece and a solo piece from one of the young dancers.

Cultural dances

Students of the CBA's Chinese classes performed three cultural dances. For the first dance they appeared in Mongolian ethnic costumes of predominately green with gold and touches of red. They later came on for another dance entitled 'Girls In The Country', this ethnic dress was mainly red, with green stripes and anklets and bracelets on that made music of their own as the girls danced. Lisa Chow sang Today Is Your Birthday China in Chinese.

The garden party was the result of a concerted effort to preserve and highlight Chinese culture in China's Diaspora. Short speeches were delivered on China's political history and its role in Jamaican history. Overall it was a nice evening out for the family and friends.