Tuesday morning Long Beach City College held a Khmer New Year celebration on the Pacific Coast Campus including performances and an educational piece through Modern Apsara dance group.
The morning of the event, LBCC sent out an email with the flier to the event posted.
Nearly fifty students and faculty attendees filled the room enjoying the complimentary hot coffee and donuts provided by La Lune Cambodian donuts.
The event began with a few statements and an introduction to Modern Apsara dance group from student success coach and advisor, Alex Luong.
“Modern Apsara dance company bridges the modern world to the secret artform of Cambodian classical dance which is over 1,000 years old,” said Mea Lath, founder and artistic director of Modern Apsara dance company.
After the performances attendees were asked to join in on a dance including a small educational background on the different hand and arm movements seen in traditional Cambodian dancing.
Lath demonstrated and elaborated on the meaning of the different hand movements as participants followed along.
By the end of the demonstration, attendees danced from their seats to traditional Cambodian tunes.
“It’s nice to see other cultures want to get involved and interact with Cambodian culture,” said second generation and LBCC student, Risa Sadao.
Dance performance by Victoria Ung included a scarf that was tossed in all four directions symbolizing blessings for everyone in all four directions.
The whole event was an hour long and as attendees began to pack up, Luong offered more coffee and donuts.
Khmer new year will continue to be celebrated all throughout the month of April.