Titan Flynn, 7, watches as Anie Pelletier plays the bonang with the other members of Kyai Brojo Marto, a gamelan orchestra, Saturday during the Lunar New Year celebration at the Language Exchange of Northern Colorado in Fort Collins. (Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan)
Thanks to Marcy Miranda, who is a reporter over at the Coloradoan, our local paper did a feature on The Language Exchange and the Lunar New Year Celebration we hosted last week! She wrote a great article and even mentioned a few of our students by name. When one of our students, Galen saw the newspaper article with the picture of Titan he said, "Titan is famous!" Then he saw his name and said, "I'm famous too!" I don't think their moms have ever been so proud. More pictures to come! You can see the article here.
From what I've heard, the parents from our school collectively bought about a bajillion copies.
Thank you to Marcy and the Coloradoan!
Crystal Ferreira
Kids learn about lunar calender through trivia, crafts and music
BY Marcy Miranda • MarcyMiranda@coloradoan.com • February 21, 2010
Inside the small suite on the corner of College Avenue and Stuart Street, a large and colorful celebration was taking place Saturday morning.
More than a dozen children sat in front of Anie Pelletier, a Loveland woman who was lightly pounding on eight hollow, pot-shaped gongs made of bronze and resting on strings held by a wooden frame. The Indonesian instrument Pelletier was playing, called a bonang, emitted deep and melodic rhythms that Indonesians call gamelan music.
Pelletier and members of the Kyai Brojo Marto orchestra, which play the traditional Indonesian music, were among the approximately 30 people present at the Lunar New Year celebration hosted by the Language Exchange of Northern Colorado, 1797 S. College Ave.
“The purpose is to draw attention to other countries and cultures who use the lunar calendar,” said Dannielle North-Decunto, owner and director of the Language Exchange, an organization that offers world language classes. She said other countries beside China celebrate the Lunar New Year and Saturday’s event was an opportunity to showcase how Indonesian culture celebrates the holiday.
In addition to performances, children on Saturday also made Chinese crafts, such as paper lanterns and bamboo hats. Kids also participated in a trivia game to learn facts about China’s celebration.
As 7-year-old Galen Cotton watched two students perform the Indonesian version of the traditional dragon dance, his mother, Vicki, explained that attending cultural events such as the Lunar New Year celebration are important because they help expose Galen to other languages and cultures.
“It’s extremely important to have a multicultural world view,” Cotton said. She said she’s teaching her son to be internationally-minded and that because of it, they like to experience a lot of different cultures.
Galen is learning Spanish through the Language Exchange and has been enrolled since he was in preschool, Cotton said.
Students learning Spanish and Chinese at the school kicked off the celebration by singing a traditional Chinese New Year song in Chinese. Students from the Inner Wave Pencak Silat also gave a demonstration of pencak silat, the Indonesian style of martial arts. Pencak silat is inclusive of the other styles of martial arts, as it requires agility both on the floor and while upright, said Steve D’Aurelio, an instructor and school manager at Inner Wave.
The dragon dance performed by students of Inner Wave is typically part of the Chinese New Year celebration because it’s believed to ward off bad sprits from the previous year, North-Decunto said.
Wendell Payton from Loveland attended the event because of the connection he has with Inner Wave. He said events that give exposure to customs from other cultures are good because they help broaden people’s minds and foster understanding.
“The more we understand other people’s cultures and customs the better so we can live harmoniously and peacefully,” Payton said.
