EXPLORING
East and Southeast Asian
CULTURE
Lion Dance/Dragon Dance
COUNTRY: China
We celebrate Chinese New Year by dancing like both lions and dragons.
Action Cinema
COUNTRY: China/Hong Kong
We become Hong Kong Action Cinema stars by casting ourselves as heroes in our own cheesy kung fu movie — HYAAAAH!
Gamelan
COUNTRY: Indonesia
Bang a gong — or at least a pot lid! — as we cycle through sixteen beats while experiencing Indonesian Gamelan.
Bon Odori
COUNTRY: Japan
We celebrate Japan’s Obon Festival, honoring the ancestors, with a free-form “everyone in” bon odori dance.
Ganggangsullae
COUNTRY: The Koreas
We go out with Korean women into night during the full moon of Chuseok and follow the leader in a circle as we sing, “Ganggangsullae!”
Sepak Takraw
COUNTRY: Malaysia
We marvel at one of Malaysia’s most popular sports, sepak takraw — a mind-blowing mashup of volleyball and hackey sack.
Life of a Monk
COUNTRY: Myanmar
We travel all the way to Myanmar (a.k.a. Burma) where, in about two minutes in class, we live an entire meditative day in the life of a Buddhist monk.
Tinikling
COUNTRY: The Philippines
Do you have bamboo poles? Or…maybe, broomsticks? Time to try tinikling, a very hoppy folk dance from the Philippines.
Loy Krathong
COUNTRY: Thailand
We float the past year’s regrets down a river in Thailand as we celebrate Loy Krathong.
Harvesting Rice
COUNTRY: Vietnam
We learn the “origin story” of rice, humanity’s favorite food. Then we harvest our children.