A SPARTacular Chinese New Year | By Kenji

by - February 14, 2023

 

Illustration by Sarah and Nicole

Gong Xi Fa Cai, I hope our readers had an amazing 15 days Chinese New Year! Our fellow members of Taylor's Society of Performing Arts, also known as SPART, sure did as they recently had their Chinese New Year Bazaar on the 18-27 January at the Taylor's University Student Life Centre Walkway. SPART knows how to gather around a crowd and show that being a theatre nerd isn't just about acting alone.

Photo by SPART Representatives

Photo by SPART Representatives

Tarot Reading by the House of Aquarius

If any of our readers were there, the first thing you would've seen are our two favourite mystical 'witches' Mituna and Alyx, with their House of Aquarius booth. They were hosting a tarot reading session for anyone at event. It was one of the popular attractions because who doesn't want to know what their future looks like? People flooded their booth wanting to know more about themselves and both our witches have done an amazing job at it. At the end of the day, everyone had fun despite it being a little overwhelming for them (The readings were incredibly accurate by the way).

Photo by SPART Representatives

Photo by SPART Representatives

SPART Busking

Next comes our wonderful buskers of SPART, who performed popular songs from some of the best artists; whom our readers may know/ Let's get started with introducing a few of them, shall we? Firstly we have Rhea, who performed a few hit songs from artists such as ABBA, Rihanna and Adele. Undoubtedly, one of her best performances was a rendition of I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. Moving on, we have Abner, who sang a few covers of lovey-dovey pop songs like I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and Thinking out loud by Ed Sheeran, the latter of which was transposed with guitarist Nick. Coming Up, we have Maisarah with her cover of modern hits like High School in Jakarta by NIKI and Lover Boy by Phum Viphurit. After that, we have Beth, who dueted alongside Maisarah on their piece, City of Stars as well as Clementine by grentperez, which was a solo performance. Lastly, we have Yalindee, who did amazing on her two covers, Valerie by Amy Winehouse and Stay by Rihanna (High School in Jakarta was a personal favourite).

By watching them perform, you can see that they've put their hearts and souls into it. Everyone enjoyed the energy from the audience because they were very supportive of our fellow performers. Crowds were roaring for each of them and despite being exhausted from all the singing they still managed to put on that extraordinary performance for all of us.

Photo by SPART Representatives

Photo by SPART Representatives

Games Booth

SPART certainly does not skimp out on fun because what event is complete without some cool little games? Despite it looking like a simple game where you knock some bottles down- it was slightly tricky for some of us because it was ridiculously hard to knock down a half-filled bottle with only a tennis ball. Many balls ended up lost or thrown into the other side campus. As for the lucky few that did win the prizes, they got to bring home some cute plushies and keychains.

Photo by SPART Representatives

Vendors

Vendors selling 'wallet-catching' items were the ultimate cherry on top of the bazaar. While walking and squeezing into the crowd, you'll be able to see our first vendor, Ozie Thrift Shop (@oziethriftshop on Instagram), which sells high fashion at a thrifty price that is perfect for broke college students like us. For all the foodies out theres, The Panda Bakery @pandabkry._ has you covered with their variety of delicious baked. goods to satisfy your sweet tooth. We also had another fashion vendor called 88 Fashion Training House @88fashiontraininghouse, which is by the group of young fashion designers offering a large selection of Asian-themed clothing. They're perfect if you're in store for some new fashionable clothes to wear during the next Chinese New Year. Finally, we had The Bouncy Jelly @thebouncy.jelly, showing us awesome little fashion accessories to pair up with you new outfits. They also had cute little keychains and colourful phone cases that are sure to increase your overall aww-factor.

Photo by SPART Representatives

Photo by SPART Representatives

SPART is all about having fun, being comfortable in your skin and stepping out of your comfort zone. Many SPART members didn't have any background in performing arts. However, their willingness to experience new things unlocked a new potential, so don't be afraid to join them because they'll support you regardless of your acting proficiency, as long as you're willing to learn and improve.

To finish off, we have a word from SPART's Vice President Daniel, "SPART actively works to maintain a safe space for all members, free of hate, judgement or discrimination regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. "

SPART will be having a musical called 'A Serve and a Swing' and a 'Delusion Day' event, you can follow @sparttulc on Instagram for future updates.







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