Follow My Coffee: Cultural Cup

One of my bosses at the hotel job is a dear friend of mine. She gave me an invitation to join her and her family to watch her younger sisters and little cousin in a dance performance. I said yes immediately and yes again when she said they would be featuring the story of Mulan. This was more then just a simple dance performance. This was a performance put on by the Asian Arts Talents Foundation (AATF), a non-profit organization that raises funds to help teach the younger generation Chinese arts. The dancers benefit in many ways, such as scholarships, summer activities, and public performances that give them opportunity for travel. You can see there is a sense of community and culture with this large group and in this show. This show is one they put on once every two years and they ask other performance groups from the local community to join them and show their culture as well.
I invited my friend to join us. I've seen many shows with him over the years, both large and small productions. I figured he would enjoy this and seeing as he used to work with this boss as well, it would be a fun evening for us to catch up. (Now we can't confuse this boss with The Boss from my other just so we can call her Little Boss).
Little Boss knows me well and suggested with have dinner before the show. Her idea of dinner is what she usually does with her family but it was new to my friend and I. I'm not going to say no to something new. She started by taking us out to a dumpling house called, Luscious Dumplings. We let Little Boss order for us because we didn't know where to start, but what she got was fantastic. She got us a fried pork dumpling with glass noodles and chives. That had a refreshing flavor even though it was fried. Then she got us a steamed pork dumpling with soup inside of it. She told us to eat it over our spoons so we could catch the soup. That was amazing. With our dumplings, the restaurant served hot tea and cold water, with constant refills. The tea was light and I was happy to have it. It went well with our dumplings.
Next, the Little Boss took us across the street for dinner. Her family was already dining inside. Again, she ordered for us. Glass noodle seafood pho (amazing) and a rice cake, egg, and pork dish that was not bad, but definitely different. We also got an appetizer sampler of some fried food that was pretty good too.
Then we walked over to the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse and took our seats. There was 60 dancers pictured in the AATF program and 18 showcases including the four part Mulan story. The performances ranged greatly. Once the MC's said this was a dance festival, we understood why there was so much diversity for the evenings line up. It opened with a Chinese Big Drum piece. Women and men booming on large drums, receiving all the attention up front, setting the stage for the acts that followed. Next was a short dance featuring one of the Little Boss's sisters, a serene and soft piece, that she and her group did beautifully. Ensemble three was a ballet with the Little Boss's other sister and cousin. It was like a traditional ballet with pink, white, and red Tu-tu dresses but the girls flowed across the stage without any painful toe-tipping movements. Piece three featured kids under 8 years old. It was a dance about sheep in honor of the sheep in the Chinese calendar for this year. Tiny kids in sheep costumes hopped and butt wiggled for a short dance that was too adorable for words. The whole audience "awww'ed" as the sheep took each others tails and shimmy-ed backwards off stage. There was a martial arts display, a lotus stick dance (it reminded me of a rain stick but thinner), followed by the two girls who were graduating this year from high school, each got a solo appearance. There was a hip-hop piece as well. I wasn't too thrilled with the young girls dancing suggestively but when the boys came out, you could see some real talent. Sure it was nothing like the rest of the show, but you can't speak poorly about a break-dancer. One boy dropped down and spun at least six times. I couldn't do that! Another production I loved was the Mongolian Bowl Dance. This piece had the younger sister and the cousin in it and they did an amazing job! The dance is about entertaining guests while balancing bowls on their heads. I only saw one bowl go down but at the very end, the girls took off their bowls and poured water from one bowl to another. Wow, there was water in the bowls the whole time! After a few more enjoyable dances and ballets, it was time for Mulan. The first of the four parts of this dance was her learning her skills in fighting and sewing. Then her father is called to battle but cannot fight so she takes his place. She even "cuts" her hair. The 3rd scene is where she is in battle and her skills win her awards and the respect of the other men. Finally, after the seasons came and went, she comes home and is celebrated by everyone, including her fellow soldiers, even when she reveals that she's a woman. I loved the changing of the seasons. The dancers came out as flowers and butterflies for spring and in the winter, the dancers had fur lining their dresses and it snowed. The costumes were stunning throughout the evening and I left with a big smile on my face.
Afterwards, we headed across the street to a place the Little Boss suggested called the Factory Tea Bar. Inside, it was a somewhat trendy scene with a giant chalkboard wall, seating on couches or in what looked like picnic tables, and it was noisy with youth. The menu options had some small bites and desserts, tea's, milk tea's, and boba. The boss got green tea milk with aloe over ice, delicious. My friend got taro milk black tea with boba over light ice, I thought he was going to return later in the evening to get another one since he raved about this one so much. And I got a rose milk tea over ice, which was served with rose buds on the top of the cup. It reminded me of this rose tea I really like that I would have to go out of my way to get. It had a very rich flora taste and a smooth milk tea after taste. Very nice.
I was so happy to have been able to spend such a fun day with my friends and learn so much about these other cultures. I hope the Little Boss keeps encouraging her sisters to keep up these traditions and help raise money while doing something they love. I also hope I am an invited guest again. Not only was it fun but I think I saw some other tea shops during our walk to the theater.