This previous Saturday, dedicated TNF members arrived at church a little earlier than
usual to practice for Tết Văn Nghệ.
The term Tết Nguyên Đán (abbreviated Tết) means Lunar New Year. The new year is an important time for Vietnamese people all over the world to start the new year right by cleaning their homes, ridding bad feelings, and celebrate the coming of spring. A very important factor is family: a common tradition is to visit one another's homes and bring gifts as a symbol of wishing good fortune to one another. Another tradition is lì xì (or mừng tuổi), which is lucky money (you've probably seen the bright red envelopes!). Children first give their elders a traditional Tết greeting and receive lì xì. Tết is one of the biggest celebrations in Vietnamese culture and it is no different
here for TNF Torrance. Every year in January, we begin preparations for Tết Văn Nghệ, which
is a variety show sponsored by our Vietnamese Catholic community full of dancing, singing, and
other acts. TNF usually puts on about 3 performances!
At 10:00 am, Huynh Trưởng and Nghĩa began their first practice for the
"Colors of the Rainbow" Fashion Show. Members are paired up and assigned to
a color of the rainbow for a total of 13 couples. On the day of the show, they will be able to
flaunt their creative poses and stylish apparel: ladies will be wearing the traditional
Vietnamese Áo dài and gentlemen will get "suited up" to escort their partners
as they strut down the runway onstage.
By the time it was 11:30 am, the excited Ấu dancers, who will also be performing,
came rushing through the gates! This group consists of 16 girls and boys, all looking forward to
this wonderful celebration. For this year's theme, Chị Diana decided to take a new direction:
instead of traditional Vietnamese costumes, the performers will be sporting a more edgier army
look as they dance to "Anh Là Lính Đa Tình" by Trish Thùy Trang.
Lastly, Múa Lân dancers arrived to practice by 12 pm, bringing out all the festively colored lion
heads of the past years, as well as new ones that were generously donated to TNF. This year,
the Múa Lân team will be having familiar faces who have previously participated, however, it is also
exciting to announce that more of ngành Thiếu have joined this year, including teams of girls
who will be performing with their own lion heads!
While every one has been working hard practicing in the previous weeks, and will continue
to practice hard in the upcoming weeks, we are all excited to see what TNF has in store for
Tết Văn Nghệ this year! We hope that you are anticipating the day of the performance as
much as we are!
Tết Văn Nghệ will be on February 28 after mass. To see more of how we are preparing for
Chị Lucy Ta
Phụ Tá Nội Vụ
Đoàn Thiếu Nhi Fatima Đức Mẹ Truyền Tin Torrance
