Swirling a dragon around his body, on Feb. 2 Daniel Yang ’28 performs the Legend of the White Snake in the Englert Theatre. The Legend of the White Snake — a Chinese legend centered around a romance between a man and a snake — was the opening performance of the 2025 Lunar New Year Gala.

Performing a Soprano solo, Jiarui Mao sings “My Affection Awaits You.” Mao followed The Legend of the White Snake with the first vocal performance of the evening.

Squatting down, a University of Iowa Chinese Dance Club member performs an umbrella dance. The umbrella dance is a popular folk dance that originated during the Han Dynasty in China. Students from the university and West High came together Feb. 2 at the Englert Theatre for the annual Lunar New Year Gala, which brought the Iowa City community together to celebrate the year of the snake.

Plucking the strings, Sarah Luo — a member of the Nebraska Chinese Association — plays the Guzheng before accompanying a taiji sword dance. The Guzheng is a traditional Chinese instrument tuned to a major pentatonic scale, responsible for creating many beloved Chinese folk songs.

Accompanied by a Guzheng, Dan Song strikes with the Taiji Sword. Various types of sword dances are used for communicating ideas in Asian culture, such as the supernatural and communicating with the dead.

Moving with the Guzheng, Dan Song performs with the Taiji Sword. The sword dance utilizes slow, dramatic movements to focus on flow and relaxation.

Raising their arms, Huiqiang Zheng, Katelynn K. Cornell and Joy Singer — members of the University of Iowa Chinese Program — perform a Chinese Minority Dai dance. The dance mimics a peacock, inspired by the bird’s graceful movements.

Singing together, Shefali Huynh ’25 and Maile Kruse ’25 perform “For Good” from the musical “Wicked.” The musical highlights the ostracization of individuals and dealing with exclusion from society.

Approaching the audience, dancers from the CURRENT Dance Group of the University of Iowa perform “OMG” by New Jeans. Focusing on K-pop performances, the group brought modern Asian culture to the 2025 Lunar New Year Gala.

Striking with their feet, siblings Ellie and Andy Jeon perform a synchronized karate routine. Students from across the Iowa City Community School District came to watch and perform in the annual Lunar New Year Gala.