| March 25, 2007
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| Spring Festival in San Francisco Showcases Cultural Diversity |
| S. Yawata |
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On March 25, 2007, SGI-USA members and guests in northern California were treated to a Spring Festival that included songs and dances from 11 different cultural traditions along with American rock and roll standards and hip hop dancing. The annual event began a number of years ago as a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration sponsored by the the local SGI-USA Chinese language group. Over the years, the festival was expanded to represent the diverse cultures of the San Francisco Bay Area. This year's festival took place at San Francisco's scenic Palace of Fine Arts, a popular pavilion showcased at the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition and finally restored in 1975.
| B. Didier (Dec. 13, 2004) |
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Several proclamations were received in honor of the event, including one from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Guests of Honor included Deputy Consul General of Mexico Alejandra Garcia Williams, and California State Senator Leland Yee. Mr. Yee presented a proclamation from the California Senate and commented that the SGI can go a long way toward educating politicians in the Buddhist attributes of compassion, humanism, and understanding.
The festival began as always with a traditional Chinese Lion Dance. Other cultures represented in the performances included those of Indonesia, Korea, western and northern India, Japan, France, Brazil, Peru, and Nigeria. Instead of traditional songs and dances, the Spanish language group reenacted the fight scene from the musical "West Side Story" to demonstrate how hatred can turn into compassion and enemies can become friends. The youth performers included the young women's fife and drum corps, the New Century Ikeda Brass Band, two dance groups and a boys and girls chorus.
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| Scene from West Side Story |
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During the show, Deputy Consul General Garcia told the audience and the performers: "Congratulations on creating such a beautiful display of cultural diversity. I am so happy to see SGI's Spanish speaking members contributing to the Mexican cultural traditions in today's program.... I can really appreciate SGI's efforts to create greater understanding and harmony between different cultures and your movement to foster global citizens for peace."
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| Japanese folk dance |
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Lenise Wilson, staff of the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, commented: "Coming from a background of mixed cultures, my mom being Chinese-Cambodian and my father being Caucasian, Mexican, and Native American, it was refreshing to see that regardless of race or ethnicity, SGI has brought numerous cultures together. I was extremely surprised at the peace I felt while watching the colorful shows and listening to the personal life-changing experiences of SGI's members.... I am deeply honored that I could share this memorable experience with the community."
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| Brazilian samba |
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Indonesian umbrella dance |
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| Peruvian folk dance |
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Japanese chorus |
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| Korean folk dance |
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Indian folk dance |
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| Javanese instrumental |
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Flag dance |
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| Boys and girls chorus |
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| Nigerian drum dance |
[Adapted from reports compiled by Ron Baird of SGI-USA San Francisco and an article in the April 1, 2007 issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan. Photographs from the festival contributed by Lloyd Carlson and Kingmond Young.]
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