By Alexander Dworkowitz
Have you ever wondered what the groundward fighting fist and praying mantis martial arts techniques look like?
This weekend a downtown Flushing festival offers the chance to find out.
The first Asian Pacific Heritage Festival is scheduled to take place on Kissena Boulevard Sunday. The event will feature martial arts demonstrations staged by the Shaolin Kong Fu Temple in Flushing as well as dancing, acrobatics and Chinese opera.
For the past two years, the Flushing Chinese Business Association has sponsored street fairs with about 100 vendors on Kissena Boulevard in May.
This year the organization decided to expand the fairs into a festival with the inclusion of performances.
Fred Fu, president of the FCBA, said he hopes the event will attract thousands.
“This year we have such good performances more people should come,” Fu said.
Fu said the festival was an attempt to revive the tradition of the Flushing Fantastic, the giant street fair that died out in the 1970s.
At a Tuesday news conference announcing the event, Yana Yu, the head of the Yana Ballet Dance School in Flushing, said her students would perform both traditional Chinese and hip-hop dances.
“I want to combine American culture with Chinese culture,” she said.
The fair will run on Kissena Boulevard from Main Street to Sanford Avenue from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The festival also includes the showing of the PBS film “Becoming American: The Chinese Experience” at the Flushing Library on the hour from noon to 4 p.m.
The performance of a traditional Korean musical was also announced at the press conference.
The Korean American Culture & Heritage Association of Greater New York has organized the showing of the musical “Rich and Poor Brothers: The Story of Hungbu and Nolbu,” at Queens College.
The musical, which has been translated into English, accounts the traditional Korean tale of a rich man who will not share his wealth with his poor brother.
“The main story is very simple: the good people will be good, the bad people will be bad,” said Hyungsang Song, who plays the rich brother.
Chun Soo Pyun, president of the Korean group, said the show was translated into English to attract a “mainstream” audience.
“It’s very funny. The kids will pop their eyes out,” Pyun said.
The performances will take place at the Colden Center of Queens College on Friday, May 16, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, May 17, at 5 p.m.
Tickets range from $20 to $40. For more information, call 718-461-2262.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 141.
