Step Right Up to a Season of Tricks at 1 Mont Kiara this Chinese New Year!
Shaking off the fresh powder snow at 1 Mont Kiara is the cute harbinger of the Lunar
New Year for 2023, the perky-eared rabbit. The leap from Christmas to Chinese New Year in the past few weeks has been a brisk one, and the scenery at 1 Mont Kiara changed as abruptly as the vividly-coloured masks of bian lian performers, much to the delight of visitors to the mall.
An impressed audience applauds the God of Prosperity for his showmanship.
The silvery baubles of Christmas have been traded away for crimson lanterns and pink plum blossoms. Over the past weekend, the God of Prosperity has commenced his annual visit to the mall, spreading a bit of luck and prosperity to all fortunate enough to bask in his presence. The deity also had a few tricks up his sleeves, quite literally, as he magically conjured gold ingots and prismatic ribbons, seemingly out of thin air, perplexing a young and boisterous audience gathered at his feet.
The sound of beating drums and crashing cymbals also signal the return of lion dancers to the mall. The happy beasts marched to their own beat as they paraded around the mall with a blissful entourage and performed acrobatic feats, before tossing handfuls of mandarin oranges to outstretched arms. The lion dance troupes weren’t the only ones flaunting their dexterity at 1 Mont Kiara, as a bian lian performer equally flummoxed all who dared to lay their hands on his mask. Blink, and you’ll miss it; from blue to pink then red and green, the mask-changer donned a new colour ever so often, and frequently in close proximity of the audience member to show off his spectacular skill.
The bian lian performer astounding viewers with his speed and alacrity.
But the performances didn’t end there, as a street performer then took centre stage and jauntily invited children to perform mind-boggling tricks with him. Parents were in for a treat as their little ones were suddenly natural performers next to the bucktoothed vaudevillian, though many youngsters were equally fooled by the performer’s whimsical tomfoolery. The climax of the trickster’s performance involved a nail-biting, knife juggling act over a hapless (or felicitous, perhaps, since he survived) father and a plate-balancing act that was almost ten-feet tall. Were the children cheering him on for successfully pulling off both stunts, or were they secretly hoping that the clumsy fool would fail? None could tell, though everyone walked away with a handful of candy at the end of the day.
With the Lunar New Year approaching fast at the end of the week, 1 Mont Kiara will only resume its line-up of performances on the following weekend of 28 and 29 January. The God of Prosperity will once again return with more magic tricks and visitors can also catch more lion dance performances then in case they’ve missed them last week.
For more information and updates on upcoming Chinese New Year performances and activities at 1 Mont Kiara, visit https://www.facebook.com/1montkiara.