Enter the dragon

Miller Photography

A dance group adds to the dazzle and creativity of the day long festival.

Miller Photography

An appreciative audience enjoys the grace of the fan dancers.

Miller Photography

Chapter Leader Denise Balabushka helps students Audrey and Caterina get the festival programs ready.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy New Year! The celebration of the Chinese New Year — the Year of the Dragon — was everywhere at PS 203 in Queens. Every classroom, hallway and office of the Oakland Gardens school was ablaze with color and excitement, including teachers in splendid costumes, as they prepared for the arrival of the Lunar New Year at midnight on Jan. 23.

Parents and community joined elected officials at the daylong festival celebration of music and dance, staged and choreographed by the music, art, dance and drama teachers. It was standing room only on Jan. 18 as the ubiquitous dragon circled the school gymnasium. Two performances were required so everybody could be accommodated.

PS 203 has been marking the Chinese New Year with spectacles that rival Broadway productions every year for more than a decade.

UFT District 26 Representative Mary Vaccaro describes the school — which celebrated its 50th anniversary recently — as a “very positive place that produces something more amazing each year.”

It’s a school, she pointed out, with a thriving arts program that doesn’t just teach to the test.