Harmony Week 2022

Sanggar Lestari has been busy with performances during the first quarter fo 2022! March was no exception. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the Harmony Day multicultural celebrations with the Hội Cao Niên AVA Boroondara Community on Saturday 19th March at the Kew Senior Centre and on Sunday 27th March at the Senior’s Centre in Ashburton. Representing Lestari at the Kew event were Deena, Laura and Sally. The following week in Ashburton, Rani, Deena and Laura were our performers.

We decided to perform Kembang Jakarta - a Betawi dance - for both events. Not only is Kembang Jakarta a welcoming dance for events, but our brightly coloured costumes with bold red and green hues are a nod to Jakarta’s Chinese community. What made this special was that the Hội Cao Niên AVA Boroondara Community also have a strong connection to Chinese culture; performing an Indonesian dance at a Vietnamese community event where both our cultures share and celebrate historical and social ties with the Chinese community definitely embodies the spirit of harmony. This was particularly evident when karaoke songs were played, and people got up to enjoy line dancing! We also enjoyed watching a traditional Chinese dance too.

Alongside the Vietnamese, Chinese and Indonesian communities represented at the two events was also the wonderful Greek community. A group of beautiful Greek women showed us some amazing traditional Greek dancing, and some of us got up to join in too! The best moment was when we discovered one of the women had been at Deena’s wedding in Tholo, Greece in 2019! It was a beautiful moment to witness two people meeting together properly for the first time and discovering close family ties.

The VSCA Mừng Năm Mới Community were wonderful hosts and cooked up a storm for us! We had rice, pork, seaweed salad, spring rolls, savory treats and a Vietnamese style piece of rice cake for dessert. The event in Ashburton fell on the same day as a birthday of a committee member of the VSCA Mừng Năm Mới Community, and there was birthday cake and tea after the event for everyone involved. Federal MP Katie Allen was present at the event in Ashburton, and there was also a Zumba session with a professional instructor that day too. Deena – who had the most energy left – got up with the Zumba group and looked fantastic dancing away aerobic style Zumba moves in her Betawi outfit alongside Katie Allen! 

Thank-you VSCA Mừng Năm Mới Community for inviting us to celebrate Harmony Week with you!