There are three little side stories to this Chinese concert held last 10-11 August 2013 that made the whole show something special. First, Filipino-Australian philantrophist/artist Nelson Estrella was 100 percent sure this Chinese group would entertain its audience. Second, the casts of Chasing the Dream wanted to perform in Australia and likewise have a reunion with other cast members. Third, producer of the show, Sandok Production was hell-bent to hold its first concert despite the group’s untested skill in producing a concert. And so the unshakeable faith of these three paved way to what has become a marvelous Chinese concert.
Despite the entire repertoire rendered mostly in Chinese, the beautiful music of Chasing the Dream and the Melbourne Philharmonic Chinese Orchestra was very inspiring. It only proves that music can in fact bring together people and their culture. Sopranos Cleo Lee-McGowan and Clarissa Belanti, and Tenor Tielin Wen have exquisite voices which evoked several cheers from the audience.
“Kangding Love Song”, “Waist Drum: Happy Life”, “Friendship Forever”, “Fan Dance: Weishan Lake”, “Singing with Dancing”, “Shipping Grain in Water Village” are what the Filipino audience found very entertaining. For one, Filipinos are fond of love songs and they value friendship. Second, these have distinct resemblance to some of Filipino songs and dances. The Fan Dance, for example, is similar to Filipinos’ Cariñosa dance in which dancers make a number of flirtatious movements as they hide behind fans and peek out at one another. Meanwhile, the essence of the show’s “Shipping Grain” is the Filipino version of “Magtanim ay di biro” (“Planting rice is never fun, Bent from morn till set of sun. Can not stand and can not sit, Can not rest a little bit.”)
The casts of Chasing the Dream simply showed that in order to be good at something, one has to have passion for it. The audience—Chinese, Australians or Filipinos alike—could see, hear and definitely feel such passion as evidenced by the lavish costumes and outstanding voices.
The show’s major sponsor was Philippine Tours, while event sponsor was Megaworld International. The two-day concert was held at the Ukrainian Hall in Ardeer.
Other photos of the show
