Inaugural Talent Festival delights in Cromwell
A skirl of bagpipes rang out over Cromwell on Sunday afternoon, welcoming more than 150 Central Otago residents to the inaugural Talent Festival.
The brainchild of this event, Fran Dustan, was educated in Cromwell. When she returned from living and working overseas, Fran could see that Central Otago was becoming more multicultural. However, she saw “a need for more cohesion and interaction between the different cultures”. Fran’s ultimate goal for this event was to see “our diverse community unite” and “come together to create a more socially cohesive society, which is something that we all want”.
Dimple Tuteja, originally from Delhi, India, but now an integral part of the Cromwell community, seamlessly wove performances together by introducing each of the performers.
Juan Pablo Gutierrez, took the audience on a tour of Chile with his guitar - from Central Chile, to Easter Island, and Patagonia.
Next, Mamta Nerurkar, wowed the crowd with her Garba dance which originates from the state of Gujarat in India and is performed around the statue of the Hindu Goddess Durga.
The Filipino Community (FCCONZ) displayed their skill with a Cariñosa cultural dance, followed by the Tinikling Bamboo Sticks.
Sophie Hunter, aged eight, showed poise and elegance with her classical ballet performance, and this was followed by Meraine Rotaria’s Te Bino dance from Kiribati.
Jagdeep Kumar, from Punjab in India, composed his own song accompanied by drums, which told his powerful story of overcoming alcohol addiction.
Olga Ilina, who lives in Roxburgh, invited the audience to join her in a simple traditional Russian dance. This was followed by mentalist and magician Jeremy Armitage – and he certainly managed to convert the unconvinced!
The Fine Thyme Belles chose three songs from strong female artists, to represent the inspiration, support, and connection this diverse group of women gain through music.
The Tongan Community sang two gospel songs and finished off with a fun and vibrant action song.
The event was closed by the solo performance Ms. Kaye Gamino from the FCCONZ, with her beautiful rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon”.
Heather Harries from the CODC’s Welcoming Communities was delighted with how the event panned out.
“There were so many unknowns to organising this event and there were times when we wondered if it would all come together. Thankfully - it did, and that is entirely due to the commitment of the volunteer organisers and the talented performers.
“I feel sure that we all came away from the afternoon with our hearts warmed by the sense of connection that was created. It was a room full of people with different stories, different pasts, different reasons for living here in Central Otago, but an acknowledgement that we all want to feel that deep sense of belonging, we all want to be seen and respected – and if we celebrate our differences, we can unite.”
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See Central App: Cultural talent festival unites people in Central (centralapp.nz)
