A group of more than 100 Sri Lankans residing in Dunedin held their Christmas Celebration programme on 25th December at the St Patrick's Basilica community hall.
Sri Lankans in Dunedin comprises of various professionals, tertiary students, and school-age children. Well-wishers turned out for a truly memorable evening of talent and entertainment at this event. Monsignor John Harrison of the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin was the Chief Guest on the occasion.
The programme featured several events illustrating Sri Lankan cultural values, their unique different talents spanning not only to the religious aspects but also with Christmas carols, singing karaoke, and dancing that amused the attendees with surprises. Santa clause was present throughout the event encouraging the performers with gifts and cheering the crowd with his unique joy and humour.
The hobby and budding artistes delighted the audience with different solos, duet and group performances that delivering multidisciplinary skills. Among the featured events, Western ballroom dancing event was a stunning performance by two teenage couples trained by prominent dancing enthusiast and choreographer Randima Senarathna. The beautiful and talented couples, Sanduni, Malissa, Ravija and Nimesh, delighted the crowd with a series of gorgeous routines that added an element of enchantment to the evening. These young dancers performed a visually dazzling and rousing jig that captured the rhythms of Latin American jive number that stole many hearts in the audience. The Christmas carol event led by Nirmala Wijesinghe and performed by the children depicted the religious value into the programme that included both English and Sinhala (Sri Lankan native language) songs.
The day celebrated the variety of rich art traditions and cultural mores that this community brings to the Kiwi culture, thereby helping to promote a better understanding of the Sri Lankan heritage and shared values that connect all of us here in New Zealand.
- Dr. (Mrs.) Sachintha Jayarathna
