20th Anniversary of Armenia’s Independence Celebrated in Sydney

By Toros Boyadjian

SYDNEY: On Saturday October 8 2011, the Armenian ‘Nor Serount Cultural Association’ of Sydney, Australia organized a concert at the Zenith Theatre in Chatswood, Sydney to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Armenia’s Independence.
The concert was held under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of Armenians in Australia and New Zealand and was attended by an audience of over 300 people.

The cultural evening included nine Armenian folkloric dances performed by two generations of ‘Nor Serount’ dancers – the junior dance group comprised of 19 children, the mainstream dance group of 14 members and the “veterans” of 1988! Yes, after 23 years since their first Armenian folkloric dance concert, the 10 senior members of the 1988 dance group, most of them in their 40’s rekindled the memories of yesteryear by performing the legendary “Kotchari and Pert (Fortress)” dances as the finale to this concert.

The audience were treated to a unique array of dancers and were thoroughly entertained and inspired by the performances. The rapturous applause and standing ovation was evidence of its success!

The celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Armenia’s Independence also housed local artists such as Miss Isabelle Marcarian who performed the National Anthems and “Paree Arakeel”, Mrs Gayane Topouzian who recited the famous “Yerk Hayasdani” poem of Hovhaness Shiraz and the popular “Sevan Band” duo of Vatche Demirjian and Harbik Hovanisian who presented an array of Armenian patriotic songs to the delighted audience.

Special thanks went to the ‘Nor Serount Cultural Association’ of Sydney, Australia for organizing this successful cultural evening and to all the performers for their magnificent participation in this concert and a special expression of gratitude to the Association’s dance group choreographer, Mrs. Lucy Mazmanian for her time and effort in ensuring that this concert was a great success.