2006 Beijing Soul 

Date: 18th August, 2006   Venue: Sydney Town Hall                    Video Trailler

Supported by: Australian Multinational Industry Investment Group - Sydney International Group - Kam Fook Group - GreenKing Group

Artistic Troupes & Organizations from: The Yellow River Choir – Australian Chinese Oriental Dance Troupe – Australian Friendship Choir – The Arts Troupe attached to the Shanghai Expatriates Association – Sydney Buds Dance School – Sydney Maple Leaf Arts Troupe – Australia-China Youth Arts Troupe – Leadership of the Beijing Overseas Chinese Association

Description: The evening performance Beijing Soul played to a packed house at Sydney Town Hall on August 18th, 2006. Held to celebrate the milestone of ‘two years to go’ until the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Beijing Soul was the best attended ethnic item ever presented at the Town Hall. Beijing Soul was presented by the Australian Chinese Performing Artists’ Association in conjunction with the Beijing Overseas Chinese Friendship Association and the Beijing Youth Federation, and supported by the Australian Committee for the Joint Construction of the Beijing Olympics Assn., the Shanghai Expatriates Assn., the Guangzhou Expatriates Assn., and other Chinese community groups. Reviews: An hour before the performance commenced, a long line of people were in line for tickets and as it become apparent the show would sell out, concertgoers could be heard calling out for people with spares to give them up. The organizers relented and allowed a small amount of people to enter without allocated seats; thus the show began with more than one hundred people standing, and according to the front of house staff, the show set a new audience record for ethnic productions. Of note, the visiting performance troupe had just completed two performances in New Zealand, and had touched down in Sydney only that morning! But they were infected by the enthusiasm of the crowd, and overcoming their exhaustion, performed exceptionally well, even relenting to give the crowd encore performances. The choral program was complemented by some unimaginable magic tricks and a selection of outstanding ‘crosstalk’ style Chinese comedy items. The crowd reacted in turn with wave after wave of rapturous applause. Testament to the resilience and perseverance of the troupe, performers Lv Liping and Sun Haiying gave their all for the crowd, even whilst down with severe colds, giving well received encore performances of their ‘Love Proverb’ and ‘Perfect Girl’. Upon completion of the evening’s program, audience members were loathe to leave the hall, with many queuing to take pictures with the star actors and actresses on the stage. Everyone commented favorably on the performance, with many citing is as the best in recent times, whilst thanking the Beijing performers for a wonderful show.