DIAKOSMOS CONCERT BLOG – INTERVIEWS WITH DIANNE

FEBRUARY 2022 

 

Hello Kindred Spirits! It’s Miss Alex here! 

 

I have been chatting with Dianne over the past week, and she has been telling me why she feels that this Summer 2021 Concert is particularly special. She can tell that the students are SUPER excited – the air is buzzing! They are really raring to go! 

Routines are being polished, tickets are being snatched up, and costumes are in an organised mess on clothes racks. 

 

Dianne and I agree, and I’m sure you do also – that is really nothing quite like the electricity of seeing live performance. Over the past few months, the city has come back to life, with live performances happening all over Melbourne. We are slowly making our way back to some sense of normality. 

 

I’m sure all the students at Diakosmos can relate- there is nothing quite like the energy of the Lights-Camera-Action when we’re in the theatre! Preparing costumes and make-up, waiting in the wings, and feeling the hot stage lights on your face – Exhilarating! 

 

Throughout 2020 and 2021, all thanks to Dianne and the committed Diakosmos team lead with stamina and spirit,  – we never missed a chance to perform. Dianne and I looked back on some of the fantastic Diakosmos concerts which went ahead despite lockdowns and harsh restrictions. 

 

Dianne: “We kept the performances alive throughout those tough times” 

 

• In 2020 we brought our Mid-Year Concert to life by filming routines in our homes, then gathered together in cyberspace to watch students present their work. 
• At the end of 2020 we brought our End of Year Concert, “The Old and the New”, to life by filming in the studio. We showed the performance online again. 
• In the middle of 2021, in a brief 2 week period of freedom, we madly rushed to rehearse and film together in the studio for our Mid-Year Concert. The next week, back in our homes with hot chocolates and popcorn in hand, we viewed the concert online. 
• Then finally, in December 2021, we came together in person at the Fairfield Boathouse to share a preview of our 2021 Summer Concert. 

 

And now in 2022 we are beyond excited to present our 2021 Summer Concert, LIVE (no Zoom involved whatsoever) at Gladstone Park Secondary College. The Diakosmos staff are so proud of all students, who have worked so resiliently and enthusiastically since July 2021 to prepare for this concert. 

 

We would like to send a heartfelt “thank you” out to all the Diakosmos families, parents, carers, and the St James Parish community. Thank you for supporting us throughout the past two years – we wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for you. 

 

“We are so grateful to be able to continue to share our passion for the performing arts with all our Kindred Spirits.” 

 

Dianne says that she can see the twinkling in students’ eyes, smiles on faces, and can feel the anticipation in the air as the concert date draws near! 

 

Dianne said to me: “All Diakosmos Kindred Spirits share a passion for performing – and that’s what this is all about.”

 

This concert is about celebrating community and companionship – about coming together. About creating a space where we can all feel free, to dance from the heart. 

 

“It takes a village – and this is the Diakosmos village”