From: Fenan Russom (fenan.russom@gmail.com)
Date: Tue May 26 2009 - 15:48:16 EDT
This year’s May 24th celebration was a monumental event for the Dallas
Eritrean Community. The Eritrean Youth defined the true meaning of unity, by
organizing a show that traced the history of Eritrea’s struggle for
Independence. The show was compromised of two parts, Life before and after
independence and began with introduction by Fenan Russom and Merhawi
Mekonnen, that explained the significance of the day to the parents and
children and how the impact of what occurred 18 years ago still resonates
today.
The first short music drama by Haile Gebru "Yeaklena", the kids depicted the
people of Eritrea that lived in the city during the struggle. Following the
first act was “Meshatom Meshatom” which described the life and emotions of
the soldiers along with their families during the struggle. The song was
sang by eight young girls accompanied by 26 dancers of all ages from
9-14. As the show went on and the tegadelti walked onto the stage, people
rose from their chairs and welcomed them with a standing ovation. All the
kids carried out what was said to be one of the best performances of the
year. In the fourth act, “Ts’haye Berki” was performed which depicted a
short musical drama that motivated the Eritrean youth to join their brave
brothers and sisters in the war for Eritrea’s independence. It began with
the dancers entering the stage gracefully almost as if they were floating.
The children singers amazed the audience and the stage was covered with
dollar bills as if Helen Meles and Abeba Haile themselves were singing the
songs. The next scene opened up with war sounds and soldiers reenacted that
amazing day 18 years ago, May 24th 1991. They relived the struggle, showing
how some fighters fell but all of them helped each other while on the battle
field. When the battle ended, the soldiers stood up with their guns held
high and chanted “AWET N’HAFASH” with pride! They were quickly joined by the
rest of the kids screaming and clapping in jubilation with Fitsume Yohanes’s
“Natsinet” playing in the background.
The show than went on to the second portion, “Life After Independence” where
they illustrated the culture of Eritrea’s nine ethnic groups with Taniko
“Adeye” playing in the background. After all the ethnic groups danced, they
finished it off dancing in unity to Abrham Afwerki which highlighted the
theme in Hade Hizbi Hade Libe. Shortly after, the next act began, “Naye lomi
enbaba, naye ts’bahe fere” which was a short drama explaining how our kids
are the future of Eritrea, acted by three young girls, Almaz, Suzie, and
Hanna. The big finale, which began with three little girls ages of 4, 5 & 6
singing “Kidaney Natsent.” They sang it while the audience cheered them on
and ended their song with “ne Eritrea, ne Eritrea, ne Eritrea!” Then all the
kids that participated in the show- over 70 children- entered the stage from
different parts of the room, wearing the Eritrean flag colors and singing
“Sinit, Sinit”. They formed the Eritrean flag and sang loud and proud as
balloons fell from the ceiling ending the show. The audience stood up and
cheered for the kids overwhelmed with emotions and joyful tears, stating
that this was by far, "one of the best shows performed in the City of
Dallas."
The musical performers of the night, Dashim, Wedi Embaye, and Mehari shared
that the children of Dallas amazed them with their talent and this was
unlike any celebration they had been to. They started the guayla off with a
powerful song that got everyone on their feet. The seats continued to stay
empty most of the night, because everyone including the kids were dancing in
celebration of the 18 years of Independence and self-reliance of our
beautiful country Eritrea. It was a wonderful evening and definitely a
celebration to remember!
This year’s festivities would not have been possible without the cooperation
of the parents, as well as all the volunteers from PFDJ, YPFDJ, and the
community who contributed their time and effort to making this event
possible.
Click here to view pictures of the
evening<http://www.slide.com/r/-AiXg9sh5T_6vct-Io-q8wiPrPOGzYjw?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original>
*A special thank you is extended to all the individuals who organized,
wrote, and choreographed the show: *
*Merhawi Mekonnen*
* Fenan Russom*
* Semhar Haile*
* Shari Ruiz*
*...a**nd of course, to ALL the kids that participated.*
****If you would like to watch footage of the Dallas May
24th celebration, please tune into EriTV-Dallas TONIGHT at 6:30pm on
www.dallasimedia.net Click on Ch 96****
YPFDJ- Dallas