On Sunday, March 9, in Meredith, Victoria (an hour out of Melbourne), Adriana Lazaridis, dance-music DJ and former PBS community radio presenter, performed at Melbourne’s iconic Golden Plains festival.
This festival is held at the same site as Meredith [music festival] and is one of the most historical and diverse music festivals in the southern hemisphere bringing acts like Liam Gallagher (OASIS), Bon Iver, The National, Four Tet and Jamie xx over the years.
Attracting 15,000 people to the site where people camp and spend the long weekend away, the festival is always a sell out. Adriana’s set took place on the Sunday, between 5-6pm, which is typically reserved for the biggest names in dance music.
Opening and closing her maiden set (which consisted of house music, European dance music and the occasional Despina Vandi remix), were local Pontian dance troupe Akrites tou Pontou.
Performing the Kotsari and Seranitsa, their shoulder tremors, synchronised arm swings, jolts and precise steps entranced the diverse Australian audience in a culturally rich and energetic performance that the 30 year old festival never imagined it’d see.
Having worked together to activate nightclubs, raves and discos, this was not the first collaboration between Adriana and the Akrites, however this remains (perhaps forever) their most significant and applauded work.
Adriana’s family hails from Northern Greece and she dedicated the performance to her late father, who also shared a passion for his Greek culture and migrant community identity.
This collaboration has caused large reverberations amongst the global online music community and endless messages of thanks and intrigue have flooded her social media.
For a significant Australian festival to embrace these cultural displays show an appetite for cross cultural sharing and resonate with evolutions of multiculturalism.
This is also symbolic of the role played by third generation Greek Australians in the broader representation of their culture amongst peers and the industries they occupy.
Adriana returns to her ‘Spasta series’ of day party series in April, where audiences can see more.
