The Korean Embassy in South Africa commemorates the 30th anniversary of Korea-South Africa diplomatic relations in cooperation with the Korean Cultural Centre in South Africa, the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Artscape and the Playhouse by inviting [Dream With Ensemble], an ensemble composed of people with developmental disabilities.

A total of five performances were held in four cities (Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, and Johannesburg) in the host country from Saturday, 17 September 2022 till Monday, 26 September 2022.

The starting point of the long journey began on Saturday, 17 September at the Atscape Theatre in Cape Town, the legislative capital of the host country. In a congratulatory speech, South Africa's Minister for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (Maite Nkoana-Mashabane) said it was an honour to attend a ceremony to celebrate Korea-South Africa's 30-year diplomatic relationship, and thanked the Embassy and other South African Government agencies for their efforts to promote art and cultural rights for the disabled. The piano performance was performed by blind pianist Ying-Shan Tsieng, concerto by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, dance performance by the Deaf Dance Company ‘Unmuted’, and Dream With Ensemble.

▲ Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in South Africa celebrates 30 years of Diplomatic Relations

Dream With Ensemble presented a diverse repertoire including classical music, pop songs, and Arirang. In particular, he performed the South African songs Jerusalema and Africa, which are loved by the residents of the country, and received a great response and a standing ovation from more than 700 audiences who attended the event.

▲ Dream with Ensemble performing the popular song 'Jerusalema’

▲ Standing ovation and response from the audience to the Dream With Ensemble

The second performance was held on the 20th of September at The Playhouse Company Theatre in Durban. Deputy Director General at Department of Women, Youth & Persons with Disabilities (Shoki Tshabalala) congratulated the diplomatic relations between Korea and South Africa through a congratulatory speech and said that she hoped that society could embrace the disabled through the ceaseless efforts of disabled artists in spite of persistent barriers. The event was attended by more than 250 spectators and artists such as wheelchair singer First Lady Pinky and the disabled arts dance troupe African Sinakho Arts added to the synergy of the event.

Like the Cape Town performance, Dream With Ensemble received a great response and a standing ovation from the audience, and during the Jerusalema performance, the audience and the artists who performed danced together on the stage and enjoyed a successful performance.

▲ Spectators dancing together on stage, unable to contain the excitement of Dream With Ensemble's performance

The third performance was on the day of the National Day event at the Korean Embassy in South Africa on 23rd of September (Fri). It was held at the National Botanic Garden. The Dream With Ensemble started playing the South African national anthem with local Korean school students.

Starting with the students playing the South African national anthem, followed by South African blind singer-songwriter Kazozo, they performed to 500 VIPs from Korea and South Africa.

It was also an opportunity to showcase Korea's diplomatic relations with South Africa through disabled art and culture exchanges to 500 VIPs from various countries and the host country.

▲ Dream with Ensemble performing at the National Botanical Gardens in Pretoria

The fourth performance was held at the Cultural Heritage Event of South Africa on 24th of September (Sat). The cultural heritage event was broadcast live through the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the largest public broadcaster in South Africa, and about 1,000 people attended.

In the first part of the cultural heritage event of the host country hosted by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture of South Africa, a total of 12 performance teams from various tribes in the host country participated. Dream with Ensemble was given the opportunity to play two songs, Jerusalema and Africa, and the performance was broadcast live on SABC in South Africa

▲ Dream with Ensemble performing at a South African heritage event

At the event, Ms. Phuti Mabelebele, Chief Director at the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, in a 10-minute interview with SABC explained the Korean Embassy in cooperation with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture, and the Korean Cultural Centre held the four cities performances with Dream With Ensemble to show the social integration of the disabled.

Korea, which is developed, took this opportunity after receiving the Dream With Ensemble's proposal for cooperation in South Africa.

Through the exchange performance, the Korean band with developmental disabilities and the artists with disabilities from South Africa took it as an opportunity to show their artistic talent and in particular, was impressed Dream With Ensemble’s performance of Jerusalema. She said that she was impressed by how well they played South African songs.

The fifth performance was held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation Theatre in Johannesburg on 26th of September (Mon) and 80 people including local media attended. Sello Hatang, the Chief Executive of the Nelson Mandala Foundation, said that he hoped to harmonize with society by improving awareness of the disabled through this event. It was held as an event to conclude the tour of South Africa and was well received by the local media and the audience.

▲ Dream with Ensemble performing Arirang at the Nelson Mandala Foundation performance hall

After completing a total of five performances in four cities (Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Johannesburg), the Dream With Ensemble team visited the Korean Cultural Centre on 27th of September (Tue) and had a tour of the exhibition hall of the Cultural Centre , they also had time to see facilities such as Sarangbang and library.

The Dream With Ensemble team said they were impressed and patriotic by various Korean cultural programs such as K-pop dance, taekwondo, and Hangeul classes provided by the Cultural Centre to locals

.

When asked how his time in South Africa was, Kim Woo-jin, one of the Dream With Ensemble band members, said, "It was a great time, my dream is to become a celebrity, and it was so nice to have the audience clapping loudly and enjoying every performance," he expressed satisfaction. When asked which one he liked better, Korea or South Africa, he said, "Korea is still better."

▲ Dream with Ensemble in the front yard of the Korean Cultural Centre

The Dream With Ensemble event was very interested in interviews with local media such as Yonhap News, Kookmin Ilbo, and Able News, as well as SABC and Channels Television, the largest public broadcasters in the country. The Korean Cultural Centre in South Africa will continue to hold "Visiting Cultural Centre" events, taking the lead in K-pop, Taekwondo demonstration performances, and spreading the Korean Wave culture, including disabled art.