Sizzle and fizzle

Carifesta X kicked off at the National Stadium yesterday with some stellar performances in an hours-long programme that dragged on amid a sometimes inaudible sound system.

Unusually stormy August weather and torrential rain delayed the start of  the packed programme.

It was as if the weather dried up rather than soaked the proceedings but there were those few moments when the cultural plenitude that Guyana had promised materialized; holding promise for what is to come as the country hosts the region’s cultural festival for the second time in 36 years.

There were no parachuters as promised owing to the blustery weather conditions that lashed the stadium for just over an hour pushing back the starting time but there were the CLICO fireworks- an impressive display that lit up the night sky like fresh hope.

“We did fairly okay tonight and as for coordination and execution there are some things to assess”, Artistic Director of Carifesta X, Dr. Paloma Mohamed told Stabroek News last evening as the curtains came down on the opening ceremony.

What could have been had there been a smooth execution is the question that lingers and though the night seemed to have dragged on rather than flowed there was that feeling that something special was going to happen at some stage, and it did when First Born stood before their home crowd to blaze a trail of Carifesta glory.

In that one conscious moment their words of being mentally tough seemed fitting for a nation just prior to its biggest cultural moment since the 1972 Carifesta opening. The group sang,

“Got to get my head together

To face this tough and stormy weather

My Irits has got to be so high, so high”.

First Born’s performance noticeably moved the crowd with persons chanting the lyrics of the tune, ‘Irits’, which had been popular before but reached unofficial anthem status at this year’s opening, and as they sang the X Factor dancers rocked to the reggae rhythms in fine entertaining style.

But it was reggae, dance, masquerade and the melodious voices of a combined local choir which turned out to be among the most outstanding features of a programme that had much promise yet subsided into a step by step event with little feel of vigour.

A beautiful children’s costume dance sequence, a combined effort of several schools in Guyana, under the direction of respected Guyanese choreographers Linda Griffith and Vivienne Daniels was the highlight of the dances which flowed in various sequences early in the proceedings.

Little butterflies and buttercups floated across the ground at Providence dancing to music that at times was inaudible. Their delicate movements and little flutters moved with wind blowing over the stadium and as they grooved to the rhythms the audience appeared in a slight trance. It was the future of Carifesta on display and step by step they stole the hearts of the crowd.

Balloons and doves

Carifesta officially opened with the parade of participating nations which lasted for some time as each country soaked up their welcome on the ground. Some walked out waving flags and smiling as the then sparse crowd at the stadium welcomed them.

Others liked Trinidad and Tobago burst onto the ground with excitement, beating drums and dancing as if hot with Carnival fever.

Some Guyanese who wanted in on the action got up from their seats shaking and from a few corners waving little Trinidad flags. The contingent from Jamaica was not a large one but they were high-energy, feeding off of a Guyanese crowd obviously still wrapped up in the successes of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt who dominated the 100 and 200 sprints at the Beijing Olympics.

But it was the Surinamese who really captured the hearts of onlookers as they came fully costumed for the opening depicting what they said was Caribbean unity. Their rich costumes were most eye-catching.
Minister within the Ministry of Education, Dr. Desrey Fox followed the parade with an Amerindian incantation. The chant is rare and is passed on from the spirits after several initiation rights in the indigenous culture.

As Dr. Fox ended her chant the stage set on the ground at Providence filled with local performers who raised a large golden bird and also released balloons tied with little white doves. The doves signalled the opening of the festival and were in keeping with the spirit of Carifesta that indicate the marriage of the traditional new, past and future.

Dance sequences followed this with over 1,000 local dancers taking over the stage to perform various numbers. Designers Michelle Cole-Rose and Trevor Rose outfitted many of the dancers with costumes that were beautiful to look at, particularly those that the younger children wore.

The combined choir which harmoniously blended around 300 of the country’s gifted singers drawing from the experienced to the budding vocalists took the stage belting out Caribbean folk songs after another. The songs spoke of the bounties of the region particularly about food. The choir was under the direction of Marilyn Dewar and Meghan Duke of the Woodside Choir.

There was also a traditional Queh Queh welcome and later in the programme came a maticore, between them they represented traditional ceremonies that are held before marriage in the African and Hindu communities respectively.

What followed was a performance of dancers from the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha under the direction of Dr. Vindhya Persaud in a sequence referred to as the, ‘lotus dancers’. They were simply beautiful bringing colour and graceful movements to the stage.

The Yoruba singers followed with a lively performance that seemed to have awakened persons in attendance who were part of the inaugural 1972. Their style, traditional African folk rhythms, was a wonderful complement to the proceedings.

Fashion and the
Ala Kondre
drummers

In a tribute to his father reigning calypso monarch Young Bill Rogers performed the popular Shanto, “West Indians weed woman” but was barely audible. He sang his heart out and left the stage having done Guyana and his father proud.

It took a while for Suriname’s Ala Kondre drummers to take the stage but while it was raining heavily at the stadium they were informally introduced to the Guyanese audience; beating away as it poured trying to keep the spirits of the performers alive.

The Ala Kondre drummers are a combination of drummers skilled on all types of traditional drums from Suriname. The drummers teamed up with Guyanese international flautist Keith Waithe for a wonderful, entertaining performance. It was among the more special performances of the opening.

But while this was unfolding a parade of local models filled the stage showcasing dazzling Guyanese fashion. Designer, Sonia Noel; Richard Younge of Trinidad and Tobago and Kofi Branch of Barbados choreographed the fashion parade which was among the more pleasing items.

It was hardly a gala with the chutney band and the popular local Shakti String Orchestra kicked off a combined chutney presentation with singer Celia Samaroo, a well known chutney artist in the forefront of everything. The group sang a medley of local and regional chutney songs. Aspara, a new Indian dance phenomenon in Guyana, backed the singers.

Local divas Tamika Marshall and Celeste David were in action later on and they rocked the house according to those who could hear them- others struggled to follow the performance.

The local masquerade group, which was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony, delivered. The flouncers hit the stage dancing feverishly as the popular ‘Mother Sally’ and the ‘Wild Bull’ gyrated around the ground.

Their act was immediately followed by a masquerade group from Trinidad which aroused much interest when one of the performers, the Blue Devil, stormed on the stage blowing fire. Their presentation was the icing on the cake of an incredible masquerade sequence.

But the show ended appropriately with rising Guyanese singer Lisa Punch performing her infectious Carifesta theme song.

The song was composed by Ansell Bostic and Mark Hall and arranged by Assistant Commissioner of Police Bovell and Robert Burns of the Guyana Defence Force.

Punch backed by an amazing 100-piece steel band and the Classique and X Factor dancers with fireworks as her backdrop wrapped up the evening in fine style. As her voice soared across the stadium the performers covered the ground in a grand display signalling the end.