Energy, colour and enthusiasm were the watch words for the event dubbed a “Night of Caribbean Folk Dance”. The capacity crowd at City Hall was on Wednesday night treated to enthralling dance and musical performances from six countries: The Bahamas, Brazil, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname. Additionally, outstanding Guyanese flautist Keith Waithe in collaboration with one half of the group Buxton Fusion also added their bit to the evening’s proceedings.
While each performance had something special about it, the stand out presentation came from St. Kitts and Nevis. Their drummers and dancers stole the show as they delivered on their promise to
produce “a short, high energy performance”. Their drummers seemed to have just a bit more vigour than the others on show and thrilled the audience. One drummer proved to be particularly adept at gaining crowd support.
The well attired dancers proved to be crowd pleasers as well with their colourful costumes and deliberately enhanced rear ends which were used to good effect as they gyrated. But the group was appreciated because of the manner in which they were able to successfully fuse dance and drama in what turned out to be a humorous rendition. The group concluded their performance with a traditional masquerade, which ended the country’s enjoyable contribution to the evening’s activities.
Delegates from the Spice Island also entertained. Their drummers were impressive as they enthusiastically demonstrated various drum beating patterns. They also informed the audience about the history of various drum patterns. The Grenadian dancers also delivered a pleasing performance, although their costumes could have been more colourful.
The Bahamian performance was another impressive feature of the show. This included renditions by a decent-size band whose members made use of innovative instruments. This included a young man who was playing a saw, by scraping the blade vigorously with what appeared to be a knife. Their dancers were also beautifully attired and entertained the audience even more.
The representatives from St. Vincent and the Grenadines did their cultural heritage proud as they delivered a mini-spectacle to those on hand. Their performances were characterised by a beautiful array of colours and enthusiastic dancers and musicians.
And while some of the performances were being held within City Hall, the Surinamese delegation had theirs in the yard. Their performance was well appreciated as it included some unique features for the night. In addition to dancing and drumming, there was also steel pan playing and a martial arts demonstration done to music.
The Brazilians were the final contingent to appear on stage and they performed nine dances, some of which were clearly under rehearsed. Moreover the number of performances was a bit too much for the tiring audience. Nevertheless, the audience was appreciative of the performance by the first-time Carifesta participants.
At the end of the show, some of those in attendance were heard expressing their appreciation for what was a truly entertaining affair; an affair which served as a reminder that traditional song and dance is still alive in the region.
