The curtain came down on the 2025 National Independence Festival of Creative Arts Performing Arts semi-finals recently after 22 performances, many of which were impressive.
Audiences don’t seem to tire hearing the St Cyprian’s Boys’ School Choir and the final of the six shows was no different as they set Combermere School hall on fire. Under the direction of teacher Latoya McClean and backed by their school band, they opened the show with lively performances of two medleys hailing two of Barbados’ cultural icons.
In Tribute To RPB, the choir started with “I ain’t going nowhere”, the line taken from ten-time Pic O De Crop monarch The Most Honourable Stedson RPB Wiltshire’s Bim. They moved to If Ah Sweet Ah Sweet, I’m Alive, then Spontaneous before ending with the very popular Boat Ride where they swayed left, right, rocked back and forth and dropped anchor which had the audience cheering.
Their youthful exuberance continued during On The Road by Edwin Yearwood where they went into the extensive catalogue of Barbados’ first and only triple crown monarch (1995). The medley started with the first line of Something Greater Than Me and included Yardie, Obadele, Chrissening and ended with Sak Pasé complete with the very popular dance.
Reynold Weekes Primary School’s skit Let Me Retire was hilarious. Retirees ‘Cynthie’ and ‘Rudolph’ introduced the conversation about what life could be like for firemen, policemen, nurses and teachers with the increase in the retirement age to 67 and a half years. It was not nice, to say the least, and the audience got to see the possibilities if individuals in these professions remain on the job.
The skit suggested that houses may burn because the hoses are too heavy for the elderly firemen to lift; criminals would run circles around lawmen unable to keep up; patients’ health would be threatened because nurses can’t see well or administer injections with unsteady hands, and teachers would be ineffective in their classrooms owing to various challenges. The repetition of the lines, “I want to retire, this is my plea|I want to retire before the work kill me” was effective and the audience joined in.
Wesley Hall Junior School’s dancers brought the issue of climate change to the stage in An Island’s Beauty At Risk. The execution of the choreography, the fluidity of their movements, the use of gas masks to reinforce the message that the sea and flora were being polluted, and then the lone dancer purifying the air so everyone could breathe again, made it a standout. Their second entry, A Fight For Freedom, was also impactful.
I Speak Jesus was the title of the song performed beautifully by Christ Church Foundation School’s Pop Band which included singer Janae Lavia and saxophonist Nikhyl Burnett. Haynesville Youth Club’s drummers played two very rhythmic pieces, Hakidi and Sensational, the latter done primarily by females.
There were four entries in the new mixed discipline category. Singer Odane Bartley combined dance
for his performances of Suicide and Father, Gem-in-I Project’s Alchemy was a film showcasing their choreography depicting transformation and reflection, and Dancin’ Africa’s Equidistant was an interesting mixture of film and live dancers.
The adult dancers all had riveting performances. Barbados Dance Collective’s Mi-Cro-Sco-Pic was fascinating, showing symmetry and fluidity and movement as a lens, as they looked beneath the surface to depict life’s fragility and resilience. Lumination Shift’s Exposed Mysteries was a story of the last days of war and ultimately victory.
Demiko Newton’s Rebellion was artistic, Bim Cheer Federation’s Birds Of A Feather was gripping as it contained different dance genres and cheer moves and Fracture, Bajans in Movement’s entry had perhaps the most fascinating costumes among the dancers this season which, when coupled with their LED lights (outside of the stage lighting), took viewers to the futuristic time in which it was set.
In the area of theatre, two of the most striking entries of the night were Stray Shards, a short play that brought the stark reality of dementia and living with someone with the disease to the fore, ably depicted by Tiffany Williams and Akil Ifill, and ten-year-old Emmanuel Charles’ self-penned poem Getting Accepted.
The latter shared his frustration, treatment and inability of someone with exceptionalities such as autism, dyslexia and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) to make friends and sit still in a classroom. Urging others like himself to believe in and stay true to themselves and guard their uniqueness, he wants everyone else to be aware of the impact of their actions.
Spoken word poet Janae Greene told no lies in That Ain’t My Name, a compelling piece about females being harassed by males as they went about their business in public spaces, and people and society’s failure to hold them accountable so it would end.
Lafonn Millar was the other spoken word artiste who had a strong message in Crime In Bim, a commentary looking at the situation in the country, its repercussions and encouraging people to turn to Jesus. She also performed as part of the trio, Advent Youth, along with Mark Yearwood and Tony Cutting whose piece Biblical Solution To Crime offered a remedy for those in crime’s clutches, whether perpetrators or beneficiaries, to turn their lives around.
Lisa Broome was the night’s MC. (GBM)
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