Dance Festival comes to a close

J. Soso-Vincent 10.OCT.08

The 8th Kingstown Cooperative Credit Union (KCCU) National Dance Festival has come to an exuberant end. The Finals, which took place on Saturday, October 4th, saw eleven of the gold medallists from the preliminary rounds competing for the highly coveted festival trophies.{{more}}

In her remarks, Minister of Culture René Baptiste was delighted by the standard of performance put in by all the participants. She encouraged them all to maintain their skill and to develop it to its full potential, but to also learn to accept defeat. “You can’t always win… learn to lose with grace,” she advised. Baptiste was also full of praise for the teachers and parents who assisted with organisation and practice. “I’m thankful to them. They work very hard!” she affirmed.

Thomas Matthew, Cultural Officer in Grenada and also a judge at the Festival, took the opportunity to address the audience. He stated that Vincentians should be proud of the dance efforts of the participants. “They’ve come a long way…” he shared. Matthew further gave a brief critique of the Festival, including organisation, choreography, performance and technique. He admitted that he and the other judge, Barbadian Ian Douglas, believe that there should be a local judge, in future, to balance the process out.

Presented with trophies by KCCU Vice President Cicyln Joseph were: Most outstanding group – Renaissance Dancers, Most outstanding school – Canouan Primary, Most outstanding duet – Union Island Secondary, Most outstanding solo – Norlan Jackson, Most outstanding traditional dance in the Primary Schools – Mary Hutchinson Primary, Most outstanding creative folk in the Secondary Schools – Bishop’s College Kingstown, Most outstanding creative folk in the Primary Schools – Canouan Primary, Most outstanding Creative Folk (seniors) – Renaissance Dancers, Most outstanding Popular Dance (seniors) – Diadem Dancers, Most outstanding Modern Dance (juniors) – Biabou Methodist School, Most outstanding Social Dance in the Primary Schools – C.W Prescod, Most expressive senior dancer – Norlan Jackson, Most expressive junior dancer – Akinsanya DeFreitas (Mary Hutchinson Primary), Most versatile senior dancer – Nicholas Bartholomew (KLT Dancers) and the Congeniality Trophy went to C.W Prescod.

It was also announced that all dance festival participants aged 16 and under will be given the opportunity to audition to become members of the Junior Dance Club.