Department of Culture closes out 2022 National Dance Festival with great public support

THE CURTAINS CAME down on the KCCU Dance Festival last Saturday, October 8 after a two year absence due to the challenges of COVID-19.

This year, the festival, staged at the Russells Auditorium from September 17, attracted almost full nightly attendance and a full house on the final night.

During the festival, each night featured a different category of dance and on the night of the finals all gold medallists performed the same dances for which they were awarded gold in the previous weeks. The groups choreographed around the themes: “arwe dance” performed on September 17; “simply grace” on September 24; “Baila! Caliente on October 1; and the finals “Together we can” on October 8. La Gracia Dance Company dominated the festival with 11 of 23 dances in the finals. The festival was last held in 2019 at the Peace Memorial Hall.

ST VINCENT AND THE Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) Performing Arts Society received gold for their hip hop dance

Dance Coordinator and head of the dance unit in the Department of Culture, Claydonna Peters told SEARCHLIGHT “It was like a breath of fresh air” that the different dance groups were given the opportunity to dance and interact with colleagues and friends. Peters said “ COVID is something that made many people feel trapped, not knowing what happens next; so having the opportunity to be free to dance and express ourselves” contributed to the a feeling of pleasure.

Peters added that the performances were of a very high standard and there was great support from the public. She added that more groups were involved this year and more technical pieces were done.

“This made the festival bigger and better.”

She thinks the two year break motivated participants to go back to the drawing board to be more creative in their productions.

Theatre Practitioner, Nisha Hope who was the stage manager at this year’s festival told SEARCHLIGHT that “ The overall experience was a good one. I had the pleasure of working with a team of young people who I felt handled themselves well in their capacity.” She said that her team of young people “were open to learning and took criticism very well.”

DANCE COORDINATOR and head of the dance unit in the Department of Culture, Claydonna Peters

The dance groups worked tirelessly to entertain during the competition. Even when they weren’t awarded gold, they turned up each week and upped their game. Hope said this showed discipline and love for the art form.

Former head of St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) Performing Arts Society (PAS) division of dance, and choreographer, Omega St Hillaire, told SEARCHLIGHT that her goal was to introduce her dancers to different dances and concepts, give them the exposure to performing on stage, and see the creativity of other dance groups.

St Hillaire added that “after our first two weeks of winning silver medals, on the third week we received gold for our hip hop dance”.

“On finals night we were awarded the most outstanding group for the category of popular dance.” She said “we were ecstatic because although we were having fun while dancing, we were also happy to be recognized and praised for our hard work and creativity.”

Kadeem Burton, a member of PAS dance group was awarded most promising dancer from the senior community category of the festival.

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