Yesterday being a holiday, my day was relatively quiet. A bunch of housework got done whether I wanted it to or not. My evening was spent in an exploration of cultures. First stop was the Asian food Festival at Le Meridien Pegasus.

Ever being the food explorer I was looking forward to sampling the fare. Though the price tag was a bit steep, the all-you-can-eat concept is always a winner. Patrons were offered complimentary wine on entering (and I hear there were complimentary teas as well) before being led to their seats.

The countries on display were China, Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India, with all the dishes being prepared by visiting chefs. The food was enjoyable in most cases, with a variety of dishes on offer. The most interesting differences were in the seasonings used which created various tastes in the dishes.

The desserts were not as interesting because many of them were of the same kind of consistency. What was impressive was the fruit artwork decorating the table. The cultural presentations added a nice element and I particularly enjoyed the Lion Dance put on by some students of the Chinese Benevolent Association (CBA).

Local food festivals have become the events to host nowadays but it is always good to get a chance to explore other cultures besides our own.

Yesterday evening I took in the NDTC’s show at Little Theatre. Their annual season which usually precedes their international tour is usually well worth watching even with the repetitiveness of seeing the same repertory dances over the years.

This year there are several new dances of which all but one were choreographed by new and young artists. For this fact alone the show is a must-see because the new energy and creativity is incredible to watch. Unfortunately, one must attend at least a couple of times on order to see all the new dances.

The stand-out pieces in last nights show were “Sweet in the Morning”, a solo danced by Marlon Simms which brings forth just how graceful the male form can be all while exuding strength and power, and “Barre Talk”, a new piece choreographed by Oneil Pryce which plays with the use of the (ballet) barre through conventional exercises and more acrobatic ones.

In parallel with the influx of new choreography is a stream of young dancers. This is definitely not the NDTC of yore where you knew all the faces. A few of the dances were less clean than we’re accustomed to seeing but I suspect this will improve as the dancers develop further in the Company.

Overall, it was a great show, led by some very strong dancers. The tie-in between the lighting effects and the music with the choreography was engrossing. I will definitely be trying to attend at least one more show before the run ends in 3 weeks.

Last night I had the opportunity to see some of the fantastic creative talent we have here in JA. The event was the second staging of “I’ll Send You a Postcard”, an event to raise funds for persons looking to go abroad to pursue higher studies in dance. The first one was done back in 2002 for Neila Ebanks now returned here and making her mark in the dance fraternity as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and producer. This year’s beneficiaries are Shelley-Ann Maxwell and Oneil Pryce.

The show pulled together several dance troupes (Praise Academy, Company Dance Theatre, University Dance Society, L’Acadco) as well as other artistic contributors (ASHE, University Players). The variety of performers led to a superb mix of performances all of an excellent quality since presumably each group put forward one of their best pieces.

Tying the entire show together was a dance in several pieces by Shelley-Ann and Oneil themselves. Creatively and amusingly done, they danced with a globe with LONDON in bold print (the destination for both of them) until their final segment which saw them in warm weather gear bringing a suitcase on stage to collect their gifts (rum, breadfruit, bun and cheese, hardough bread etc.) from all the participants.

On one level it is unfortunate that creative talents like these have to leave to further their studies but luckily, for many of them, their love brings them back home to share their knowledge and experience and to help others achieve similar dreams. Keep an eye out for the I’ll Send You a Postcard Foundation.

Last night I had the opportunity to take in a small, local comedy production, Roson and Nadya’s Fanbelt, that has just ended its run at the Little Little Theatre. Though the show had the occasional redeeming point, I was reminded why I often skip these productions.

The audience was treated to the typical compilation of comedic sketches with a few musical numbers thrown in. Unfortunately, some of the sketches rehashed very cliched scenarios such as the sinful preacher and the babbling madwoman on the street. The over-the-top acting and almost incomprehensible accents and twangs, often shouted at maximum volume, made it even more painful at times.

On the up side, some elements of the concept were particularly creative with the show being introduced by a standard movie/television rating announcement, and the rolling credits at the end. The lighting effects were well-done for the most part, with some interesting synchronisation with the music.

A few of the sketches were cleverly done such as the vampire lamenting this modern society where he is no longer feared, especially here in Jamaica. One prospective meal was reported to have told him “if yu bite mi, mi bite yu back!!” Other highpoints included the policeman who was so caught up in a “suspicious” traffic stop he failed to notice the murders, robberies and weed trafficking happening right behind him, and the handcart man who was forced to pay a toll after prolonged arguing and then whipped out a credit card.

Producers of comedy revues like Fanbelt need to make a serious effort to come up with creative and original sketch material. Overall, it wasn’t the worst show I have seen but it wasn’t the best - there was a lot of room for improvement.

Even though after seeing Air Supply perform live I could have quite happily gone home to Kingston, there was still one more night to go of the festival. I slept until about 1pm (which is unusual for me but I rationalised by saying it was sleep for 2 nights ). We headed to a BBQ lunch at another villa before getting ready for the show.

On arriving at the venue, I again headed backstage for a bit (just to make use of my band, cause I was planning to watch more of the show from in front this time). I watched Maxi Priest perform from backstage which was cool. No pics this time tho as the security tightened up for the Saturday stars - MP went straight from the stage into a black SUV.

When I passed through the artists’ hospitality area, I caught a glimpse of James Ingram headed for the bathroom (no, I didn’t hijack him for a picture) and overheard him doing his vocal warmups. He is really short though, hadn’t realized that.

I headed back to find my group but the crowd was kinda thick so I walked the long way. By time I got settled again, James was on stage and the ladies were screaming. He was followed up by the diva herself, Miss LaBelle. Her performance was good, including her surprisingly funny stand-up comedy attempts - girl’s got attitude. The night ended with the tribute to Byron Lee. My favourite part? The performance of Electric Boogie by Marcia Griffiths.

Sunday saw me finally catching some sun by the pool before we headed back into Kingston. Sorry the weekend was over but glad to be home. Not sure how I will do the Jazz Festival again without a backstage pass tho.

When my people finally got ready to head back into town, they dropped me off at Silver Sands where my mother and her friends were staying. Since I had not yet slept (see Legendary night) I fell asleep in no time. About 2 1/2 hours later I was awoken to eat lunch. Since we were leaving there for 6pm I had no time for beach or pool (though really it was way too windy to enjoy either).

After dumping my bag with my mother’s friends who had come early, I headed backstage (thank god for this artiste band, it was wonderful). Most of Friday night’s show is a blur to me. I seem to recall that Richie Stephens performed but I was too busy looking about food at that point.

The highlight of my night, and pretty much anyone else who was there was Air Supply. This is the first time they ever performed in Jamaica, and according to the sister of one of the guys (who I chatted with backstage), she has been trying to get them here for ages but she didn’t think they believed her about the market here for their music.

Well, from the first note of the first song, the audience was singing. Except for maybe one song from their new album, we knew every word to every song (typical Jamaicans). I actually have a video clip of an example of this. Will get around to posting that soon enough. You could see the shock on Air supply’s faces. They didn’t expect this. Their performance was fantastic! They had energy and charisma and the crowd loved it.

I can tell you I overheard them say they would definitely come back, so somebody needs to get on that. See the rest of the pics.

The Thursday pre-show drama will be related at another time. For now I will stay on the happier note. After we performed and changed our clothes, a few of us (out of the 10) stayed to watch the rest of the show. Our artist bands (left) gave us full access to back stage.

From back stage (right) we got to see John Legend and his band (that had kept us waiting earlier when they sound checked). Fantabulous!! The drummer had some fancy hand movements that caught my girl Shienne’s eye. My eyes were on John at his piano. Whoooooeee! That man could sing!!

We headed down to the “hospitality” area (quotes explained in a later post) to get our pics with the Legend (below). I wasn’t so interested in seeing Shaggy perform but took my opportunity for a pic.

After the show, thanks to Shienne’s new friend (Swiss Chris, the drummer), we headed back to Half Moon Hotel to lyme with the guys from the band. Between a few drinks, a 6am swim and a great breakfast buffet, Shienne and I got back to our hotel at 10am Friday morning with enough time to shower and dress to check out at 11. All in all a great night!!!

Check out the rest of the pics. More updates to follow.

(by Pearl Buck) 

The truly creative mind in any field
is no more than this

A human creature born abnormally,
inhumanly sensitive.

To him a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.

Add to this cruelly delicate organism
the overpowering necessity to create,
create, create —- so that
without the creating
of music or poetry or books
or buildings
or something of meaning,
his very breath is cut off from him.

He must create,
must pour out creation.
By some strange, unknown,
inward urgency
he is not really alive
unless he is creating.

The poem above was presented to me in the programme for the inaugural concert season of the Jamaica Young People Symphony, whose motto is “UNITY THROUGH MUSIC“. They describe their mission as being “to create an inclusive orchestra movement on the island and provide unique educational opportunities in collaboration with other music entities, for the benefit of the young people of Jamaica.” They have a way to go but appear to be led by passion.

As for me, the poem seemed well suited, because I have spent most of my spare moments this weekend working on my blog, updating the design and continuing to tweak as fragments of ideas come to me. It is not yet completed but I will continue until it is as I envision in my head.

A couple days this week I sent sitting in the 2nd Caribbean International Arts Education Symposium. This was actually the first ever conference that I actually felt truly interested in the subject matter. Hearing these Caribbean and international perspectives on the need for arts education, the state of arts education in the region, the need for strong policy support for arts education, etc.

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These were all in the last few days (gotta love this place):

• 4 amazing bands (BWIA Invaders, Phase II, Desperadoes, All Stars) all gathered in one place (All Stars panyard) just to jam and celebrate All Stars anniversary
• Virtuoso solo pannists doing their recital for their degree (look where pan has reached!)
• A choir of about 30 people singing the latest soca songs (interesting concept, eh?)
• Exodus practising their festival pieces outdoors under a starlit sky

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