Fete de la Dance

 

Caribbean Dance Class performing Saraka, November 29th, 2014 at JFK Lecture Theatre, UWI

Feedback on Fete de la Dance via email and fb:


"I have just returned from the performance of “Fete de la Dance” presented by the Dance Unit and it was simply thrilling."

Mr. Jessel Murray, Senior Lecturer and Head of Department, 

Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA),  

The University of the West Indies (UWI)

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"I have just come from the dance performance, which I thought was outstanding.  Your own piece "Broken" was to me the most gripping of all.  Aside from a righteous piece and magnificent dancing, I was much impressed by Candice & Zari's acting.  One doesn't normally associate fine acting with dance performances, but it was all there.  If that piece is ever produced in Haiti, I expect the people will be very enthusiastic, seeing in it an allegory of their own independence struggle."

Christopher K. Star,Professor of Entomology (retired). 

Dep't of Life Sciences, UWI

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 "I enjoyed the show yesterday, thank you, despite the glitches. The work of Deboleena Paul was a breath of fresh air. It was also great to see strong male dancers well used in your and Sally's choreography. Hope the injured dancer recovered....Congratulations"

Mr. Rawle Gibbons, Senior Lecturer, DCFA, UWI

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"Jorge and the Choreographers and all the dancers of Fete de la Dance, Congratulations! I thoroughly enjoyed last evening's performance. It was a joy! Thank you.  And I loved the new space and its use... congrats to Ken for his innovative and appropriate light and Peter for the set.  Keep up the good work everyone!"

Danielle Lyndersay, Senior Lecturer and former HOD (retired), DCFA, UWI

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"Words to describe tonight ; first half , interesting, second half , exhilarating! thank you for the experience."

Robert Noel, Theatre Student and President of the Creative Arts Student Association (CASA), UWI

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"The soloists and duets were good ... I really enjoyed the Indian classical dance number, the male soloists and the bele dance :)"

Des Seebaran, Critic.

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"I attended the Fete de la Dance event and enjoyed it thoroughly.  Perfection is a work in progress and the students did a very good job as far as I'm concerned.  Keep up the good work. "

Sue-Ann Barrat, Ph.D. Student in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, UWI

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"The dancers in your unit gave a very lovely and entertaining performance on Sunday night. All the hours of hard work and practice definitely showed in their performance. I also loved the mixture and fusion of dance styles. It created a unique show. I was a former dancer and attained professional level in Ballet, Jazz, Modern,Tap and classical Indian, from RAD and ISTD. So it was good to see that dance is being highlighted at the University. I hope to see many more performances from your section and to hear of more of your research into dance science. Keep up the great work in promoting dance!"

Dr. Jo-Ann Sewlal, Editor, Environment TOBAGO newsletter. Dept of Life Sciences, UWI

 

Fete de la Dance

 

 

 Caribbean Dance Class rehearsing Saraka. 

November, 2014. Blackbox DCFA, UWI

 Fete de la Dance to welcome the holiday season

The Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) Dance Unit will present Fete de la Dance on November 29 at 8 pm and Sunday 30 at 6 pm at the JFK Lecture Theatre, UWI, St Augustine.
Fete de la Dance aims to promote dance arts, create new opportunities for dance students to perform and provide new spaces for dancers and audiences to interact, a release from the organisers said.
Fete de la Dance will present a duet called Into Me Into You, choreographed by Roxanne De Souza and danced by graduates Ian Baptiste and Salome John. The love story between two young lovers recreates the dynamics of a tempestuous relationship expressed through connections and disconnections, ruptures and attachments. UWI’s Festival Dance Ensemble will surprise the audience with three new dances: Shadows Approach, a contemporary piece choreographed by Sally Crawford; The Festive Occasion of Dhassara, an Indian piece choreographed by Deboleena Paul; and Fire and Water, a fusion piece choreographed by both Instructors. Crawford has also choreographed the solo piece Simple Kind of Man, danced by Dance Degree student Zari Kerr, winner of the Felix Harrington Prize, while Paul has choreographed the duet Saraswati Vandana, interpreted by dance students Anya Reyes and Danielle Balroop.
Dance student Lee-Anna Boyce will share with Fete de la Dance’s audience her talented secondary school dance students Kenson Laudat and Shanika Blackman, both winners in the Sanfest Festival. The two solo pieces choreographed by Boyce are: The Tribute, a piece dedicated to the victims and survivors of cancer, and Motherless Child, a piece that expresses the difficulty of growing up with an authoritarian father as the only parent in the household.
Tobago’s folk dances will be represented by the piece Temne Fusion, a colourful expose of Tobagonian culture choreographed by dance degree student Jillian Franklyn and interpreted by dancers Keisha Davidson, Lizelle Taylor, Christelle London and Kimmie Potts.
Broken, a piece choreographed by lecturer and dance coordinator Jorge Luis Morejón in collaboration with Zari Kerr and dance degree student Candice Brathwaite, references an important parable from the bible. The archaic story interpreted by the duet reveals universal themes of humility, opulence, greed, grief and godliness in an attempt to connect the dance experience with a lost sense of the sacred.
The Caribbean dance degree class will also present an African Nation dance Saraka, (A Thanksgiving). The vibrant piece is choreographed by degree student and instructor Mindy Giles, winner of the Humanities Faculty Award.

 Link: http://www.guardian.co.tt/entertainment/2014-11-22/fete-de-la-dance-welcome-holiday-season

The Caribbean Academy of Sciences

 in Collaboration with 

the Tobago House of Assembly

Presents the

25 Anniversary Celebrations

19th General Meeting

and Biennial Conference

at the Magdalena Grand Beach Resort

21-23 November, 2014

Tobago, W.I.

Conference Theme:

“Harnessing Science and Technology to Create Knowledge-Based Economies and Preserve Caribbean Ecosystems.”

Paper Title: 

 Validation of Caribbean Dance as a Marketable Item: The Economics of Cultural Ecology around the Public Education System in Trinidad and Tobago.

By

Jorge Luis Morejon

Abstract:Cultural ecology is an important concept in analyzing the value of Dance Arts in the Caribbean. Dance can be looked at from several positions: economic, therapeutic and aesthetic. Yet, Dance Arts could be seen as a cultural manifestation with limited market value. Its therapeutic value is practically unknown. In terms of economics, it is generally believed that dance is an art form which value relays on the trade or sales generated around the dance event. However, these believes ignore the relationship between dance and concepts such as use, exchange, instrumental and inherent values. Dance, considered an economically limited art form, needs to be positioned within the emerging global economic structures. Its conceptualization as a cultural model for Caribbean sustenance may prevent the current invasion of foreign cultural influences. Concepts such as investment value and rates of return are discussed to illustrate the marketing importance of dance in reference to the economics of cultural ecology around the Public Education System in Trinidad and Tobago. New understanding of the neuroscientific data related to the role of dance in developing learning structures and brain capacities, contributes to acceptance of dance’s potential to become an important knowledge-based market item.