Danceworks presented a rhymthmic, undulating dance at 'Jamaica Youth In Concert' at Emancipation Park, New Kingston on Sunday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer ANA AND Samantha Strachan in very fetching red dresses acted as the proverbial topping on an evening of wondrous performances in music, drama, and poetry on Sunday.
The two performed at the Prime Minister's National Youth Awards for Excellence ceremony and the Jamaican Youth in Concert in Emancipation Park, New Kingston.
The sisters performed the Celine Dion and Barbara Streisand duet, Tell Him, which had the audience screaming in delight, and was the only act to receive a standing ovation. Both young women displayed very strong vocals, though Ana has evidently received much training as her controlled performance demonstrated.
Nonetheless, young Samantha easily won over the audience as she belted out high notes in a powerful voice which quite belied her tiny stature. Her sister looked on appreciatively, clearly delighting in letting her sibling take the lime-light.
The performance gave the audience a fair view of why Ana earned an award for excellence. Ana was one of six nominees for awards in the arts category. She recently played the lead role in the Jamaica Junior Theatre 2003 production Scheherazade's Tale and launched a scholarship fund for students of her alma mater, Ardenne High.
Strachan was not the only awardee who displayed the talent behind their award on the evening. The second recipient of the award for excellence in the arts, Sabrena McDonald, also strutted her stuff on the stage.
Whereas Strachan's forte is in music, McDonald delves in drama and poetry. She delighted the audience with her performance as a part of a troupe of actors, the Independent Actors Movement.
WORLD AIDS DAY
The group's presentation was in commemoration of yesterday's World AIDS Day and looked at the issue of unprotected sex. The imaginative and, energetic quartet used a mixture of skits and dub poetry to put across their message.
They first illustrated arguments for and against unprotected sex by playing out as an election campaign. From there they moved to a delightful illustration of the temptation to forego the condom.
Interestingly, the group chose to use the female as the one who argues for the unprotected sex. This seemed to strike a cord with the audience and one woman declared "Mi tink a di man dem always do dat!"
However, whether the message of protect yourself went across was quite debatable. As a part of the presentation, the young man being pressured turns to the audience for advice. The yells of 'Don't dweet!' were not unanimous. McDonald has performed in Basil Dawkin's God Bless, and a docu-drama video on Mary Seacole.
Awards for excellence were given to six other youths. YouthLink's Shawna-Kay Lester earned the award for journalism, while Junior Rose of the University of the West Indies was awarded for leadership. Four awards were given for academics, going to Jason Carnegie, Dionne Brown, Dr. Noelle Bennett and Omari Blake.
The concert, which ran for close to three hours, included performances from several young talented groups and individuals. Unfortunately, the sound equipment was not as excellent as the performers and played havoc with some speech and song presentations. All the performers remained undaunted by this however, and boldly continued with their performances.
The Herbert Morrison Technical High Orchestra and Choir contributed three pieces to the first segment of the concert. The group opened the evening with the National Anthem. After a dance by Xaymaca, they then performed Wonderful World, Beautiful People, and later a suite of Jamaica's popular music, titled 'Thank You Lord'.
MUSICAL SELECTIONS
Other musical selections were given by Pembroke Hall Primary, which delighted with a suite of patriotic songs, and the Emmanuel Apostolic Youth Choir, which brought a gospel touch.
The Tony Wilson Dance Ensemble gave a good representation of young dance talent with 'Forces of Rhythm', which quite delighted the audience, which was particularly focused on their lone male dancer.
Kirk Rowe and Onaje also showed talent in dance with their interpretation of John Coltrane's version of My Favourite Things. The talented trio Jah Children attempted to wow the audience with the potent rhymes, but the audio presented an almost insurmountable obstacle. Those who were able to hear them, however, seemed quite impressed.
A bit of dancehall was also brought forward through the efforts of Razz and Biggy, Leftside and Esco and Nikki B while SIIM gave a touch of the world of fashion.
The students of the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts presented dramatic, dance and music presentations. The students from the school of drama presented excerpts of the poignant poetic play Tick Tock. Danceworks, the students of The School of Dance at the college, presented a rhythmic and undulating folk dance. The School Of Music put a wonderful end to the night with a suite of music, into which a performance by Abijah was injected.
