- WINSTON SILL/Freelance Photographer
A scene from the Stella Maris Young Adult Ensemble's encore presententation of their 11th anniversary season 'Yebo! Experience the Dance' held last weekend at the little theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue, Kingston.
LAST WEEKEND, the Stella Maris Young Adult Ensemble presented an encore performance of their 11th anniversary season 'Yebo! Experience the Dance' at the Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue, St. Andrew. Narrative tales, one old and the other new, proved to be the strength of the performance.
Sunday night's late performance featured five of the pieces from their repertoire. Three of the pieces, 'Sankofa-Ja' (choreographed by Professor Kariamu Welsh Asante), 'Evolution' (choreographed by Abeldo 'Tokie' Lawrence) and 'African Nite' (choreographed by Monica Lawrence assisted by Orville Hall) were added to the ensemble's repertoire this year.
'Liza', choreographed by the troupe's artistic director and one of its founders, Monika Lawrence, was originally staged in the 1995 season of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) and has been in the Stella Maris repertoire for the past two years. The dance is an infectiously fun piece which tells the story of Liza, by fusing quite a few folk songs together and grounding them in the modern experience.
'Liza' weaves together the stories and music from 'Linstead Market', 'Mout-a-Massie Liza' and 'Every time me Memba Liza' to tell the story of a young girl who becomes disaffected with country life and goes off to the city.
MUMMA MI GOIN A TOWN
In so doing, though the song is not an actual part of the music, it carries the sense of 'Mumma Mi Goin A Town'. It pulls together all these folk stories to present a love triangle of soap opera proportions that
easily delights the audience.
The dance depends heavily on the dramatic skills of the dancers, not just their ability to move well. However the main cast of Monique Spence (Liza), Wendi Hoo-Fatt (Mother), Karen Seymour-Johnson (Godmother), Orville Hall (Boyfriend) and Roxanne Corniffe (Girlfriend) easily deliver both demands. Additionally with the exception of Corniffe, the cast have retained their roles from 2002.
The other strong narrative tale for the night, African Night, ended the show. Like 'Liza', the dance depended heavily on the dramatic skills of the dancers, this time around mainly Seymour (Church Mother) and Hall (Shepherd). 'African Night', also choreographed by Lawrence shows a man's spiritual journey, led by his ancestors after he goes to a balm yard for healing. The result is that he gives up his life of violence to become the Shepherd of the church.
Though it was grounded in the revival tradition, 'African Night' also wove in a few popular dance moves, showing the interconnectedness of Jamaican contemporary and folk dance. With the rousing drums and rhythmic chant the dance provided a good end to the night.
- Tanya Batson-Savage
