Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

After the engaging 'Tru Jamaican Style' by Mineral Heights Primary, one grinning youngster reclaiming his fallen straw hat when the mento dance was over, MC Dervan Malcolm reminded the large audience at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) of a recent mass 'gi dem a run'.

He asked for the hands of those who were at the Ranny Williams Centre for a truncated 'Dancefest' the previous week and it seemed that all arms bore witness to the ceiling of the NISC on Friday night.

"We promised you the show would go on and the show is going on, isn't it?" Malcolm said.

Bursts of colour

And 'Dancefest' did 'gwaan' in bursts of colour, sometimes in the dazzling flurry of movement of Eltham High's group dance 'Pop Poppin', complete with an amazing sideways somersault. And at others, there was the near snail's crawl of Bobby Carter's mesmerising solo 'Grief', one muscled leg extended to the high ceiling as he held a bridge.

Among the other standouts on a high-quality night were 'Adore' by the Laud Ministry Team, a slow praise dance which started the second segment of the show, the audience cheering as the young man playing the Christ figure was hoisted high, spread-eagled on a cross. Ascot High's 'Tie Souls', done in part to a Martin Luther King Jr speech, was literally and figuratively gripping, as the light-brown tights-clad ensemble had its hands bound throughout the piece.

Daring show

The female quartet in Tivoli's daring 'Sphere' utilised a wheeled office chair, on which headstands, one-legged stands and even slow somersaults were done. They closed with all four arrayed in ascending steps before and on the steps, arms spread and heads bowed to the closing notes of the music and wild applause.

There was another high-profile hoist in the Portmore Dancer's 'Stickies', where the sticks carried by the males were arranged to make a porous pallet for one to lie on and be raised towards the ceiling.

The adults were not left out of 'Dancefest', the 'La Blacha' group of teachers ending their second piece, 'Vaz Soldier Galz', with a final swish of their short blue skirts and a coquettish salute. And Cable and Wireless dialled the Lord on 'Rescue'.

Speech and song

Norwich Primary did a speech and song on 'Verbs', there was many a pencil tucked in the turban and a dip from the hip in William Knibb's 'Catch a Fire', gourds were utilised in Vaz Prep's 'Offering' and the plaid uniforms in St Theresa Prep's 'School Days' were effective. The Future Culture Youths fused drama and dance to humorous effect for 'In The Game Called Love'.

There were a few letdowns, though, as the dancehall style 'To The World by Frome Technical and Morant Bay High's 'Bus Di Place' did not satisfy the expectations raised by their contemporary dancehall titles.

And Tivoli effectively closed 'Dancefest' with the superb 'Adulation', as a large proportion of the audience chose to 'guweh' during Eltham's 'Cooyah'.