Over 260 performers will take centre stage during the National Cultural Foundation’s (NCF) community showcase at the May Day Celebrations. The spectacle includes a four-year-old, the youngest dancer and a 66-year-old, the eldest dancer.
Participants who enrolled in the NCF 2023-24 community training programmes across the island will be on show at the Barbados Workers’ Union’s annual Labour Day celebration: It’s About You Too: Family Day & Picnic on Wednesday, May 1, at the National Botanical Gardens.
From midday, patrons there will see multiple choreographies in African Dance, Afrobeat Dance, Street Dance, Stick-Licking, Landship and Maypole, as well as Tuk Drumming and Flute presented by the enthusiastic performers.
This cultural aspect of the day’s events is produced by the NCF in recognition of the Season of Emancipation, which runs until August 27. This showcase is special, since it is a celebratory year for the Foundation, marking its 40th anniversary and 50th anniversary of Crop Over.
Those on stage are enrolled in the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) programmes, in dance and drama, aimed at reengaging the community by unearthing, training, and showcasing community talent.
The sessions are developed in four zones: north, south, east, and central covering every parish and are open to all ages and experience levels.
In the dance genre, led by NCF’s Cultural Officer (Dance), Alicia Payne Hurley, participants benefit from training in the disciplines of Drama, African Dance, Afrobeat Dance, Street Dance, Stick-Licking, Landship and Maypole, Stilt Walking as well as Tuk Drumming and Flute.
ICH Community Tuk and Flute classes trained 53 persons in the art of playing the instruments of the tuk engine. These programmes were held at the Queen’s Park Steel Shed and Harrison College with tutors Jeffrey “Ife” Wilkinson for Tuk Drumming and Karl “Frog” Smith for Penny Whistle.
Bajan Stick Licking, the indigenous martial art of Barbados, was revived by the training of participants, both children and adults in classes held at schools across the island.
One of the most popular Street Dance Styles at the moment, Afrobeat Dance is a unique fusion of traditional African and contemporary or modern-day movements. The African Dance iteration of the programme started on January 6.
This new addition to the ICH Community Training programme has seen an excitement and enthusiasm to the art of Stilt Walking by its participants.
NCF Cultural Officer (Dance), Alicia Payne Hurley, said the showcase is months of hard work by participants and long hours of dedication by the coordinators and tutors. She urged Barbadians to come out and show their support.
“I just want them (Barbadians) to really come out and see what they’ve been doing over the last couple of months. They’ve been working hard. They’re now understanding the rigors of performance and preparing for performance and the additional rehearsals, getting the costumes ready and right, the excitement is in the air. They’re so ready to perform for Barbados and I just want Barbados to be there to receive them.
“I think people will be in for a fabulous surprise when they see our amateur Tuk Orchestra who will probably shock them on May Day. You will get to see lots of entertainment, but you also get to see persons in your community just like yourselves, not necessarily professional dancers, persons who have never done this before… have braved it and decided: ‘You know what I’m gonna show the world what I have been doing since January 6th and I’m gonna do it with pride’,” she added.
The cultural officer stated that last year families just came forward in droves to see their loved ones.
“The phones came out, the cameras came out and the screaming and the enjoyment . . . so proud of what their little ones and their older ones have been doing in the few months that they were training”, Payne Hurley said. The ICH Dance and Drama training is free to the public.