THE CURTAIN came down on this year’s celebrations with the Lime NIFCA Gala at the gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex last Sunday.
Inspite of talk of circulating in the lead-up to the grand event of a boycott by artistes in protest of the exclusion of the gold award-winning Adrian Greene from the pool of the best, the show came off as planned with all of the advertised artistes taking the stage to entertain patrons, and at the same time showcase the wealth of talent coming from the communities and schools around Barbados.
Students from Reynold Weekes Primary, Coleridge and Parry and Alexandra Schools did both institutions proud when they blew the gala audience away with their talents.
Reynold Weekes took one of the newly-introduced creator’s prizes and had the distinction of being the only school to make two appearances, in the form of I Come To Tell You and Respect De Man. The first piece was a commentary on the achievements on the successes of black Barbadians and others in the diaspora and the other was a tearful, impassioned plea to treat people with disabilities with respect.
A true gem of the evening came in the form of Marc-Ari Weekes who had people in stitches over his commentary in To Tell Yuh De Truth, which surmised that adults told the truth when it suited them. The story was funny on its own, but the Harrison College lad did an excellent impersonation of his mother. Patrons will remember the name Leroy and Weekes’ intonation for a long time.
Boys were the focus of attention in the presentations from the two St Peter schools.
The silver award-winning piece from the Alexandra Beacons Select had patrons swaying to the gospel medley, which featured Kareem Agard on lead. Not to be outdone was the duet from Coleridge and Parry, which had people exclaiming at the highs the two junior boys were able to reach in Amazing Grace with their alto and soprano parts. Both groups were rewarded with silver medals for their efforts.
With music accounting for eight of the 16 performances, a number of others shone in their own right. These included Lashana Lewis with her gold medal-winning Smile, Royal Diadems, which also took gold for They Didn’t Know. The Arthur Smith Primary School must also be credited for its treatment of Natahlee’s 2009 hit What?We Do.
Hugh Griffith took the Creator’s Prize for music while Olivia Hall took it for dance, which accounted for four of the pieces on the gala stage. Perrennial finalists Israel Lovell Foundation took three incentive awards for their efforts.
Other acts which excelled and made it to the gala stage were Dancin Africa Seniors, Soundscape, Of Another Nature, Shawn Holder, Nicole Pilgrim and literary artist Annette Alleyne who did an excerpt of The Cow Kicked Over The Bucket.